Hi folks,
whilst I think the marketing literature and may be some anglers, place too much emphasis on things like; is one rod .1 oz lighter than another etc. I was wondering about the trading laws, especially in relation to american products.

Recent examples include:

A product review circa 14 months ago of 15ft salmon fly rods, where it was noted that not only did one rod (from an amercian manufacturer)weigh over an ounce more than quoted in the catalog but the weight actually stated on the blank reflected the same error.

I have recently acquired two amercian brand rods. In both cases the retailers (I checked several both sides of the atlantic) quoted, in what looked like a supplied table, weights of 2.1 oz and 3.5 oz respectively. The rods in question weigh when weighed on electronic scales, 3.3 oz and 4.35 oz.

In comparison and to check the scales I weighed two of my Hardy's and a greys missionary and got the pubicised weights of 1.95oz, 3.8 oz, and 2.6oz respectively, so the scales are fine.

I contacted a UK retailer of the american rods, pointing out that whilst it is not normal for me to go around weighing rods, i was prompted to do so when I realised that rod supposedly weighing 2.1 oz felt significantly heavier than my 8ft 3 Greys missionary. The retailer appeared genuinely shocked and went off to weight their stock and rang back confirming my findings.

Is there a different basis in US for stating a rod weight (actual weight) as the kind of understatement seems common to at least two premium brands and yet the claimed weights on the UK brands would seem to be accurate.

2.1 oz or 3.3 oz does not really matter in the scheme of things, but I am now very curious.

PS. Having ordered both rods from the US I saved (including all customs taxes and UK VAT and delivery charges etc) 290UKP and 265UKP on each rod respectively. I did opt for 10 day delivery, which was true to its claim and the said rods arrived on day 10.

Cheers

Guests - this sponsored link will vanish when you log-in. Click here to register for free.

Malcolm, I had the same problem with a Loomis GLX where the stated weight was less than the actual. However whilst looking at Loomis blanks on the net I noticed that the suggested weight for the blank for my rod was the same suggested weight as the finished rod (not finished by Loomis I hasten to add). I suspect since its fairly common for even major rod builders to buy in blanks then the weight of the blank sometimes is stated as the weight of the finished rod.

Cheers. I did wonder if that was how the US manufacturers might be doing it.