Have to agree with you Chris Venoms were around $450 a year ago and even then I thought it a bit rich. I was looking for a light flattie flick rod and picked up a Frogleys Arrowz in 3 to 8 lb, priced down to $109. Thought that wasn't too bad a price. All the other guides looked good except the tip. When getting into those tiny tips and runners you need nothing for the line to catch on. This tip had the bracing come back as a V formation on top of the rod, perfect for catching that stray loop. Hada rod with similar tip before where SP labded in a tree and a quick flick to remove it snapped thetip off. You guessed, line looped around and caught it. I might still get it and bind and seal that bit to reduce chance of it occurring.