Testimonials

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Hey Russ, I just finished splitting, pressing nodes, and straightening the strips on the butt section of the first A- culm. Wow! I was surprised on the time you save working with high grade bamboo. My first bundle of bamboo was purchased from a west coast competitor. I'm coming to the end of the bundle & really should have passed on a lot of it for rod making. As you call it "plant stakes". It's just hard throwing away material.... I thought your prices were high compared to others, but the time savings just in splitting & straightening has saved so much already. Can't wait to get on with the rest of the build. I really appreciate the notes on the culms as well. Steers me in the right direction. Another GREAT product from Golden Witch! Stay safe & healthy!

 

 

Chuck Reasy (USA)

 

 

 

 

Hi Russ, Just a note to let you know I received my A+ bamboo yesterday. It was sorted and packaged great, everything arrived in perfect shape. Please thank Drake for me. Really beautiful quality cane, I can't wait to get started up again!

 

 

Vin N. (USA)

 

 

 

 

Hi Russ, The {A+} cane arrived today in great shape. It’s beautiful stuff! Thanks for what you do and for making this great material available for us to work with.

 

 

Dave G. (USA)

 

 

 

 

Picked up my {A & A- Grade} Peak Bamboo order this afternoon. Everything arrived in ship shape. Should be enough to keep me busy this winter. Nice stuff, plenty for blondes and flames. Thanks again.

 

 

Casey P. (USA)

 

 

 

 

I have split one of the 10 new A+ culms you sent to me recently and have finished the heat treating and secondary tapers for the 2 - 8' - 9" Garrison light salmon taper rods (1 of which will be donated to the Atlantic Salmon Federation for auction at their fall banquet in New York City this November). All of the strips for the new rods turned out almost perfect. There are no blemishes and the strips came out of the culm almost perfectly straight. In other words, the new bamboo culms are fantastic.

 

 

Terry N. (USA)

 

 

 

 

Hey Nikki and Russ, Just wanted to thank you for going the extra mile. I picked up the bamboo yesterday and brought it across the border with zero issues... whew! … Thanks again for all the help! You guys rock!

 

 

Jesse C. (Canada)

 

 

 

 

You have such a nice company with really great service! My 16 year old … was super excited for the little gifts of stickers and info that came with his package. Great job!

 

 

Julie P. (USA)

 

 

 

 

Russ, the bamboo order arrived Monday and to say I am pleased is an understatement. The Grade A bamboo is excellent and your processing of the order and detail in shipping is outstanding. I am pleased with the added items received. I made two spinning rods for a friend who has a place on the Lake of the Ozarks several years ago and am looking forward to building another spinning rod using the taper and classic guides.

 

 

Thank you, Doug S. (USA)

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the Peak Bamboo care package! Funny thing, a family member has requested a bamboo spinning rod. Your gift helps that project along! You have ESP. I can hardly wait to receive my Peak Bamboo. Have been using my stock of longbow bamboo and have run out. ... It's exciting to finally have real Tonkin. ... Thanks again and I look forward to a future of business with you folks.

 

 

Casey P. (USA)

 

 

Hi Russ, I’m making the 1952 version {of the Dickerson 7613} … I’ll try both eventually. Hey, the culm I’m using is one of the ones you sent me for the chopsticks article. It is NICE! Very straight and clear cane, too.

 

 

Thanks!

Jeff E. (USA)

 

Hi Russ, Thank you so much for such a good job on sending me the culms. I can see the difference now.... Just arrive home for a trip and find the package on my mail room!

 

Abracos

Claudio B. (Brazil)

Russ, Thank you so much...I really appreciate your guidance and expertise. This is a level of customer service that is uncommon these days and that means a lot to me as a customer. … I placed an order for the sample pack with no drying split and 6' sections. I will start adding additional culms per your suggestion and as space allows. Once again, thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend! Thanks,

Larry N. (TX)

Just let me say.... exceptional bamboo (6x A+ Culms) and top shelf packaging. There wasn't even a dent in the boxes. … Your gang should offer a packaging seminar to other businesses.

Pete E. (CA)

Four of our clients in South Africa banded together and purchased a crate of Peak’s Tonkin. Most of the load was A+, with some A, and small amount of A-, which allowed these fellows to sample our entire product range. The culms were professionally crated and shipped by Air Freight, which was surprisingly affordable on a per/culm basis. The culms arrived in great shape! We received a short, enthusiastic email which compares our lowest tier, A- bamboo, to the best material these makers had been able to source, previously...

“It’s here safe and sound. Unbelievable quality! (Redacted: U.S. Bamboo Supplier’s) best stuff wasn’t close to your A- culms!!!  And of course the service that goes with the material is unsurpassed.

I’m about to forward this to the other boys. They will be overwhelmed by the quality. Thanks again Russ.”

Dean R. (South Africa)

Greg was the very first maker to visit our shop; we asked him what he thought...

Thank you so much for your hospitality and warm welcome to Sycamore Mill and Peak Bamboo. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting both of you and Russ’s sons. Everything at the Mill was organized so nicely and efficiently.  You all were there before I arrived and we were able to get right down to selecting the culms I had preordered.  The only thing that slowed us down was our discussions of rod making, reel making, and rod maker gatherings, but I enjoyed it all. You have a wonderful business or perhaps better stated as businesses.  You are contributing much to the bamboo rod makers craft and it is appreciated.  

I got back to Bellefontaine, Ohio at 5:00 and had time to look over the Peak Bamboo selections of A+ and A culms I had chosen at Sycamore Mill.  They looked even better at home than they did when I selected them.  I imagine that there will be some that will hesitate at paying Peak prices for A or A+ culms, but if makers see the quality of the culms I believe they may realize that it would likely require them to buy three to four bales to get the quality culms I got in selecting 6 A Culms and 6 A+ culms.  The straightness, power fibers, color and enamel quality exceeded my expectations even for the A culms I selected. So overall it is my opinion that there is very good value in buying the A and A+ Peak Bamboo culms.  I look forward to using them and displaying the Peak Bamboo hang tags and decals that you provided.

 

On a separate note, thank you so much for Peak Bamboo’s generous donation to our Grayrock Gathering in June. I think it will help people see the quality of your product which should help them determine the value of a purchase.  I’ll be sending you a signed receipt for Peak Bamboo’s donation.  

 

So thank you again for your hospitality and contribution to the bamboo rod makers craft.

Greg McGowan (USA)

Handcrafted Bamboo Fly Rods

And Custom Machined Fly Reels

Hey Russ and Nikki,

“I have been putting the finishing touches on my workshop since I received the bamboo order, and yesterday I finally started on my first rod with Peak Bamboo! Let me say that I am thrilled with the bamboo that I ordered from you. Just to remind you, I ordered 10 sticks of A- and 5 sticks of grade A. I am well pleased with both. I can absolutely see what the differences in the grades are, and because I am going to ‘flame’ all of my rods I am glad that I purchased the grades that I did. It is going to work out perfectly. I am very glad that I made the decision to pursue purchasing based on quality of culm, and not price alone. I believe that that decision will be the most cost effective in the long run…and that my finished rods will reflect the “quality” decision.

Thank you so much for making the investment to offer rod craftsmen the choice of quality versus price! For me I am pleased that my first bamboo purchasing experience is with Peak, and I don’t plan to ever change that!

Good luck with the next shipment! I will be sending orders for components soon.”

Joel M. (TN)

"Thanks again for your individual efforts along with Nikki and Matt to bring about the availability of some real quality Tonkin. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands and plane on this grass.

Love the Peak Bamboo…Not having much experience with planing strips out of bamboo, my learning curve has been rather steep but positive. I really believe that the quality of the Peak Bamboo A+ culms has allowed me to minimize many of the problems that I was having while working with lesser grade/quality bamboo!! Right now I’m really having a blast spending time in my rod studio working on different tapers. Reminds me of the enjoyment I received when working on primitive bows and scraping the backs of Osage staves down to a single growth ring.

Thanks again for your support, advice, and wonderful customer service and products.”

Marty L. (WY)

"I received my order today and it looks great! Thanks for the prompt and thorough shipping service - it was very well packaged. … Thanks again for everything."

Scott R. (USA)

"I received my bamboo yesterday and got it opened today. There is no better quality bamboo anywhere!!! The power fibers are very nice, the color is a very nice blonde shade, and the culm is free of water, bug, and growers marks along with being very straight!!! I should be able to get a couple rods out of a couple of the culms if I split carefully. When you order an A+ culm, that is exactly what you get!!! The little box of extras is a nice bonus!! I will put the coupons to good use. "

Best,
Frank C. (MI)

"Received my bamboo today … the density on all the pieces is nice and consistent from butt to tip. This will make some very nice rods with few blemishes. I am very happy with the quality."

Thanks again,
Steve G. (WA)

"Russ – The (A Grade) bamboo arrived and it looks very good. Very few leaf nodes and almost no obvious critter holes. One pair will take some straightening and is still a little green, but I keep my shop very dry, so it won't be long before it's nice and golden. …. Anyway, just wanted to thank you for jumping into this business and to wish you luck."

Steve W. (KY)

"I just wanted to let you know that the 5x A grade culms I ordered were delivered Friday. The quality is excellent - very clean, high quality cane. As usual, it's a pleasure doing business with you folks."

Thanks again,

Joe A. (MA)

“Got the (A+) bamboo . It's beautiful !!! Very blonde and top grade. Now my daughter wants the first rod from this culm. She's going to pick out some nice components from Golden Witch website while I start the splitting. I'm very curious to what she's going to choose. I told her she could mix and match anything she thinks looks good !!!”

Thanks a bunch…

Bryant M. (CA)

Hi Russ,

“Received my shipment on 2/06/17. Culms (A+ & A) came in the box with no damage during shipment. I have inspected the culms and am pleased with the distance between node lengths, the diameter of the cane and the fact that there were no scar marks. This exceptional cane should make some excellent fly rods.  The ‘welcome packet’ with the vintage guides and coupons was a nice surprise.”

Thank You,

Bill G. (IL)