[Sandy Nelson]

One from my stash of Koi agates 

[Mike Barrio]

Great shot 

[Graham Nicol]

Just out of curiosity have you ever had problem with the agates for I remember some early ones had a habit of splitting?

[Sandy Nelson]

Hi Graham

I’ve never had an issue with stones splitting. Obviously if you stood on one or smacked it off a rock then it will likely break the same as a ceramic one would.  I’ve had a few rods back for new snakes due to being damaged and a couple of SiC’s that had been cracked against stones but never an agate (touch wood) I like to think people take a bit more care of their gear when they picked the components.
I actually find they are better for casting than SICs and that might be controversial but is based on experience

Cheers

Sandy

[Kevin McPherson]

  Very nice 👍

[Robert MacDonald-Lewis]

They do look very very nice.

[Graham Nicol]

Sandy
Do you put these on the butt ring only or the full set and if the latter is there much additional weight added to the rod?

[Sandy Nelson]

I only ever use them as a stripper at the butt.
I use Snakebrand universal Lites for the inters and always a normal loop tip.
Keeping the rings in the top half of the rod as light as possible does make a significant difference to the recovery rate which in turn affects the feel of the rod.