Custom cork and CFX carbon fiber handles

I LOVE the cork jigs, micro-saw, and other tools from Mudhole.com. It's finicky work, but the results can be stunning.  These pix are of the handles on my personal rods; pardon the grime, they've been fished hard!

The first and second photos are a "Double Wells" handle that works well on our 9' rods. My "standard custom" Full Wells handle, shown in pic #3, has a short fixed fighting butt, burnt cork end caps, and thin rings to indicate line weight at the reel seat end. Optionally, I can swap in a removable fighting butt (shown in pic #1). And/or I can add a 2, 4, or 6 slice checkerboard ring (the 6 slice versions of this ring are shown in 3 of the 5 handles here).

The last cork handle pictured here, the "Deluxe", shows a burnt cork spiral staircase wrapped around the handle and 6 slice checkerboards on each end. That one takes a truly insufferable amount of effort and is priced accordingly, but I'm 99% certain you won't see another one, ever!

Finally, I can make you a whole handle and fighting butt in sleek, black carbon fiber from CFX. It's a stiff but surprisingly comfortable grip! I'd say more, but the blank I built it on was a complete dud that failed spectacularly under the stress of a moderate sized fish. Hey, sometimes R&D goes that way. The CFX handle and fighting butt are aces though, and the next time I make an all-black stealth stick it will use these for sure.