doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Bamboo and Doubles

“Bamboo rods are like really good whiskeys or vinyl records. People who think they’re better and worth the money should get them. And people who don’t shouldn’t.”
John Gierach

With the perceived decline of (or is it the increased) interest in double guns I’ve been thinking about this quote and wondering how much it may apply to doubles. (BTW Gierach has plenty of both.)

IMO, his quote is pretty much spot on. There are things of interest to me that I will spend, what most might call, stupid money on. I still look for a good deal on them, however, not wanting to get "upside down".

I know what you mean by "the decline in interest in double guns", but with the prices some auction houses are realizing for them I'm beginning to wonder about that, so called, decline in interest. FWIW, I've had what is considered to be the best in whiskey, and have owned lots of vinyl LPs and 45s. I spend my money on neither, so I guess I'm in the group he calls "people who don’t".

''ve gotGierach'smbook
"Trout Bum" in my library-great read, his nomadic lifestye brings to mind Bodio's writings on how much $ he has spent inj his gun trading search for the "perfect" shotgun. Ainj't no such thing-- But my all-time favorite one fly rod for trout- my pre-fire Leonard 49- 7&1/2ft.- 3/2 for 5 wt. with LHW Bogdan Trout reel-- for steelhead- My Payne 3/2 for 7 wt. Hardy Perfect LHW- 8&1/2 ft. RWTF

I have had the pleasure to read most of John Geirach's books and look forward to his latest release. More a book of fishing philosophy than instructive methods but always give food for though and makes me think; 'Yes, I might try that.' As for cane rods; I must admit to a liking for them. Fortunately they are not too expensive on the second hand market here in the U.K. Lagopus.....

I question the decline in double issue too. I have bid on a lot of guns over the last few years, and there is no doubt in my mind that prices are rising steadily on old doubles. Maybe the increases in new ones are driving that. The number of bids in online auctions for individual items also seems to be increasing.

I keep a close watch on GunBroker particular and have noticed that over the last 6 months in particular, the numbe of collectible doubles has been declining in every auction cycle. Their normal total sales listings has been at 800-1000 every two weeks, but tha number of old doubles of any kind has dropped to the point there is little of any interest to bid on. I haven't bid on anything in the last two cycles which is unbelievable compared to the past.

The cane rods sort of relate to modern rods like driving a vintage car relates to driving one of today's. It is more than just the performance that counts in the enjoyment. In the same way, the vintage guns I shoot ad something to the experience that modern guns cannot.

My experience in selling cane rods has been "buy low, sell high." Wish I could say the same on some doubles I've bought over the years...Gil

I’ve noticed the same thing in the narrow niche of guns that I watch for but was not sure across the wider double gun market here in the states. Yet, when Daniel Cote ceased publication of the DGJ last year he mentioned the “diminishing interest in classic guns,” and “…young people of today are not nearly so interested in classics guns…” as one of his two reasons for closing down the Journal (the other being rising material and labor costs). As a counter to that the Jan. ‘22 Field and Stream article on Mike Jensen”s double gun room in Kansas City stated, “It may come as a surprise that many of Jensen’s customers aren’t aging collectors, but younger hunters in their 30s and 40s, with the millennial’s taste for the artisanal and the handmade.”

So, I’m left scratching my head and accordingly, have slightly edited the original post to reflect that.

GLS: Selling cane right now isn't all that easy either. Especially the better blue-collar stuff, and....you can include reels on that list too. What used to be a very fluid market just isn't anymore. Fishermen seem to go broke first for some reason?

FWIW-Logo-- the late Ernest Hemingway favored Hardy rods and reels, over American cane rod offerings, especially in the 1930's, when with 2nd. wife's family wealth behind him, he had Uncle Gus Pfeiffer finance his deep sea 39ft Wheeler boat, named "The Pilar" and used Hardy rods and Vom Hofe salt water reels on it..Pictures of him trout fishing in Idaho's Silver Creek, also the Harriman "Railroad Ranch" section of the Henry's Fork also show him using a Hardy Rod and a Hardy Perfect fly reel. I'm not going to state that Hardy tackle of that era was any "better" Than: Leonard, Payne, Thomas, Gillum, Garrison, Wright&McGill, R.L. Winston, Heddon or Garrison.. The serious American fly fisherman of the pre-WW2 era had many offerings available to him in quality cane rods--Once you have fished for trout with a split cane fly rod, and then fished the same waters with a "chemical fly rod", well it's like hearing Glenn Gould, Canadian piano maestro, play the Bach Goldberg variations on a Steinway or Bosendorfer Grand piano, and then hearing the same played on a whorehouse piano, a la Scott Joplin. RWTF