Bamboo Tips - Contributors
Martin, Lou

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Hello, my name is Lou Martin, but my family back in Honolulu has always known me as Vernon. I've hung to my nickname Lou (Honolulu Lulu) since Bobby Forester hung it on me while a freshman at Purdue 45 years ago.  I pretty much followed the path to the American dream many baby boomers took though college, beautiful wife, a tour in Vietnam, and a couple of kids. Twenty-four years as a "hands-on" engineer with MCI were most satisfying before corporate greed and layoffs put me on the street.  Add many years of ham radio, working on cars, a preference to do it myself, and an appreciation for traditional values and skills, it was inevitable that I started making bamboo rods 3 years ago.  Too bad it didn't happen sooner. 

Rodmaking has been a slow process for me, but I've enjoyed every minute of it. Seems like every time I get a little comfortable with a process or product like Helmsman urethane, I hear about another like Old Masters spar. The Rodmakers list has been a tremendous stimulus even though I remain basically a lurker (I was having no luck installing RodDNA 1.4, but a search though old list postings set me straight).

I have to thank Harry Boyd, Alan Kube, Lowell Davis, and Jeff Hatton for sharing their time and expertise so generously.

Stop by my tent at Bogan Flats campground just up the road from this year's CRR in Marble, Colorado.  We can share a dram or 2, a cigar, or just a few fishing stories.