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3. Rod Vault

I have two Scott rods and have noticed scuffing on the outside of the guide bands. Has anyone had problems with scuffing using a Rod Vault? I use the vault on top of my truck when I'm fishing. I don't store my rods there. I do go off road with my truck so I'm wondering if the rods bouncing inside the vault is causing damage. I fish in Colorado. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Nope, I can't afford a rod vault. I have a Subaru Outback and can easily store 3 or 4 9' fly rods in the vehicle with, or without, a passenger in the front seat. If I use my 10' rods I can still store them, assembled, in the Outback by laying them diagonally from the left side of the luggage area to the right side of the front passenger area.

I keep mine in their tubes and socks until I'm ready to fish with them. I've gone to all 4-piece (even in my spinning rods for the most part), except for the 3-weight which is actually a 3-piece, but still pretty short. They do stay in my vehicle during open water season, along with my sling pack & some extra boxes of flies - and then all I have to decide is, waders or kayak? Or neither, just wading boots and socks during the hot summer months or my wetland boots for fishing at Clark's Marsh.

I don't leave a rod assembled in my vehicle any more - I've broken a few in the past by doing that and so every one lives in it's own tube, unless it's in my hands...

Jonathon

I'm generally with Jonathon. However, like Matt, I sometimes keep my rods (9' dry, 10' nymph) assembled in my Civic (trunk to dash with the back seat down) especially for a couple of days if I'm staying with my buddy John on the Little J, and fishing every morning and evening--or at a lodge on the Delaware. But for most of my fishing I avoid travelling much with the rods assembled. If the rods seem to be rubbing or the tips are banging on the windshield, I'll put a sock (boot-sock) over the tips, or lay a t-shirt between them.

I got a rod vault this year and have been greatly enjoying it. I'm often traveling with my wife and dog, or using the back of my SUV for sleeping when I'm by myself. Either way it's inconvenient to have rods fully set up in the back, and I have damaged a rod that way before. I don't like wasting fishing time setting up a rod from its case, and I do a lot of driving between several streams/spots in a day, so the rod vault has been a huge convenience for me. I haven't had any scuffing issues yet.

Troutnut wrote;



If I was going to be sleeping in my Outback then I guess I would have to break them down or spring for a rod vault. Fortunately when I travel for several days away from home to fish I can always find economical lodging. Then I bring the assembled rods in the room with me. Leaving $500 - $800 rods, reels, and lines assembled in a car overnight in a popular fishing area is pretty much asking for trouble. Low life's troll motel parking lots late at night and can easily get in a vehicle and boost your stuff.

Hello fellow Coloradan, and welcome. I don't have a rod vault, but this isn't the first time I have heard of this issue happening to rods. And some of our dirt roads are pretty bumpy, so I can see your rods being bounced around inside the vault.

I have though a possible solution. If there's enough room in the vault, try using some pipe insulation around the rod. That styrofoam stuff. If there's no slit in the insulation, and it usually comes with a slit cut into it, just cut a slit from one end to another and place it over your rod to protect it from being more damaged. You won't need to cover the cork, but definitely the top half and areas where the rod is being scuffed.

We definitely don't want to ruin those Scott rods.