Charles Demarest | my bamboo culms of the early 1990s

Above photo: Some of my 12-foot Demarest super select culms

A few weeks ago, a client of mine asked me to show him some of my very best culms. So I decided to write a quick entry on my coveted stash of 12-foot super select culms. All my Tonkin culms are from Charles H. Demarest, whom I purchased a lifetime supply of back in the mid-1990s. I store these 12-foot culms in a temperature-controlled environment, and I am particular about keeping track of which ones I select for each rod I make. There are, however, culms that are so valuable to me personally that I refrain from using them unless I have special project requests from my clients. The very best of the best grade select 12-foot culms. I sort and base it on thicknesses and the locations of the nodes, then decide which culm to use for a specific rod. Most, if not all, of my rods are nodeless, and because I make smaller trout rods, I'm highly selective about the culms I choose.

Back in the mid-1990s, I began storing cane wherever I could, even under my bed. When I was living by myself in my late 20s (I'm now 60), I would hang culms from the ceiling in my living room to make space! Not exactly a first date environment. Twelve-foot culms can take up a lot of space! Now that I have two studios, I can store the bundles in an organized fashion depending on my projects.

Bamboo grades seem very empirical to the average person. Grading culms depends on many factors. Is the culm straight? Are the nodes mixed with imperfections? Are the power fibers too thin? Are the checks twisted or twisting laterally? Is there insect damage? The list goes on and on, so there are requirements that need to be crossed off a checklist before you have a really special culm. Often, you can work around cosmetic imperfections; they have no physical effect on the end product. The very best culms, after doing this for 30-plus years, are typically set aside quickly. This is because I have bundles of cane from the 1990s that I have not even sorted. So the adventure continues to this day.

Over the years, people have used different names for different grades of cane, which honestly means nothing to me; it's all semantics until you inspect it yourself. In the late 1990s, a few importers were selling all kinds of cane with B grades, A Grades, etc. Charles Demarest gave me a lot of really nice Tonkin that, to this day, I still marvel over and am thankful for his expertise and passion in masterful selection.

              

                    Thanks for letting me share! Clint Bova      www.cjbovarods.com