About Century
Century has built carbon rods and blanks in England for over 40 years, from its factory at Crowther Industrial Estate in Washington, Tyne & Wear. The company rolls its own blanks from pre-preg carbon, cures them in an autoclave, and works directly with material suppliers on resin systems, including graphene-modified layups in the current carp range. That manufacturing base sets it apart in a market where most brands contract blanks to Far East factories. The catalog splits into two programs. The carp side runs from the Excalibur XT entry rods through the CQ close-quarter and Armalite MK3 playing rods to the C2, C2-D, Stealth Graphene and Stealth Graphex ranges, with dedicated spod and marker builds in most families and test curves from 1.75 lb to 4.5 lb. The sea side is one of the reference programs of British shore fishing: Tip Tornado and Tip Tornado Graphex match beachcasters, the Eliminator T and X series, Kompressor, Excalibur and the TT-R tournament rod, plus a three-rod Eliminator Boat range and the Graphex Lure spin rod. Guide trains run Century's own SiC and Titanium patterns alongside American Tackle and Fuji hardware, and RRPs sit at the top of the UK market. Century also owns the Zziplex tournament beach brand, sold separately, and rods are sold through UK and European dealers.
What Century is known for
The benchmark British-made blank maker. Among carp anglers the C2 is the standard reference for an all-round playing rod, with the C2-D, C2 SP and the graphene-layup Stealth ranges covering distance work; Armalite is the classic name for traditional playing actions. Among UK shore anglers Century beachcasters are tournament equipment: Tip Tornado and Eliminator dominate match line-ups, and the TT-R is the total-tournament build. Everything is rolled and finished in England with autoclave curing. Cross-shops against Free Spirit and Wychwood on the carp bank and Sportex in the European blank trade.