Well, not wood. Bark, to be precise. 

There was this birch grip around since ever. You dont see it very often on custom fly rods, maybe on one or the other bamboo build, but they are a rare sight on the river. Why? Well because its a lot of hard work to make one. 

First you need to prepare the raw bark, rubbing off all the white stuff from the outer layer, then cut round discs.... And yes, this is not a cork grip. So were not talking about 15 rings, but were talking about 70 birch disks. That takes time. 

Once glued together, the grinding is a task for itself. Birch bark is an incredible material, extremely resistant against the elements. But that means on the other hand that also grinding is not done in 10 minutes (...).

If you touch such a finished grip for the first time, you will be amazed by the feeling and feedback it gives you when casting a rod. The finish is smooth and warm but still with an excellent grip. I love it!

​

Feel the difference.