Glass or Carbon for a quiver tip?

I don't use them, I've always preferred to watch the rod tip or touch ledger. But a mate of mine who is ''experienced'', was complaining bitterly to me yesterday of his lack of faith in Carbon quiver tips,insisting they are too fragile and delicate so he is reverting back to Fibre glass.

Given that his chosen species are Chub and Barbel, does he have a point that Carbon is too fragile?

I mostly favour glass but use carbon in flowing conditions at times. The taper seems to be the bigger factor to me. Superfine carbon is asking for trouble in my car boot.

I still rate fibre glass highly, not the lightest of material but much more forgiving in the last few centimeters, that's just my opinion dictated by very little experience really, breaking more carbon tips in similar incidents, the one to watch out for was after fierce take that didn't hook and gave just that bit of line to twang around the tip a few times not being accounted for, soon as pressure was applied from the reel it would snap, this has accounted for at least my last 2 quiver tips breaking, both carbon ones, but otherwise due mainly to not paying attention to the rod both times while getting a bite, the other was after getting snagged from above head height the ledger came back down like a zip wire and the tip (regardless) would never of stood a chance anyway mg: just need to take more care the finer they are I guess, fibre glass being slightly more cumbersome tends to take more abuse.

wes79 said:

... that's just my opinion dictated by very little experience really, breaking more carbon tips in similar incidents,....

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Hey Wes - yer didn't learn tipping from Binka didya?
It'll be interesting to see what his recommendation is! mg:

greenie62 said:

It'll be interesting to see what his recommendation is!

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I understand Titanium is his preferred material

Back in the good old days I would always use glass tips for both rivers and stillwater and never had any kind of problem. Currently I use both glass and carbon on the rivers, the strength of flow decides which but I always use a very soft glass tip for still water bream fishing. Pete.

Exclusively glass tips for me up until a few years ago but now i've got all hollow carbon 1.5, 2.5 & 3.5oz on the feeder rod and 1 & 1.5oz on the ultra-light bomb rod purely because that is what they were supplied with.

Can't say I've had a problem with either to be fair, I did break the 3.5oz tip and replaced it but I would still have broken it if it was glass as I somehow managed a braid wrap around on the cast.

My understanding on the hollow carbon quiver tips is that they are supposedly better at range but I like 'em at any distance, I can't say they're any better or worse than glass and I find the lighter tips plenty sensitive enough for what I need.

Edited to add: Sorry Derek I seem to have ducked the main question about fragility but again in my experience the hollow carbon tips have been absolutely fine with no problems at all, both the lighter tips on the bomb rod and the feeder tips which are often used for barbel, method feedering etc. where you would expect any weakness to show through.

I also prefer to watch the rod tip or touch ledger. I believe that bite indication is better with a glass tip. Personally, rather than use carbon tips, I prefer to use a decent Avon rod.

Back in the good old days I would always use glass tips for both rivers and stillwater and never had any kind of problem. Currently I use both glass and carbon on the rivers, the strength of flow decides which but I always use a very soft glass tip for still water bream fishing. Pete.

Carbon tips are stiffer than glass so are better used on rivers with a bit of a flow, whereas a glass tip is more flexible and can be used for shy-biting fish especially on still waters . . . . . .

As carbon tips are stiffer they're considerd better when fishing for drop back bites on running water (upstream legering).

For my fishing it's simple;
Pull round bites = Glass
Drop backs = Carbon

rubio said:

The taper seems to be the bigger factor to me. Superfine carbon is asking for trouble in my car boot.

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I’ve been thinking about this as something was nagging me, I knew my tips for different rods varied greatly in diameter for the equivalent rating so there’s clearly some room for manoeuvre in their design.

Which tip would you logically think was the 4oz tip out of these three…



The truth is the thicker one on the left and the thinner middle one are both 1.5oz, the thin tip on the right is 4oz so it’s got to be down to the wall thickness and not the taper and maybe meaning that carbon tips could be produced to be even more robust than glass given that carbon is stronger?



All the tips on the Hardy tip rods are interchangeable and the tip to the left is off the 13’ Extreme Feeder which is an animal of a rod when really pushed hard, longer white sight for the additional 3’ in length over the bomb rod and larger eyes to aid long distance casting with heavier lines/leaders which is what it is designed for but by some quirk I’ve found it makes a superb barbel rod too, especially on the big rivers.

The thinner middle tip is the same rating but comes from the 10' ultra-light bomb rod.

I’d forgotten I had the 4oz tip on the right despite using it twice in the last week on the 13’ feeder rod, it’s a bit of an anomaly in that it has the thinner taper and shorter sight tip with smaller eyes and so matches the tips for the bomb rod but has a rating more suitable to the feeder and was very useful on “the beast”.

I agree with Jerry on the Avon rod for barbel, usually my first choice but the stretch of river I’ve been fishing has a rocky marginal shelf which drops off quite steeply about two rod lengths out and the extra 18" length of the Extreme Feeder helps to keep the line clear when the rod’s high in the air on rests along with upping the mainline to 15lb Pro-Tough.

I did notice very slight movements on the quiver tip which I don’t think I would have with the Avon but they were of no consequence, I could always touch leger with the Avon if I wanted to get around it but it’s not a problem to be fair and knowing me I’d end up getting my finger yanked off when I inevitably dozed off

binka said:

The truth is the thicker one on the left and the thinner middle one are both 1.5oz, the thin tip on the right is 4oz so it’s got to be down to the wall thickness and not the taper and maybe meaning that carbon tips could be produced to be even more robust than glass given that carbon is stronger?

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Informative postings, I never even considered the wall thickness, I thought they were all made in the same factory and the taper was some sort of guide, so yeah in the same diameter (say both were solid) Carbon you would think would deffo be the stronger.
Maybe I should rate Carbon more
My cheap as chips "Ron Thompson" (can't find any YT video's of this pioneer fisherman....) Pike rod is fibreglass and its a right broomstick, so by rights its just had a few more layers of fibre and a bit more glue slapped on in the factory?

I follow Mats' guideline of glass for pull-rounds and carbon for drop-backs.

Most of my legering is done on rivers, mainly the Trent, and find the 3oz Drennan and Daiwa 4oz carbons. Anything requiring more resistance to being pulled over by the flow is tackled with a full hollow rod section.

Reel lines range from 4lb, 5lb, 6lb and 8lb Maxima.

I rarely quivertip on slow or still waters. In that situation, I prefer to use a swingtip or springtip.

For me, the choice depends on several factors, the method employed, the venue (stillwater or river), the target species, the wind conditions and the time of year.

For example, in the case of the latter, I'd likely use a lighter tip (if other conditions allowed) to help see the shy bites winter fish are more likely to give.

When fishing a stillwater, I'm likely to use a glass tip, as light as I can get away with, but may go for carbon if the method or conditions dictate.

On a river, I'm more likely to use carbon, and in heavier ratings than I'd look to use on a stillwater.

One of my friends prefers using a sidewinder on still waters and swears by 'em when it's windy or even blowing a gale. He used them a lot when bream fishing in Ireland.

tigger said:

One of my friends prefers using a sidewinder on still waters and swears by 'em when it's windy or even blowing a gale. He used them a lot when bream fishing in Ireland.

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Is that one of those things that clips on close to the butt of the rod?

My mate also uses one, I really rated it once he'd realised that if you clip it on and thread the ring between the reel and the first ring the tip will skim the rod when reeling in.

We affectionately nicknamed it "The Rattler"

Now he uses it between the first and second rings and it seems to work really well and it can be used in a straight "swing tip" position if you're in a tight peg.

---------- Post added at 00:24 ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 23:44 ----------

wes79 said:

Informative postings, I never even considered the wall thickness, I thought they were all made in the same factory and the taper was some sort of guide, so yeah in the same diameter (say both were solid) Carbon you would think would deffo be the stronger.
Maybe I should rate Carbon more
My cheap as chips "Ron Thompson" (can't find any YT video's of this pioneer fisherman....) Pike rod is fibreglass and its a right broomstick, so by rights its just had a few more layers of fibre and a bit more glue slapped on in the factory?

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Wes...

That's a good point, I guess if economy was the issue for the manufacturer then as many different rods that they can build off the same mandrel by simply adding extra wrap then the better?

However...

On face value that doesn't factor in the extra cost of the additional material (not cheap stuff) for further wrapping of what is essentially the same blank to make it stronger for a different purpose or the varying actions required, I reckon it would be well worth designing a new blank on a new mandrel with less material cost given the amount of rods that would be produced from it and that's before you consider that the "rod race" is a finicky animal where horses for courses are very much the vogue if the manufacturers can persuade us that a specific blank is good for a specific job.

I say "if"... I fall for it every time :doh:

I could well be completely wrong of course...

binka said:

Is that one of those things that clips on close to the butt of the rod?

My mate also uses one, I really rated it once he'd realised that if you clip it on and thread the ring between the reel and the first ring the tip will skim the rod when reeling in.

We affectionately nicknamed it "The Rattler"

Now he uses it between the first and second rings and it seems to work really well and it can be used in a straight "swing tip" position if you're in a tight peg.

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I forget where he positions it now, I know he drills an extra hole in the block so the tip sticks out at a different angle.

One other thing that adds to the problem is that like test curves on rods the oz rating is often just an approximation made by someone in marketing as against an accurate test figure.