Does Everybody Know What Time Is It? Tool Time!

I’ve lost a few tenkara rod tip plugs over the years. I’ve lost fewer lately, but in my early tenkara years, I lost them moderately frequently. I’ve also had tenkara rods plucked out of my back pocket or sling pack when a wily branch snagged the tip plug’s Dacron loop or caused too much friction against the Universal Tip Cap. Because of these incidents, I am wary of tip plugs and their designs.

But recently I was fishing with a friend of mine who is a contractor. I noticed that when he put away his rod (an ESZ Rivermaster Z2) he covered the tip with a caulking tube cap. It fit perfectly and was bright red, so it was easy to see if he dropped it. I thought, what a great idea! So I bought some.

The caps are made by a company called Tool Time Manufacturing. They are vinyl, flexible and fairly thick, so they are unlikely to tear and should last a long time. They are made to cover the tip of caulking tubes and are designed to be reusable. A pack of five cost me about $5 at a local home improvement store. The colors are bright and the fit is excellent.

I found that they fit well on a variety of rods, such as the TB36, TB40, Oni T-II, Oni 395, Kokoro 360, Kokoro 400, Air Stage Fujiryu 360 5:5 and 6:4, DRAGONtail Hellbender and Shimano 36 NR. They won’t fit on small tube rods like the Oni T-III, DRAGONtail Mizuchi and others. But still, they are an option for some rods.

So, Tool Time Caulking Caps are an option if you lose your tenkara rod’s tip plug. Give them a try, see what you think. Just maybe you’ll have an occasion to say, “Does everybody know what time is it? TOOL TIME!“

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