There have been many debates about the validity of the relation between test curve and casting weight. I know many people have concluded the concept of the TC, casting weight and eventually line strength is flawed. The thing that struck me however was that all discussions seem to be fueled by theory much more than empirical data. Finally I think that modern blank design and materials are of no influence to the idea, opposed to what many people have written.
So I decided to do a simple experiment. I took six of my rods and loosely took their TC by hanging a bottle with water at the end of the line, approach the 90 degree angle by adding water and then tried the derived casting weight to see if there is fixed relation between the two. The rods in question vary from a 1 1/4 lb 12 ft carp rod (yes, very old, soft and light), a Vendetta spin, a telescopic spining rod, a light glass spining rod, a micro spinning rod (just under 4 ft) and an ultralight spinning rod with a test curve of barely over 3 oz (that's 90grams ).
I found on these six rods the rule of using 1/16th of the test curve as casting weight is usable, to say the least. A bit on the heavy side to my liking but that could very well be subjective.
When optimizing the casting weight by trial and error I found a varying ratio to the measured TC of 17 to 20. As I said, I feel the rule of 1/16th results in casting weights a bit on the heavy side. My way of 'measuring' TC might also have to do with that.
Apart from the above (which is kind of interesting) I very much liked the idea of knowing the TC of my rods. There where a few surprises, f.i. the 90gr UL. I knew it is a very light rod but I could never describe it until now.
Are there people here who tried the same or would be interested in testing their rods just out of curiosity? Would be nice to collect data and see how valid a rule can be found
So I decided to do a simple experiment. I took six of my rods and loosely took their TC by hanging a bottle with water at the end of the line, approach the 90 degree angle by adding water and then tried the derived casting weight to see if there is fixed relation between the two. The rods in question vary from a 1 1/4 lb 12 ft carp rod (yes, very old, soft and light), a Vendetta spin, a telescopic spining rod, a light glass spining rod, a micro spinning rod (just under 4 ft) and an ultralight spinning rod with a test curve of barely over 3 oz (that's 90grams ).
I found on these six rods the rule of using 1/16th of the test curve as casting weight is usable, to say the least. A bit on the heavy side to my liking but that could very well be subjective.
When optimizing the casting weight by trial and error I found a varying ratio to the measured TC of 17 to 20. As I said, I feel the rule of 1/16th results in casting weights a bit on the heavy side. My way of 'measuring' TC might also have to do with that.
Apart from the above (which is kind of interesting) I very much liked the idea of knowing the TC of my rods. There where a few surprises, f.i. the 90gr UL. I knew it is a very light rod but I could never describe it until now.
Are there people here who tried the same or would be interested in testing their rods just out of curiosity? Would be nice to collect data and see how valid a rule can be found
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