If you want the best chance of catching fish in a survival situation then a rod and reel will beat a hand line any day.
However, a standard rod and reel combo can be quite big and heavy, too much for them to be considered a practical option for survivalists and preppers anyway, which is obviously a problem.
This is where ultralight telescopic fishing rod and reel combos come to the rescue.
Primarily designed for backpackers who like to fish but who also want to keep the weight and size of their backpack and their gear to a minimum, these extremely light and compact rods are the perfect solution for the emergency preparedness crowd looking for good fishing gear but without the bulk.
Unfortunately, reducing the weight and size of a fishing rod will often mean that the strength and durability of a rod will also suffer. This is why you definitely need a rod that has been battle tested and is up to the wear and tear that would be expected of any other piece of survival gear.
In the wilderness you need fishing gear you can depend upon for your survival, you do no want an ultra light telescopic rod that looks the business but then snaps the first time it hooks anything larger than a minnow!
To ensure you don’t end up buying some piece of garbage that would be about as much use as a chocolate fire guard, we’ve put together a list below, containing some of the best ultralight telescopic fishing rods currently available so you will have a few good options to check out right out the gate.
However, if you prefer to look around for a rod or, a rod and reel combo, yourself then the following basic guide will be of help to you.
How to Select a Good Ultralight Telescopic Fishing Rod
If your main reason for buying a telescopic rod is purely for survival fishing then there are certain factors that definitely need to be considered when selecting the perfect rod, and they are not ALL necessarily the same as for those considered important by fishing purists and hobbyists.
The most important of these for both fishing purists and survivalists, is always going to be reliability. As stated previously, there is no point having the lightest and most compact fishing rod if it breaks the first or second time it’s used.
The only fishing rods that are going to be consistently reliable are those that are both durable and that function perfectly. In other words, you should only be considering high quality rods made with only the best materials.
However, just because we are talking quality it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will need to be paying top dollar, there are definitely some bargains to be had out there, especially if you know what you are looking for in a survival fishing rod.
If you don’t know what to look for then the four main factors that you need to take into consideration when selecting a telescopic fishing rod specifically for survival purposes are….
- Construction Material: Telescopic rods will generally be made from graphite, fiberglass, or a composite material comprising of varying degrees of both graphite and fiberglass. Graphite rods are lighter than fiberglass rods but are far more brittle so are far more prone to damage unlike rods made with the extremely durable but slightly heavier, fiberglass. A rod made with composite material will offer both a lighter rod with a much improved degree of strength and durability. Therefore, you should only ever consider buying rods made from fiberglass or composite material.
- Size: In order for your rod to be stowed away safely inside your backpack or bug out bag it needs to be as compact as possible. All collapsible fishing rods will dramatically reduce in size but as for which is the best size for you, that can only be determined by the size of your bag and the space you have allotted to it. Which is usually the space remaining after packing all your other important gear. Obviously, the smaller the rod compacts to the better!
- Weight: As with size you will want to keep the weight of your rod as low as possible without it having too much of a negative impact on its strength and durability.
- Rust Resistance: Most rods will have metal guide eyes and reel holders and you should only ever consider those that have been treated against corrosion. There’s no point having an excellent rod if the guide eyes are going to let you down!
After eliminating every rod that falls outside your specific parameters and those of the four important considerations listed above, you could choose pretty much any remaining telescopic rod and be assured of making a good purchase.
If you want to further refine your choice you can select a rod that performs better from a fishing perspective by taking the following factors into consideration also.
- Extendable Length: You can buy telescopic rods in various lengths but the perfect extended length is around 7 feet as this length offers good accurate casting and good leverage.
- Sensitivity: Fishing rods that are extremely sensitive will vibrate when a fish takes the slightest nibble of your bait, so you will miss fewer fish. The downside is that sensitive rods are generally graphite rods which are not best suited to the rigors of wilderness survival.
- Rod Action and Power: When we go into things like the action and the power of a fishing rod we are entering into bonafide fisherman territory!
- Action: The action of a rod relates to where it is bending. If it bends near the tip end it is a fast action, if it bends in the middle it is a medium action, and if the rod bends its full length then it is a slow action rod. Casting accuracy is dictated to a large part by rod action. The more action a rod has the more sensitive it will be making accurate casting more difficult.
- Power: The resistance to bending is what is known as rod power. The more a rod can bend the less power it has. Basically, a slow action rod will also be the least powerful. Power is important as it helps to catch bigger fish, but too much can result in hooks being straightened and fish being lost.
Now you are armed with the basics of survival telescopic rod selection you can go and check out some ultralight telescopic fishing rods here or check out our selections below.
Some of the Best Ultralight Telescopic Fishing Rods
| Best Ultralight Telescopic Fishing Rods | |
|---|---|
 | PLUSINNO Telescopic Fishing Rod and Reel Combo
 |
 | SOUGAYILANG Telescopic Fishing Rod
|
 | BURNING SHARK Telescopic Fishing Rod
|
 | TROUTBOY Black Warrior Telescopic Fishing Rod
|
 | MAGREEL Telescopic Fishing Rod
|
Do you want something even smaller than those rods?
If, like many survivalists and preppers, you want to go ultra small you could always check out a telescopic fishing rod in a pen! I kid you not, a fishing rod that can fit into your pocket! James Bond – eat your heart out!
To be totally honest these little fishing rods may seem a little gimmicky, (they are!) but they really aren’t that bad.
Sure you are probably limited as to what you can catch in relation to the size and weight of a fish, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to reel in a 2 or 3 pound trout without any issues on one of these little rods.
Having said that some of the guys in the selection of videos below HAVE been recorded reeling in some monsters on a pen rod so it is possible,especially went you know how to fish properly, which does come with practice.
These little survival fishing rods are generally around the 8 inches long mark when packed and extend to about 3 foot long when open, making them perfect for anyone trying to keep size and weight down to the barest minimum for their survival bag.
There does seem to be a few quality issues with the reels that accompany these little rods, so it may be an idea to try and match up a better quality small reel. From our point of view, most of the problems experienced with these little reels occurred because the gear was being tested to the limit. When used within its limitations we believe these pen rod and reel combos are awesome.
They are extremely cheap too, so can be tried out without breaking the bank, check out any of the links below, there are loads more to check out, they’re great for getting the kids used to fishing too!
