I recently had to send a tenkara care package to a friend and thought it might be a good opportunity to clean up and organize some of my gear while I sifted through what to send–kill two birds with one stone. By the time I emptied the first bag (of several bins, bags, boxes and drawers), I had gear strewn all over the floor, effectively turning the lower level of my house into the set of the End of the World as we Know it video. I thought to myself, “my god, how did I end up with so much gear?” And, more importantly, why have I kept it?
Admittedly, I get a lot of people who send me free stuff to review or just to share because they thought it was interesting–and it adds up. But even if that weren’t the case, deep down, I know I would still somehow manage to end up in the same situation. I’m a gear junkie at heart. At one point, I had four Tenkara USA Iwana rods. I’ve got three nets, dozens of line spools, miles of level line, and who knows how many fly boxes, etc., etc., etc. And that’s just the tenkara gear. Don’t even get me started on my western rods and reels.
Now, there’s a case for having a good selection of gear. You can’t fish for tarpon with a 2 wt. (unless you’re mad), and fishing for bluegill with a 12 wt. would be no fun. Just like golf, you need different clubs for different situations. But why the redundancy? Why do I have four of the exact same rod? Did I somehow subconsciously convince myself that if three break, I’ll have a backup? Why couldn’t I let go?
Why do we hoard so much gear?
Any avid hobbyist is likely to be a hoarder of gear; and anglers are no exception. Even in a self-professed “minimalistic” sport like tenkara, people end up with scores of rods, line spools, lines and flies. But why? I think I can identify at least a few main reasons …
1. Gear is sexy
Let’s face it, gear is fun to play with. No matter your sport of choice, gear allows the intimate connection between you and your quarry–it’s the link and without it, you couldn’t pursue your reverie. It’s necessary. But on a more primitive level, it’s just fun to play with. Hearing the purr of a new click and pawl reel as you pull line off is like a symphony. “New wader smell” is like incense. Extending that new tenkara rod for the first time and feeling the sections lock for the first time is akin to extending your soul and starting a new life. OK, maybe those are exaggerations, but you get the point. It’s just plain fun to play around with gear. It’s the tool and the toy of our trade. I’ve seen grown men become giddy over pieces of gear the same way a kid does with a new toy. On some level, no matter how old you are, shiny, flashy things are appealing.
2. Authority
When I was “gear poor”, I somehow felt like less of an angler. I would see all these other guys brag about how many flies and rods they had, and somehow, that gave them stream cred. Because someone who has X number of rods must be a pro. I’m guilty of buying into that. Maybe that’s why I’ve held on to redundant gear for so long.
3. The perception that more gear makes you a better angler
The other day, I listened to an NPR segment with Behavioral Science Correspondent Shankar Vedantum. He explained an experiment about the perception of “good” gear vs. “generic” gear and how it affects our perception. There were two groups of golfers (I don’t know why I use golf analogies so much since I don’t even golf; it just always seems to serve as a good parallel). One was given a club and explicitly told it was a Nike club. The other group was given the exact same club and told nothing–leaving them to assume it might just be a sub par club (there we go again with the golf–get it? “par”). The group that thought they had the Nike club outperformed the group that thought they just had any old club.
The conclusion of the study was basically reaffirming the placebo effect–that if you believe some external aid will help you, psychologically, it will. There have been countless studies in pharmacology on this, but apparently it bleeds over into sport and hobby. Do we fish better if we’re using a $300 Oni rod vs. a $10 Chinese knock-off? I think we probably do. Perception = reality. I think there’s a tendency for most of us that we always have to have the “latest and greatest” in order to be the best angler we can be. So we buy that new rod, line, fly, or whatever that promises to up our catch rate. Because we believe it. That adds to our arsenal as well.
4. Sentimentality
Finally, I think there’s a passionate reason we accumulate gear: emotional connection. I still have my first tenkara rod. I’ll never let it go. I caught my first tenkara fish on it, it’s how I met Daniel and Karel, and it’s what ultimately spawned this blog. While I don’t fish it anymore, its purpose is not lost. Every time I look at it, it’s a reminder of how my life has changed because of it. I’ve got a few other pieces of gear like that. The mini tamo Masami Sakakibara sent me that I hang on my Christmas tree every year as an ornament is just one example. But I’ve got many, many more.
So …
Ironically, in the midst of writing this post, I got a package from the UK with two more tenkara rods, some strike indicators, neoprene shin guards, and some other gear (reviews coming soon). Will I keep it all? I don’t know. There’s so much good tenkara gear out there today. I was starved for it years ago, but now it’s just overwhelming. I try to be judicious in the gear I keep vs. give away to people I know who could really use it. But I’m always grateful for the opportunity to try it out and let others know about it. I guess at this stage in my tenkara career, I’m more interested in gear as a conduit for writing than as totems of prowess. But I do have my favorites. And those are the things I keep.
Just own your “problem” and get on with life. That’s why I have never been a big advocate of AA, I ain’t no quitter. 🙂
Jason,
Isn’t it funny how the “simplest form” of fly fishing has you buried. You’ve been crushed by the dream.
I’ve been a Western-style fly fisherman for some +20 years. It got so bad that we had to built a dedicated storage room for my have-to-have outdoor gear. As I got older & wiser I did start to consciously become a minimalist. That’s why when I discovered Tenkara a few years ago it struck my like a bolt of lightning. It’s perfect! I can secure the whole kit in one hand and a shirt pocket.
Of course now as I sit here, looking over at my 3 Tenkara rods, dedicated sling bag and spools of just-right braided and level-line spools delicately sitting in a corner ready to go, I find myself laughing (with you) and your post.
I think you need to add a No. 5 – Addiction, and then close with the Serenity Prayer!
Great post,
David
David, this is for you: https://www.tenkaratalk.com/2011/06/you-know-youre-a-tenkara-addict-when/
Very well said Jason. I’m a big hoarder of fly tying materials. Now that i fish with tenkara rod i can finally let go of 75% of the material I have. Glad you are back, enjoy reading your posts.
A lot of people (my wife included) could probably accuse me of also being a hoarder as well, but I don’t believe that I really am and here is the reason why: Whenever anyone takes up a new sports activity, it takes a while and a number of gear purchases to figure out what you really want and what you really need for all of your different fishing situations. From time to time a gear maker will come out with a new product that will better meat your needs. And that, of course, almost always deserves an honest try and can happen to any of us at any time. But speaking strictly for myself now, once I have found the Right Rod for each fishing venue I fish, I loose interest in most of the new stuff that’s coming onto the market because it is hard to improve on gear perfection, even when the new rod has the most advanced generation of carbon fiber there has been to that point. It is better to work on perfecting your fishing skills than it is to put your hope in the buying another rod, hoping against hope that the new rod will somehow magically turn you into the best angler there is around. That’s just not very likely to happen.
Karl, that’s actually a really good point about finding the right gear for you. It’s taken me quite a few rods, packs, and lines to discover my favorites.
I prefer the title “Packrat”. Hoarder simply lacks class in my view.
My pile of stuff: the order in which it accumulated, and its thickness. Maps the sojourn of my mind.
Where I’ve been, how long I stayed. The foundation of where I am today, and how I got here.
To mess with my stuff, without permission, is to run amok inside my mind.
I wouldn’t call it hoarding only because it seems to have a bad vibe to it. I would call it collecting. As my tastes change and innovations arise purchases are made but I never hesitate to gift items to those friends in need. Therefore I guess you could say that I am stocking up for necessary gifts.
What Karl mentioned makes complete sense to me in terms of attempting to find the correct equipment for the individual’s taste.
I have 4 tenkara rods at the moment. I have an idea of what I want to accomplish with a rod but I cannot walk into a shop and test out a range of tenkara rods by different manufacturers at a single site. Unless traditional fly rods where you can handle, cast, and possibly even rent in some cases a piece of equipment, I haven’t found a store that comes close to making this a reality for most aspiring tenkara anglers. Attending a tenkara gathering or rifling through Chris Stewart’s closet may be the closest to achieving such a goal of comparing different manufacturers product ranges.
In terms of holding on to stuff, I have a particular line which is stated to be a suitable line for beginners, it’s the Dr Ishigaki influenced which without checking at the moment, may be called “Straight Line by Fujino”. For whatever reason, I have tried this particular line on the different rods I own and it is a fussy piece of line to cast. I honestly don’t know why it’s so difficult to cast, other lines like the furled-lines and level lines cast okay. It virtually collapses at the overhead 12 o’clock position. I’ve tried altering the casting stroke a variety of ways without success. I have frequently thought of mailing it to Anthony Naples in hopes of figuring out the mystery to casting this particular tenkara line.
Next. On hoarding. I bought a few thousand vintage Mustad hooks this past summer. Those vintage hooks are becoming somewhat harder and harder to find and I wanted to tie some classic fly patterns on the hook models originally called for in fly pattern recipes. It may have been a mistake but I went down that rabbit hole feeling it also felt like a reward for working hard, with virtually zero days off or any time for fishing. The ole’ spend your way out of depression tactic, I guess.
Related to hoarding, I noticed some products which were typically easier to acquire throughout the year have become increasingly difficult to purchase due to stock levels. In one case, Dave Whitlock’s SLF Goldenstone dubbing is for practical purpose non-existent in the marketplace. I’ve tried all of the main suppliers online and offline. Nada. Mallard wings are in the same boat. Comparadun deer hair is another item which is hard to find lately. Meaning the good stuff for smaller flies. Like the stuff from Nature’s Spirit. Some of the Hareline stuff has been terr-i-ble.
One of the best tips I’ve heard over and over from some of the best flytiers is to stock up on good materials when you find them because you never know when a favorite material or product will be hard to find or completely discontinued from the marketplace leaving you searching for substitutes, substitutes which frequently don’t hold up in quality and properties of the original.
Hi Jeff, all great points! I know the pain of falling in love with a material only to have it discontinued. Maybe you’ve just given me an idea for a blog post about it.
As for the line … Are you talking abut this one? https://www.tenkarabum.com/fujino-tenkara-line.html If so, it’s nylon so it won’t have the mass of a fluorocarbon line. If it’s not that one, do you have a link to the one you’re talking about?