I have built my own rods in the past but the action, quality and price of the old 18 rods are hard to beat, I got my suppressor casting rod with a used reel I bought and fell in love with it and is my primary rod now, I have since bought a kinetic spinning rod for my redfish combo, have only used it once so far but feel the quality is outstanding for the price, way better than the product you are going to get at the box stores. BTW I checked the spine on the spinning rod and is very close to dead center, I have checked one of my older mass produced brand name rods and was no where near centered, not sure if old 18 spines their rods or got lucky but its right, I want to check the spine on the suppressor and see if correct next time I down at fishing camp.