



|
Watercraft Accessories Review |
Maximize your rod locker and your rod rack with Stor's It Rod Covers

Date: |
10/10/2005 |
Tackle type: |
Rod Storage |
Manufacturer: |
Stor's It |
Reviewer: |
Cal |
Total Score: 8.17
Introduction: One of the downfalls of being such an avid collector of tackle is figuring which combinations you want to bring on each trip, and how you're going to pack them in the boat. Here at TackleTour, the decision making process is further complicated by our dynamic list of items to test and review. You can bet, when we received our two new Team TackleTour bass boats this year, the first thing we did was to sit down and discuss our rod storage
requirements. One of the solutions that materialized was a system of rod covers offered by a company named Stor's It.
Stor's It Rod Sleeve Specifications
|
Rod Types Supported |
Casting and Spinning Rods |
Available Sizes |
5 each, Casting & Spinning |
Available Accessories |
Reel Covers |
Custom sizes available? |
Yes |
Colors |
Light Grey Only |
MSRP |
$7.50 |
Impressions: Anyone who has owned a bass boat whether large or small knows that the challenges involved in rod storage.
Equipped with lockers of varying configurations, one thing that is common within these rod lockers is bent guides, broken tips, and quite often a tangled mess. Rod racks minimize many of these issues but they greatly limit the number of combinations you can bring - especially in smaller bass boats. In addition, while they minimize many of these locker issues, they do not eliminate them. Bent guides and broken tips are still symptoms of rod lockers with built in racks for organization.
 |
The
Stor's
It
covers
come
packaged
in
convenient
ziplock
bags
|
Enter Dave D'Allesandro,
owner and founder of Stor's
It. A little over a decade
ago, Dave was having this
very problem and had also
lost patience with the
limitations the rod racks in
his locker were forcing him
into. To cure this dilemma,
Dave began making his own
rod sleeves so that he could
not only fit more rods in
his locker, but do so safely
and easily. One thing led to
another and now, almost 12
years later, he's making and
selling his product to
tournament fisherman and
recreational anglers
throughout the country.
Dave tells us his greatest
challenge has been in
finding the right material
to bridge the gap between
the guides on each rod such
that you can pull a rod from
the bottom of your stack of
gear out without tangling
with or banging into other
rods as you clear the
locker. Finally, within the
last four or five years,
they've found the material
they've been looking for.
This material is made
exclusively for Stor's It
and consists of a thin,
perforated vinyl that is
light enough so as not to
cook your rods, but sturdy
enough to prevent them for
hooking or tangling with one
another
 |
The Stor's It Rod Cover |
The Field Tests: For our
initial tests, we ordered 10
sleeves. After receiving our
first 10 and trying them out
in the rod locker of our
Skeeter SX180, we quickly
ordered 10 more so that we
might test the full
potential of this system.
Storage:
As you might imagine,
filling up our 20 sleeves
with varying combinations of
rods was rather easy for us.
The Stor's It rod sleeves
come in a variety of sizes
to cover a wide rang of rods
measuring from 5'6" to 7'6".
Custom sizes are also
available. We purchased
mostly the models
appropriate for 7' and 7'6"
rods and went right to work
filling them up and stacking
them into our rod locker. As
a word of caution, it's
important to also use covers
for your reels when taking
advantage of this storage
solution otherwise your
reels will get scuffed
during transport.
|
Over a dozen
combinations
of rods and
reels
stacked in
the locker
of our
Skeeter
SX180 thanks
to the
Stor's It
product
|
Identification:
We were quite pleased by
the ease of which we
could fill our locker
with any number of
combinations. Once we
hit the water though, we
quickly discovered one
of the shortfalls of
this system: identifying
which combination is
what. The rod sleeves
are only available in
one color and have no
real way of for an
angler to identify one
from the other so other
than looking at the
handles of each rod,
it's a little difficult
to discern which combo
is where when they're
all stacked on top of
one another.
Fortunately, there's a
very easy solution to
this dilemma and that is
employing the use of a
label machine. Labels
stick quite easily to
the rod sleeves and are
a great aid in
organizing your gear
with the sleeves.
|
A label
maker is a
great aid in
identifying
what rod and
reel lie
within each
sleeve
|
Effectiveness:
As advertised, with our
locker filled to the rim
with rod and reel
combinations, we were
able to reach down to
the bottom for a
specific combo and pull
it out through the stack
of rods with little to
no effort whatsoever. It
is a truly amazing
system in this regard.
Unfortunately, this is a
task that is best
performed when at the
dock or in a cove or
other quiet spot on the
water because one side
effect these sleeves
have is the ability to
catch the wind. Pulling
your sleeved combo's out
of the locker in any
amount of wind proves a
challenging task once
the rod is free because
the wind can take hold
of the sleeves rather
readily.
Once all the combo's you
want for the day are out
and free of the locker,
laying comfortably on
your casting deck, the
next task is to find
somewhere convenient to
store the sleeves
themselves. Naturally,
we tossed ours back into
the rod locker which was
fine. When it came time
to switch a combo out,
however, we came to the
realization we needed to
wrap one combo back up
before sticking it back
into the locker, so we
had to spend time
sifting through the
loose sleeves to find
the proper cover for the
combo going back into
the locker. If you're an
angler that changes
combo's often, this can
grow tiresome.
|
A close-up
of the
Stor's It
sleeve
material
showing a
spot where a
hook on one
of our
pre-rigged
rods came
through the
sleeve.
Hardly
noticeable,
but there
nonetheless.
|
Durability:
The sleeves themselves
are made of a very
durable vinyl material.
Unfortunately, as with
any material and
especially one that is
perforated, hooks can
get caught up in the
sleeves very easily so
stowing pre-rigged
combinations is not
exactly convenient and
may shorten the life of
your sleeves. Otherwise,
with proper care, we see
no reason these sleeves
shouldn't last through
several years of use.
|
The Stor's
It sleeves
come
complete
with a
strapping
system to
hook either
your reel, a
reel cover,
or even the
z-style hook
keepers to
stay in
place.
|
Convenience: As
touched on earlier, the
convenience of having
any number of rod and
reel combinations on the
boat is one thing. The
reality of switching
between these combo's is
a different matter
entirely. We soon grew
tired of the management
overhead carrying over a
dozen combinations of
rods and reels on the
boat at one time. For
those who fish a set
number of combo's on the
deck and just need to be
able to carry a few
emergency spares in
their locker while at
the same time having a
safe and convenient
means by which to stow
your relied upon set of
rigs during transport,
this could very well be
an ideal solution.
Preferring to spend as
little time as possible
after pulling back up
out of the water before
heading home, we found
the extra ten to fifteen
minutes necessary to
properly stow our even a
limited number of rods
in their appropriate
sleeves and get them all
back into the locker a
bit cumbersome. This is
no fault of the sleeves,
but simply a condition
of the system itself.
|
The Stor's
It sleeves
come in both
spinning
models
(upper left
inset) and
casting
models
(large
photo). Care
must be
taken not to
tension the
sleeves too
much or risk
bending your
rod (lower
right inset)
|
Other
Uses: While we
really appreciated the
sturdiness of the Stor's
It rod covers and truly
admired their
effectiveness, the
management issues grew
too cumbersome for us.
Switching over to the
standard rod rack system
in our lockers, we ran
into the problem of our
guides catching the back
end of the rod rack
tubes and the additional
issue of the rods
becoming entangled with
one another on the
backside of the tubes.
Taking our experience
with the rod sleeves we
came up with the hybrid
solution of lining our
rod rack tubes with our
Stor's It rod sleeves
and voila! Trouble free
in and access of our
combo's from the rod
rack coupled with an
easy way to manage the
sleeves. It is truly the
best of both worlds.
While we still are not
able to carry over
twenty combinations
thanks to the
limitations of our rod
rack, we no longer have
to worry about banging
guides and having our
rods tangle on other
side of the rack's rod
tubes.

|
The
marriage
of
two
systems.
Our
Stor's
It
Rod
Sleeves
tucked
within
a
rod
rack
to
mitigate
against
damaged
guides
and
facilitate
access.
|
Availability &
Accessories:
The Stor's It
rod sleeves are
easily acquired
through the
company's
website.
Depending on
stock, delivery
is usually
within the week.
Dave and his
wife Sharon take
all the calls
and answer all
the emails
themselves and
are available to
answer any
questions you
might have. If
you don't
already have
covers for your
reels, they make
and sell those
to work in
conjunction with
their rod sleeve
system.
Ratings:
Shimano
Metanium MG
Ratings
(?/10)
|
Construction/Quality |
Very well built
yet simple
design. The key
is in their
exclusive
fabric. |
9 |
Performance |
Amazingly
effective access
to any rod in
the locker. |
9 |
Price |
Priced about
right but can
add up when you
order as many as
we did. |
8 |
Features |
Perforated
sleeves for
breathing and
elastic
fastening cord
for tension.
Only thing that
might be missing
is a sleeve for
labels |
8 |
Design
(Ergonomics) |
Functionally,
the sleeves work
fine. We'd like
to see the
incorporation of
color for fast
and easy
recognition of
sleeves in
different sizes |
7 |
Application |
Use as a
standalone
system or in
conjunction with
a rod rack |
8 |
Total Score
|
8.17 |
Pluses and Minuses:
Plus
Minus
|
J
Sturdy
Construction |
L
Can become
cumbersome if
you like to
switch out
combo's often |
J
Helps you
maximize the use
of your rod
locker |
L
No way to
distinguish
between
different length
sleeves |
J
Provides very
good protection
of your rods |
|
Conclusion: For
those wanting to truly
maximize the use of
their rod lockers or for
those with lockers that
are relatively small and
a rod rack doesn't make
a lot of sense, there
might not be a better
solution out there for
stowing your precious
rods. For those with
enough combo's to fill
their lockers to the
brim and more and even
those with built in rod
racks, but are
experiencing issues form
time to time, of rods
getting tangled up or
caught in the tubes, you
owe it to yourself to
look into these sleeves.
The ease by which you
can stack combo after
combo into your locker,
reach down to
the bottom of the stack,
and pull out the one you
want to use right now is
truly astonishing and
reason enough to be
awarded the TackleTour
Innovation Award! But
the fact that you can
also use them as liners
in your existing rod
racks to mitigate
against damaged guides
puts these sleeves over
the top. Until next
time, look into these
sleeves so you can keep
collecting and have
somewhere to stow all
your gear!

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