I generally use one-piece rods....back in my first rocketry period (1968-1974) I used 1/8 inch music wire from the hobby shop. I still have a couple of those. Today the 1/8 and 3/16 rods are stainless (3 foot 1/8 inch, 3 and 4 foot 3/16ths).

My current PVC tripod pads and three-pad rack are set up to carry launch rods in a case which uses two legs of the pad.

The two-piece rods (which haven’t been aluminum for a long time, GH) are usable but subject to easy bending at the roll pin joint. Carefully handled, they are certainly usable. If I was planning on using one I’d probably try to chamfer the socket end a little bit before assembling it so that the joint is as smooth as possible once assembled.

For PSII stuff I have a six foot steel 1/4 inch rod from the hardware store, which needs to be de-rusted before every use. I will probably cut it down to 4 1/2 or 5 feet now that TARC pretty much requires a rail. I do have a six foot 1010 rail pad as well. But all that stuff is beyond the “D and below” scope of the original question.

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Bernard Cawley
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