Any sturdy spod rod must offer a balance between weight, power, robustness and time-tested stress durability. Basically, a good spod rod has to be an angler's trustworthy workhorse. This is exactly what we had in mind when we designed the Select Baits Rocket Gun Spod & Marker Rod. Trying to keep the price as low as possible, we strived to create a light weight 5.5lbs test-curve rod which would work perfectly with heavy Spombs or bait-ball catapults. The rod has a progressive action, typical of its range. If we would have created a fast-action rod with the same power, very very few anglers would be able to master it and even those who could, would very likely get exhausted quite quickly. Our intention for the Rocket Gun was to make it available and user-friendly even to anglers who rely less on sheer physical prowess. The rod is made up of different carbon fibers, each with its own qualities and uses. The exterior is entirely high modulus 3k weave, while the interior is unidirectional carbon (UD). Of all the carbon fibers available, the unidirection one is by far the toughest and most stress-resilient, while the high-modulus (be it 1k or 3k) is the lightest and most rigid. Put simply, the Rocket Gun has the strongest possible backbone, with an added layer of ridigity on the handle and tip, owing to the 3k weave. Our rod comes equipped with a DPS 18mm reelseet, fixed with all-black metal collars. The handle ends in a stylish all-black cap. The rod has a matte finish, with the carbon blank itself being exposed. This has a range of advantages: it does not allow water to creep up the superficial layer which in time would create white stains on the rod; it is much more durable because it cannot be easily scratched; to the trained eye this highlights more clearly the quality of the carbon fibers themselves. By contrast, quite a number of very popular rods don't actually use the premium 1k or 3k carbon wave, but go for unidirectional fibers given a cheap painting designed to immitate the higher quality materials. We also paid minutious attention to details and we've highlighted all important elements of the rod with green-metallic weaving straight from the US market leader Gudebrod. All of these areas are covered with varnish. The metallic shinnings and the overall apparent color tones of the rod actually change with different lightings, which really makes the Rocket Gun's elegance stand out. The rings are double-legged SiC titanium. The top ring itself is a 16mm anti-tangle model which will give you that extra bit of security when you need to really push your casts. Many anglers also want to have a marker float exactly on the spot they want to bait, and for these they need a comparatively stronger marker rod, which must be capable of putting out a 3.4-4oz lead with an added heavy float. This is why we created a comparatively more powerful spod rod - to allow you to also use the rod as a marker for extreme range fishing. There is a 50cm green-weaved point on the blank itself to help you measure the depth. Our Select Baits Rocket Gun Spod & Marker 12' (3.6m) is available in two standard rig configurations: 40mm - 30mm - 25mm - 20mm - 16mm - 16mm antitangle (tip); 50mm - 40mm - 25mm - 20mm - 16mm - 16mm antitangle (tip). The weights of the two 3.6m models are: Rocket Gun 12' 40mm first ring - 487gr; Rocket Gun 12' 50mm first ring - 498gr. The length of the handle on the 12' (3.6m) spod is 520mm, and the width of the grip is 17.3mm