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Tenkara USA rods have a lifetime guarantee against breakage. Does the Hane have the same warranty?

No lifetime warranty on these. Because this is a one time production run, there will be no replacement rods available to honor the warranty, so offering one would be sort of a joke!

We'll have a handful of spare tip sections available to repair broken tip rods until they run out, no charge.

ooooh.. deal breaker!! bummer man, I had it all worked out!

I not sure where this is going to be priced at but realistically most Tenkara rods are not that expensive (e.g. <$150). We are certainly not talking about a $700 fly rod. Rod warranties are a double edged sword, the consumer will ultimately end up paying for it in higher rod prices. Also consider what's most likely to go wrong with the rod - a broken tip... which BPL says it will replace for free while quantities last. When they run out, most likely they'll have a new and better version that we'll purchase anyway.

I'm with Brian on this - the lack of a lifetime warrantee is not a big deal. I've been fishing Tenkara USA's rod since early summer, and while they are light and sensitive, they are also quite sturdy, as long as you don't use them for toasting marshmallows or swatting snakes!

Careless handling on the part of the angler (that's us!) or using too heavy a leader is really the only dangers. Just use the rod as it's intended to be used, and I doubt you'll have any problems!

Seriously, this is ULB - we should already know how to take care of light gear!

guess youve never tripped and fell huh??

ps i'm still gonna get one too!! I'm just gonna cry like a baby if it dies!!! :)

Edited by dirtyhiker on 11/23/2009 09:42:24 MST.

In this day and age, spending so much on an UL Rod should have a decent warranty. You slip and fall and break, well that is your own fault of course. But everthing else should be covered.

David, if the rod proves to be popular enough to include it as a recurring product, then we'll be able to be more aggressive about warranty replacements. Until then, we'll do refunds for craftsmanship defects as needed, but as per the same as our fabric warranty policy, we can't offer a warranty on the carbon fiber material. To offer an unconditional warranty is nigh impossible with such a small production run of one-time goods. That said, I'm going to keep a very small number of rods out of this lot on hand for warranty replacements.

Edited by ryan on 11/23/2009 10:47:54 MST.

Just an FYI, Tenkara has only a 2% rate of breakage on their rods thusfar. Those are pretty good odds in my opinion.

"guess you've never tripped and fell huh??"

You should have seen the contortions I went thru to keep the rod above me! Cost several thousand in back surgery, but that rod was fine!!!!!


"ps i'm still gonna get one too!! I'm just gonna cry like a baby if it dies!!! :)"

I'm gonna cry when that 18" brown snaps my 6x tippet like it wasn't there!!!! ;)

Hey, they're up!!

Yes they're up! Just got my order in. Am looking forward to trying this little beauty out.

"You slip and fall and break, well that is your own fault of course. But everthing else should be covered."

I think it would be pretty tough for BPL to differentiate between snapping the rod off on a 20" cutthroat versus someone who "slipped and fell" on the rod. I'd like to think everyone who purchases rods are honest, but likely some will not be...

I guess I'm just concerned that warranty abuse to a small company like BPL is ultimately harmful to the company and consumer - neither of which I like.

Edited by brianjbarnes on 11/23/2009 12:02:32 MST.

Fair enough. I guess I am just used to warranty programs enforced from other cottage producers.

David, your expectations are reasonable. Unfortunately, gear production, retail, manufacturing - these are not our primary business activity (which is publishing) and providing an EXCEPTIONAL editorial experience for your subscription dollar is quite a bit more important to me, and to our subscribers, which have sounded that off loud and clear in our past two reader surveys.

I ordered mine, and I'm not even a fly fishing aficionado on the trail. The thought of carrying all that gear never appealed to me, but this type of fishing sure does. I've been oblivious to the Tenkara system until it came up here on BPL... and I can still stay SUL, too.

Edited by Quoddy on 11/24/2009 06:58:38 MST.

It seems that a tapered leader is not required for this style of fishing. Just tie the tippet directly to the fly line. Am I correct?

Hey Luke, actually, what is missing from the Tenkara system is the conventional "line". The braided "line" that is tied to the end of the rod is more akin to what is called a "leader" in conventional fly fishing, and may or may not be tapered. But, this is the piece (it's braided mono) that provides the energy transfer to deliver your fly to the water.

So the typical Tenkara setup is:

10'6" braided leader (called the "Tenkara Line")
+ some length of 5x-8x tippet (e.g., 2' to however long you can handle)

RJ

Edited by ryan on 11/23/2009 16:43:39 MST.

Thanks for the clarification.

NOTE:

The original shipping date for those who prepurchased the Tenkara Hane fly rod, as communicated on the Hane page, was to be December 8.

I'm sorry to have to report that we miscalculated slightly and have to change the ship date.

The new ship date will be December 4.

Merry Christmas.