I'm trying to establish the optimum distance between the stripper ring and the first intermediate on a 9ft four-piece rod to avoid distance-stealing oscillations of the line during the cast. On the 6 weight Orvis helios these rings are set 11.25 inches apart, while on a six-piece 5 weight travel rod I have (not Orvis) the distance is 13.6 inches. I would be most grateful if anyone can tell me what distances other companies (such as Sage, Loomis, Hardy etc) use.
Cheers,
Angus

I wouldn't assume companies set the guides to maximise distance, and within reasonable margins I can't say it will matter all that much. It would also depend on the flex profile of the blank. I generally set it at 10-12", specific position via a stress distribution test. Some people use a tamer guide about 4" from the stripper specifically to control slap. The right line may be more important slick and not too limp.

It all depends on the flex/recovery rate of the blank!
regards
bert

Have a look here

Sage, Hardy Grey's etc half way down the page

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Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once - Lee Wulff

You can download a program to work out guide spacing distances here.

it takes into account where you want the first and last guide to be, and calculates the rest.

cheers,

Andy

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Wm. Salter & Grandson - Merchants
www.wmsalter.co.uk

Thanks, everybody. One rod I was handling the other day has these rings set 15.5 inches apart. Any thoughts on this?
Angus

Every rod is different... and it costs less to wrap less of them.

The spacing of the rings depends on the action of the rod. There's a way of working it out but the easiest way would be to find another rod of the same length and action. Bend the rods through 90% and see if they bend the same way. You could then measure the ring distances.

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