Home Repairs on fishing eqipment

Like to start a new column: On home fishing fixer upper tips:

My tip is when you break a tip off and you do not want to shorten the rod 2-3 inches and possibly move the guides, here is what works for me. I find the exact inner size fitting for the straight cut off part of a springy safety pin (bought a mixed lot for $2.55). I then insert 1/2 with super glue above and then after it dries below the break while aligning the guides. I then have the sized shrink wrap (1-2"), I place over earlier on, slide to the mid break point and heat her up. This keeps the original length and fuction with a slight give based on the nature of the light steel in the straight section of the safty pin. I have fixed 3 rods this way in the last 2 years, and the repair works very well. Rarely I put a coating of liquid steel putty under the shrink wrap. Hope this helps someone.