Because we wanted to improve the discussion.

I've been using Falcon rods for years, they're middle of the road in pricing. The company is based in Oklahoma but I'm not sure if their factory is there.

Kistler rods are made in magnolia/Montgomery area

Falcon is not using American-made blanks and if they're using Fuji guides or reel seats then they're not American-made either. They may be assembled in the USA but their components aren't made here.

I'm not 100% sure on the rest of their components but Kistler builds their rods on Northfork Composites blanks which is owned by Gary Loomis. They use Toray Composites blanks on their less expensive rods and they do a lot of their manufacturing in South Korea- these are their $200 rods.

There just aren't that many places cooking blanks for conventional rods in the USA anymore. Certainly not for rods that cost less than $350.

Go search the catalog of rod blanks at Northfork Composites or at Mudhole. You can barely find a single blank by a company making them in the USA for under $100. When you price in the rest of the components, assembly, overhead, and labor that $100 blank becomes a $350 rod.

Thanks for the info. Interesting stuff.