the origianl castaway's that billy was building sold for 65 to a little less than 200 for the best rod or flippin rod he was putting together at the timen now they are mass produced, (but still, from what i've seen a good to great rod), the kistler stuff that Trey is building is very nice, i have been dabbling in building my own, a hobby that i have always wanted to persue, you can build im6 and 7 rods for a fraction of what they are sold for, when you step up the components the price follows, like alconite guides cost 3x what most other guides run, the newer blanks that rod builders are using are extremely light, but i gotta say they outside my means[&:]... a long day for me now is 8-10 hrs a day for a day or two at the most, most trips run 4-6 hours with the exception of tournaments...but if i was putting in 5-7 days a week10-16 hrs a day i'd want the lightest thing i could get[:-], i'd say its more in-line for the serious tournament fishermen, BTW, i've been getting by for years with junk[&:]

have a great day