United
Composites-USA represents a line of quality
blanks the like of which you've never felt or
seen...well, not quite true. If you remember
Graphite
USA's
dual helix design rods earlier this decade, you'll no doubt see some
resemblance in design of these new blanks. There
are some important differences, too. The old Graphite
USA (GUSA) blanks were excellent, which is why we sold
them previously and sold the built rods here as
well.
But, they began a decline as a result of poor
management, and went out of business. Further,
the
old owner was in such a financial scramble at the end that
he sold off expensive rod building equipment as
"scrap" for pennies on the dollar. Worse yet,
since he didn't have the necessary equipment in
working order, the blanks built in recent years
were not up to par and suffered needless
breakage. Built right, the Dual Helix rods are
unbreakable. Graphite USA's demise was the
right thing to happen, no government bailout
required...
The
owner ran the firm into the ground. GUSA's
demise opened the door for the sale of the
company to folks who had a commitment to build
'em correctly.
The new owners know what they are doing, and are
building the rods the right way. The new owner was the
Australian distributor of GUSA who had the
benefit of the Challenger series of blanks -
which were not available in the USA - and which
was essentially created by the new owner, Peter
Williams (pictured at the top of this page along
with his son Andrew who is their production
manager). The challenger series
became the blank/rod of choice for the more
discriminating Australian fisherman.
The new
facility is located here in California. It's taken
the staff at United a
several
months to get the rod building gear back
together and purchase new equipment to
manufacture the rods, the right way. But,
they're
up and running now. At the present time we are
only offering blanks, not finished rods.
(Pictured, cutting the graphite, GUSA mandrills,
rolling a blank and showing off the final
product)
Dual
Helix Facts: Dual Helix ply construction
produces a rod blank that has outstanding
resistance to both crushing and twisting. This
unique construction technique, adapted from the
experience of aerospace activities, is superior
to the conventional rod blank "roll-wrap"
manufacturing process adopted years ago from the
textile industry. Two advantages are readily
apparent; firstly the Dual Helix structure keeps
the rod round when heavily loaded during casting
or fighting a hooked fish, the Dual Helix
construction adds extraordinary crush and nick
resistance. The second major advantage is the
outstanding resistance to twist imparted to the
blank through the Dual Helix Design.
New
Releases: Originally designed exclusively for
Australia, the Challenger series is now finally
being released and available for the USA market.
The Challenger range of blanks was originally
designed in 2004 specifically for the harsh and
rough fishing conditions of Australia, tackling
some of the word's toughest species of fish.
Beyond doubt these ranges of blanks have proved
themselves well beyond expectation and have
become the benchmark for saltwater blanks "down
under."
There are
several lines of blanks made by United, but two
of them fit into our style of saltwater fishing very well:
United
Saltwater Series
- These are the same/better
as the familiar GUSA rods and are constructed
using the patented Dual Helix graphite designs.
100% multi modulus graphite incorporating Dual
Helix ply construction, provides unparalleled
strength, lightness of weight, and a thinner
diameter of the finished rod.
Challenger
Platinum Series - This was a line that was
not sold here in the USA but became the best
known and the most popular rods in Australia. They
are a composite design using E-glass and
Graphite, both mat materials incorporated for
strength, durability, light weight and
resilience under high stresses. You'll find that these are
exceptionally strong rods, exceptionally nice to
fish also. Composite Dual Helix ply construction
combining woven carbon fiber and E-glass.
Both series above carry
a 2 year limited guarantee from date of
purchase, limited to the original
purchaser/owner. Rod blank orders are
non-refundable, exchange privilege exists only
within a seven day period from the date of
receipt of goods.
Taking things a bit
further, UC indeed does make a wide range of
blanks probably something like 400 + in their
design lineup at present. These cover many
applications. One series that has proven very
popular in the Australian market and also gained
a strong USA base is their Pioneer SHX
Series of single helix graphite spinning
and casting blanks. We've added this series to
our available options for our clients for 2010. While we
are a saltwater "house" the Pioneer Series is
known as a freshwater blank with some inshore
and bay saltwater application. So, it does fit
into our game just as do the Seeker React and
Inshore series of rods. The Pioneer SHX Series
carries a 1 year manufacturers limited
guarantee.
The good news
is printed above, but here's the other side of
the story mentioned as a caveat for our clients. UC
is just getting started, so production is slow.
Since their owner bought the firm to support the
Australian market, our supply comes second. As a
result of these two factors we have experienced
delays filling orders from them. At present they
are averaging a four to six WEEK WAIT for delivery
of blanks. We can not rush them, the blanks come
when they are good and ready. Hopefully this
situation improves, but PLEASE UNDERSTAND the
present reality and understand also that it's
out of our control. If you order one of the rods,
be patient. What you get will be great, but the
wait time will be much longer than what we'd
both like to see.
We are in the same boat, having committed to
offering production rods which we have custom
wrapped. It took us over 3 months for them to
fill our order! But, patience has it's own
rewards... The rewards for patience are indeed
well worth the wait.
