Sorry Rick, I think my initial post wasn't written that well. I already have two of the new Sandstorms, the 14'2" models, and strangely enough, it was because of John Holden that I bought them too. (I had a long chat with him via email and he was really helpful and replied multiple times with tips about which model and length) Although I really like the Sandstorms, I think lockdown has finally driven me mad though, as I have been looking at (and sort of considering) buying a couple of Century Fireblades.
I posted this thread more out of the hope that someone would reply saying that it just wasn't worth it and to stick with the reasonably priced rods, then I could put the crazy idea out of my head.
On a different point, John Holden told me to buy the 14'2" rods and then if I felt they were a bit long to just hacksaw a bit off the butt end to make them shorter! (He said that he does that all the time!) Bloke is a legend though, despite his vandalistic tendencies!
Will