Bamboo for rodmaking
- Bambusa procera - A Vietnamese bamboo species for rodmaking with some advantages over Tonkin is available.
- Next delivery date: June 2024
- Order: first select product, then country of delivery and finally quantity
Right: In the foreground, freshly harvested and washed pieces with 2 internodes. Behind, dried sections. In the background, pieces with 6 internodes.
Lồ ô - Bambusa procera - is a bamboo species that only occurs in Vietnam and Cambodia. Harvesting is more complex than with Tonkin, as Lồ ô is not cultivated. Moreover, Lồ ô grows similar to a bush, i.e. in clumps (sympodial). Tonkin spreads via rhizomes, i.e. the culms stand singly (monopodial) and can be harvested much more easily than those of Lồ ô.
A rod made of Lồ ô can hardly be distinguished from a rod made of Tonkin, even by experienced casters (see page 44). Lồ ô has considerable advantages for the rodmaker:
- The culm circumference is on average 1.6 times larger
than that of Tonkin, i.e. instead of 10 splices, the Lồ ô culm yields 16 splices.
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The diameter of the culms is 65 to 95 mm (2.6 to 3.7 in).
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Multi-piece rods can be built without any nodes at all, because the distances between the nodes range between 700 and 1000 mm (27 and 39 in). In extreme cases, an internode is up to 1200 mm (47 in) long, so that even two-piece rods are feasible without nodes.
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The individual internodes are grown very straight. Straightening of the splices is rarely necessary.
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There is no need to stagger the nodes. This means that more of the bamboo can be used.
- The wall thickness of the culms is 6 to 10 mm (0.24 to 0.39 in). Lồ ô is therefore suitable for single-handed and double-handed rods.
In order to fully utilise each internode, the culm sections were cut by internode and not by length. Therefore, the length of each piece varies and each bundle contains mixed lengths. Pieces with 2 internodes are between 1.4 and 2 m (4.6 and 6.6 feet), those with 6 internodes 4 to 5 m (13.1 to 16.4 feet). You can find more details about Lồ ô on my Facebook page and on my Instagram page.
I sell selected culm sections with 2 internodes in bundles of 10 and with 6 internodes in bundles of 5. Although harvesting is very laborious, I offer Lồ ô at an introductory price cheaper than Tonkin. If you have any questions, please mail them to lo-o (at) springforelle.de.
Because my new warehouse is located far outside Berlin, I will only deliver Lồ ô on fixed dates.
For Great Britain, a VAT registered company and its EORI number are required.
