The Swift Fly Fishing Company Changes the Way Fly Rods Are Produced with “We build, You Build, They build” Fly Rod Options
OutdoorHub 03.31.14
The Swift Fly Fishing Company continues to lead the way with their latest product offering. Challenging conventional wisdom around how fly rods are produced and marketed the company has launched a sophisticated yet easy to use Just in time manufacturing system featuring a fly rod Configurator which encourages customers to design and build their own fly rod in real time online. Once configured, each rod and it’s accompanying components can either be shipped as a comprehensive “Ready to Wrap Rod kit” for the home builder or commissioned as a unique bespoke Studio build by the Swift Fly Fishing company.
A third option offers a full custom fly rod built completely to order from any one of the companies “Epic Rod Builders” world wide.
Building on the success of their highly regarded range of Epic fully Unidirectional S2 glass fly rod blanks the company has taken the further step of offering a compete fly rod kit or a bespoke fly rod made to order.
No longer does your fly rod have to be green – The system encompasses most of the Epics in the range, currently 6 blank profiles across 6 colours. Combined with two reel seat types, hard anodise black or Titanium coated, three grip types and an optional fighting butt, the company effectively offers 432 variations of fly rod. Likely the largest range of fly rods offered by any manufacturer.
“ROLL YOUR OWN” – THE EPIC “READY TO WRAP” FLY ROD KIT:
The Epic Ready to Wrap Fly Rod kit is a premium product that features everything required to produce premium quality fly rod.
Each Kit contains:
- Your chosen Epic Blank
- Our world famous fiberglass rod tube
- Premium rod sock
- Finest quality Portuguese cork grip (3 types preformed to fit your blank perfectly)
- Optional fighting butt & matching trim ring
- Epic reel seat in either black or Titanium
- Guide set (Snake brand Universal guides USA)
- Stripper guide, with colore matched Zirconium insert
- Japanese Silk threads
- Glue kit (preloaded syringes, grip & tip epoxy, brushes, mixing cups & full instructions)
- China-graph marking pencil
- Comprehensive 42 page build book with step by step instructions
- Stickers / Decals
Changing Conventional Thinking:
Company CEO Carl McNeil (On the Fly Productions, Once in a Blue Moon, Casts that Catch Fish) says: The conventional model is for companies to gear up and produce large amounts of product and then push it to costumers until supplies are either exhausted or volume tails off and the sales department decides a new model is required to again boost revenue. (usually the latter)
This is no longer the case. Our just in time manufacturing and Epic rod kit totally change the way fly rods are manufactured and marketed. No longer do anglers need to consume mass produced product dictated by the big brands.
The power of choice can be put directly back in the hands of consumers, and in the case of the kit, they can purchase an extremely high quality fly rod with superior componentry at about half the price of a standard “off the rack†brand. The core savings are in labour and distribution, you design & build it and we ship it direct to you.
Don’t want a green fly rod? – go for Salsa.
Want a Titanium reel seat? – it’s yours.
Perhaps you prefer a full wells grip over a traditional Western – go for for it!
The rod kit is incredibly comprehensive – all components, from the blank right down to the fighting butt have been specifically designed and machined to fit together flawlessly.
If you can tie a fly or if you even built a kit-set aircraft as a kid you’ll have no problems building your own premium fly rod.
While the Epic kit is not well suited to a conventional wholesale distribution model, we are developing a retail program for completed factory rods to supply direct to Fly Shops around the world.
Going forward Swift is taking this approach and developing helical would Carbon Fibre blanks, a glass switch rod and a monster 12wt glass tarpon rod – all to be made available in kit form.
