All Rainshadow® and Forecast® blanks are rated for power on a numerical basis. A power of “0” being the lightest and “9” the heaviest. “Power” is how much pressure it takes to deflect a blank. The higher the number the stiffer the blank. Power ratings are series specific. For example: A “3” power mag bass blank is not the same as a “3” power saltwater blank. For this reason power ratings are compared within each series.
Power
Power Description
UL
Ultra-Light
L
Light
ML
Medium Light
M
Medium
MH
Medium Heavy
H
Heavy
XH
Extra Heavy
XXH
Extra Extra Heavy
Blank Action
Blank Action is identified by the portion of the blanks that flexes.
X-Fast: Upper 20% flexes
Mod-Fast: Upper 40% flexes
Fast: Upper 30% flexes
Moderate: Middle flex point
Med-Fast: Upper 35% flexes
Slow: Flex progressive from tip to butt
Some Thoughts on Blank Design from the Batson Design Team
Like many things, we as consumers are always looking for the magic feature that makes one product better than the next one. We all shop this way…we are victims of the slick advertising copy and claims thought up in conference rooms throughout this great land of ours. Far too many products today are sold on advertising hype rather than the good old honest truth.
Rod blanks are no different…there always seems to be some new magical graphite material that is being hyped as the next greatest innovation. In fairness, there are honest improvements being made in materials and resin systems and we are always testing and evaluating the latest materials that become available. However, rod blank design is more than just the latest and greatest materials that hit the market place. Blank design requires not only the materials, but it requires the correct manufacturing techniques. The correct testing and
evaluation of the product, and finally the design team must understand what the rod blank has to do while being fished. Think of a fly rod blank, it must perform a number of highly technical casts before it is put to the marketplace. It must cast with the correct fly line it is rated for and so on. Think of a float rod for steelhead fishing, does it allow the proper line control? Does it cast with a float correctly? Does it have the correct amount of power to control the fish during the fight without breaking the line?
The point our design team would like to make is that there is much more to blank design than magic materials and advertising hype. It takes a combination of years of fishing experience combined with the proper application of modern materials and manufacturing techniques to create the best rod blanks.
Blank Power
