Hardys Tenkara Rods ??

[Deleted]

Had a word with Hardys .. as you do !
Asked when their Tenkara rod was due ...interesting response...

"Hello Mr Whiteside,
Thanks for your website contact, we are closely watching tenkara both in the UK and overseas, and although we are not developing any Tenkara rods at present, and have no immediate plans to do so, we would not rule out developing them in the future.
Thanks again for your comments,
Tight Lines,
Alastair Dandie
Fly Product Manager
Tel Direct: [phone]
Mobile: [phone]"

[Deleted]

This is a shame.

Although most (If not all) of Hardy's rods are made abroad, they are still finished beautifully.
Surely it wouldn't take much for them to research & develop a Tenkara rod.
I noticed they do a range of lightweight bait & float rods with olive blanks, these are gorgeous rods with near perfect actions.

It would be nice to see what they could come up with.

Just a thought........ Maybe they could consult one or two of our more experienced forum members?

Stevie

[Paul G]

One thing I do know about Hardy production processes - they construct all of the prototypes AND all of the special tools to make each prototype in the UK. It is only the bulk reproduction that is subsequently outsourced.

That is why the price of the final product will always have to be higher than reverse-engineered products that are enabled by the research and development done by the cutting edge companies.

This is a really interesting one, because without the initial investment in development, there cannot be a "budget" end of the market. That means that, if prices are driven too low at the budget end, the high end producers that invest in R and D could go bust.....which in turn would send the budget producers extinct shortly afterwards.

Its almost like a quirky variation on the classic prisoner's dilemma; the only way to guarantee success for both operations is to have some kind of tacit balance of pricing policies.

[Deleted]

At least they didn't rubbish Tenkara as so many others do. I suppose now Orvis are distributing TUSA rods and gear others in the trade will jump on the bandwagon.

[Deleted]

The problem with Hardy is that, traditionally, they were the province of tweedy, squire types who went for the name rather than the performance. They were left toiling in the wake of Sage, Loomis, Scott, etc from the 80's onwards. However, with the acquisition of Greys, to provide for the budget market, and some hefty investment in new products re: the Sintrix technology, they are up there with the market leaders again. I had a go with one of the Zenith Sintrix salmon prototype rods on the Spey last year and it is something else! My view would tend to be that Hardy would not look to be groundbreakers in tenkara, they will dip their toe in the water when others have taken the plunge.