05: KAIZEN PLATINUM RODS OVERVIEW
Danny Fairbrass was no stranger to carp rod design, having been involved with the process for other companies that manufactured ranges bearing his name, but his vision was to design and build his own completely from scratch, and where he had complete control over every aspect of them.
This started out as just a dream, but led to Korda’s first foray into the fishing rod market with the launch of the flagship Kaizen Platinum range in 2023, which has proven to be a big success since then.
With no design restrictions and complete freedom over the choice of materials, within reason, Danny and the rest of the Korda team set about designing carp rods that not only offered extremely high levels of performance, but did so consistently and whilst being enjoyable to use and play fish on. If you are spending your hard-earned money on a premium set of rods then you want to be able to actually feel the difference, as well as seeing it reflected in the components used throughout.
Given his many years of experience fishing such a wide variety of different waters at home and abroad, Danny had a very clear vision of the type of action that the Platinum rods should have, as well as wanting them to have more of a custom built look to them.
This meant starting with a completely blank canvas and actually designing our own mandrel – which is what is used to form the rod blank – to achieve what Danny views as being the ideal taper.
It also gave us the freedom to use the exact type of carbon that would give the rod the properties that we wanted them to have – in terms of power transfer, weight, and the overall action – and you can get more information from the Platinum carbon and materials explained section.
The same applied when it came to choosing all the components and fittings, and as Danny explained: “There is no point in developing a rod that is incredibly light compared to its power, and then adding heavy components to it.”
To find out more about the fittings that we chose for this range of rods, check out Guide rings on Kaizen Platinum rods.
The aim wasn’t just to build a fishing rod, but a whole range of them, which would perform well and cover any type of fishing that anglers are likely to encounter at home or abroad whilst targeting carp, as Danny’s vision wasn’t just restricted to the UK market.
The different models that ended up making it into the range, in terms of length and test curve, were carefully selected to make sure any type of carp fishing was catered for, including spodding, and to offer tools that would do the job perfectly ,and make life as easy as possible for the angler.
To learn more about all of the different models available and to narrow this down to a model that is just right for you, see Choosing the right Platinum model.
What we have produced in terms of the Platinum range very much fits in with the Kaizen ethos – a Japanese word that literally means ‘change for the better’ or is often referred to as continuous improvement – which involves striving for perfection, and is a philosophy very much aligned with Korda’s own when it comes to product development.
When purchasing any set of rods, and especially high end models like the Kaizen Platinum, the best way to choose the right model for you is to handle it in person, and you can do this by using our store locator to find your local Korda stockist.