Ground Breaking New Rod from Mackenzie to Launch at GAC Event!

We are very excited to reveal the launch of yet another new product at this weekends Spring Open Weekend Event at GAC!

The team from Mackenzie DTX have teamed up with Professor Gary Savage, former Formula One World Team Champion and one of the world’s leading experts in carbon and composites to bring to market what has to be regarded as the most advanced fly rod ever made! With Professor Savage's help, Scott Mackenzie and his team have designed and built a world first - a fly rod incorporating a new super material called Graphene! You can see and try the new Mackenzie FX1 Graphene Salmon fly rod for yourself at our Open Weekend Event on the 4th, 5th and 6th of March 2016 where they will be shown to the public for the first time!

So what is Graphene? The Mackenzie FX1 flyrod is the first double-handed salmon rod to use Graphene, a Nobel Prize winning material that is set to revolutionise carbon-composite engineering. Discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004, Graphene is the strongest and stiffest material known to man. It is up to 300 times stronger than steel, even stronger than diamond, and 30 times stronger than Kevlar - the material used for bullet proof vests! Graphene recently revolutionised the tennis world after Head launched a new tennis racket using the material, now used used by Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

Single walled Graphene Nanotube                     Multi walled Graphene Nanotube

The way it is used in the manufacture of the Mackenzie FX1 blank is in the form of multi-walled carbon nanotubes - 1 atom thick sheets of hexagonally bonded carbon formed into tubes and added to a state of the art resin. Being 32 times stiffer than steel per unit mass. The sub-microscopic cylinders of carbon on a weight-for-weight basis are at least 120, and up to 300 times stronger than steel and 30 times stronger than Kevlar!

Scanning Tunnel Electron Micrograph of Graphene Nanotubes - red dots are carbon atoms!

Approximately 1/50,000th the width of a human hair, Graphene nanotubes can stretch considerably rather like plasticine before breaking, up to 14 percent of their normal length. Their aspect ratio (length/diameter) can be up to 130,000,000:1. To illustrate this, if we think of a carbon nanotube as a piece of spaghetti (typically 2mm in diameter) then, at this scale, the tube would be 66km long!

The Mackenzie FX1 rod blank is impregnated with this resin incorporating a weave of this new Graphene nanotube material. The rod flexes deeply during the cast and recovers quickly and powerfully. This fast recovery makes it easier to cast further with little effort, yet retains the 'feel' that is so important in a Salmon fly rod, especially if your casting is not on top form.

As well as being the first rod to incorporate Graphene, the blanks are produced using a further unique process where the blanks are cured inside a high pressure Auto Clave, a machine normally used to make parts for the F1 motor racing and aerospace industries. This extra process removes as much air as possible from between the carbon layers in the blank as it is cured that would normally remain trapped during the normal rod making process, creating a much stronger blank which means the FX1 rods are extremely strong and durable. With these new manufacturing processes, the new Mackenzie FX1 Graphene Salmon rods are at the forefront of global design and composite engineering using new materials and techniques currently being developed for aerospace applications 7 to 10 years in advance everyone else!

The Mackenzie FX1 range will be available from late-March and will initially include 13 ft 8 wt, 14 ft 9 wt and 15 ft 10 wt models, covering almost any situation the Salmon angler will find in the UK and abroad. The rods have been designed to handle all types of lines, from longer traditional Spey lines to short Scandi and Skagit style shooting-heads. The rods themselves are made in the UK, and feature the very best craftsmanship and fittings money can buy! Top grade Portuguese cork handles have been specially chosen and are made to a length and style to allow casters of all styles and abilities to use the rod in comfort.

Genuine Fuji SiC stripper rings with an ultra hard, ultra smooth, silicon carbide coating that will never wear and Titanium recoil snake guides that spring back into shape if knocked or bent grace the blank with smart orange tipped, gloss black whippings. A unique custom made ALPS down locking reel seat keeps your favourite reel securely in place. The finish on the FX1 Graphene blank itself features a self healing PTFE silicon coating meaning any scratches can simply be rubbed smooth, and with the addition of the Graphene resin system and high pressure autoclaving process that removes almost all the air from the blank, you wont find a better, stronger blank on the market today!

Come and see the new FX1 rods from Mackenzie for yourself at the Glasgow Angling Centre Spring Open Weekend on the 4th, 5th and 6th of March 2016 and you will also get the chance to try one out with Scott Mackenzie himself or one of his rod design team! We will also be taking pre-orders from today with the new FX1 rods coming into stock around the end of March 2016.

There really is something for everyone at these events, that's why they are the biggest in Scotland - and this one promises to be the biggest ever! With FREE parking and FREE entry, there will be loads of things to see and do on the Open Weekend dates as well as some amazing bargains on all types of fishing tackle. Keep an eye out on Facebook, Twitter and instore for more info on what's going on at this event! Plus don't forget to register for your FREE GIFT on the day! Click HERE for details!