I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and writing about how to properly pack your rod tube to maximize the chances that your sticks will arrive at your locations unscathed. What I’ve overlooked, however, are detailed instructions on things you can do to the OUTSIDE of your tube to minimize heartache.

I’ve already written more than I ever thought possible not only about multi-piece fishing rods, but also about how to get them from Point A to Point Z. Whether you’re backpacking, flying, driving or riding a mule, if you arrive at your fishing destination with broken sticks it can be an absolute disaster. For most of us, a standard, non-descript, one-color tube or case will suffice, but if you like a little bit of style in your carrying mechanism – and you’re willing to spend a few extra dollars – there are higher-end options available.

I’ve flown with a 33-inch travel rod tube to Alaska, to Brazil, and to five countries in southern Africa without incident, but on my most recent trip to El Salto I ran into a situation that required some quick action to avert what otherwise could have been a disaster.

How do you protect your most expensive rods for a trip to the lake or as you board your private jet? It’s not necessarily a rhetorical question. As more hedge-funders and other members of the international elite discover angling, they want the best of the best.

If your travel rods are an integral part of your life, you can make them a central part of your home or office décor with a custom stand. This reduces the chance that you’ll misplace or damage them. In some cases they also have storage for your corresponding reels and/or some tackle.

If you’re hopping on a commercial air flight, the ideal situation is to bring your rods with you inside the big bird. That decreases the chance that they’ll be lost in transit and also allows you to position them safely. If you have a single rod and a thin-diameter tube, most airlines will let you carry it on without a second look, but as your package gets, well, “girthier,” you might not have it so easy.

While my preference would always be to use rods provided to me at my destination or sample from the variety of travel rods I’ve accumulated, sometimes that’s simply not feasible. Many times if you want to have the right tool when you get there, you’re going to need something that’ll hold one-piece rods

I’m going to try, over the next few months, to figure out whether the juice is worth the squeeze on three-, four- and five-piece rods. I’m going to fish around home with nine of them that I’ve acquired and try to give you an honest report on their performance. Maybe I’ll be disappointed, but I might be satisfied enough to integrate them into some of my regular rotation.