Fishing rod blanks can be separated in three types of material:

• graphite
  
• fibre-glass
  
• bamboo

Graphite and fibre-glass fishing rod blanks can be bought from rod building suppliers worldwide. There are global companies and smaller, local ones dedicated in making and selling them. But they can also be bought directly from those rod companies who make their blanks available to the public.

Graphite blanks are by far the majority sold worldwide because they are very resistant, light and quite economical to make. As a matter of fact, they are the largest used rods since the '80s. These blanks are not possible to make at home, because the machinery used is too expensive and the task to elaborate for the average hobbyst.

Here is how graphite blanks are made - which is also a craft on its own and which requires a lot of manual skills, too. And if you want to know why the chemical industry is so relevant in the blanks business and why you cannot make them easily at home you can click here.

Fibre-glass blanks are more difficult to get because limited to a specialized field (e.g. deep-sea fishing). Here, too, it's not possible for the average fisherman to make his own blank at home.

On the contrary, bamboo blanks can be hand-made at home. Moreover ready-made bamboo blanks - which you only need to put together as in a kit - are available today from bamboo rodmakers shops. So those people who don't have time or who are unable to find or finance the proper equipment and tools and yet would like to experiment with bamboo rods, maybe for the first time, can give it a try.

You start by buying a bamboo culm of the right kind (e.g. Arundinaria Amabilis from China, but I have see other species used in South America).

Wanna see how a good bamboo culm looks like? Click here!

..or here you can see an illustrated guide on building bamboo fly rods

I personally buy bamboo from Andy Royer, a bamboo broker from Seattle, USA, who personally select the culms on the spot.

From Fishing Rod Blanks to the fishing rod building

Here you can see an illustrated guide on building bamboo fly rods