AllOutdoor Review – Savior Equipment Aluminum Fishing Rod Rack
Eugene L. 07.25.23
When you hear the name Savior Equipment you probably think about their rifle and pistol cases, or maybe even their shooting mats(if you followed our SHOT Show Coverage), but that isn’t the case this time. I’m reviewing their 36-slot Aluminum Fishing Rod Rack in gunmetal grey today. This is the middle size of the 3 sizes of aluminum fishing rod racks they offer for sale, with there being a 24-slot and a 48-slot option available. All three sizes of the fishing rod racks are available in three colors, Carbon Black, Gunmetal Grey, and Ocean Blue. They are all made from an extruded aluminum frame with abs plastic slip joints and end caps.
There are two sets of rod supports for the rack that has adjustable height settings and use what looks like closed-cell EVA foam for padding to protect and hold your rods better. The supports use hand screws that tighten down in a rail to hold their position. The aluminum base plate of the rod rack is very wide making sure no matter what rod you put in the rack it will still be in contact with the base plate.
Savior Equipment Aluminum Fishing Rod Rack – Specifications
- Three Sizes – 24 Slot, 36 Slot, and 48 Slot
- Adjustable Rod Support Beams
- Closed-Cell Foam Cushioned Rod Holders
- Aluminum Frame
- ABS Plastic Joints & Caps
- Colors Available – Carbon Black, Gunmetal Grey, and Ocean Blue
- 24 Slot Dimensions – 24” x 28.25” x 13”
- 36 Slot Dimensions – 35” x 30.25” x 14.75”
- 48 Slot Dimensions – 46.5” x 30.25” x 14.75”
- Max Height of Top Support – 28.25”
- Min Height of Bottom Support – 4.75”
- Comes with Savior Lifetime Warranty
Savior Equipment Aluminum Fishing Rod Rack – First Look
The first look at the rod rack was just as I expected, a bag of parts, they ship disassembled in a long flat cardboard box. Honestly super simple to put together, no tools are required, you just need to be able to read the instructions. The only thing you need to do is pay attention to how you orientate the verticle posts. Make sure to follow the instructions for them or the supports won’t slip in properly. Super easy to put together otherwise, didn’t take me more than 10 minutes to put together and get the rod supports set how I like them
Savior Equipment Aluminum Fishing Rod Rack – In Use
For using the rod rack I put almost every combo I have set up on the rod rack. From my smallest trout setup to my largest tuna rigs the rod rack held them securely in place at the same time. Even without having to adjust the support heights all these different sizes of fishing rods were supported properly due to that very wide base plate. There was a bit of finagling needed to fit all these rods though. Even the oddball St. Croix Legend Grasp Swimbait rod with its angled gripped fit into this rack.
The spinning rods definitely took up a lot of space, especially with my larger pier and popping combos but even still with 18 slots on each side, there is plenty of real estate on the racks. I managed to put 14 rod and reel combos on the 36-slot rack. If you wanted to there are plenty of slots left to put just rods as well. Though I do feel I could probably squeeze in a couple more rods if I organized a little better.
Savior Equipment Aluminum Fishing Rod Rack – Final Thoughts
After using this rod rack for a few months I say for the money it’s hard to beat for a double-sided fishing rod rack. Price-wise the Savior Equipment racks sit around the middle of the pack when compared to all the other aluminum framed racks. The design of the rack makes for easy adjustability of the supports along with better utilization of space with the extra slots extending past the verticle posts. Those 4 end slots are great for putting your most commonly used combos for easy access.
Even with the adjustability, it’s not super necessary because the design lets me put an ultralight trout rod on the same rack as tuna rods. That extra wide base plate is great, even with using boat rods with aluminum gimbals the base plate has held up and hasn’t been marred heavily. Fitting 14 rod and reel combos on a single rack is pretty good considering most of the combos are larger saltwater gear.
Now I’ve been going on about everything I like about the Savior Equipment Fishing Rod Rack, I need to cover a couple of things that I think could be improved. I know that I shouldn’t expect a rock-solid rack considering how a lot of the rack was just friction fitted together during assembly. But there is a noticeable amount of play side to side on the rod rack. This is due to the ABS plastic construction joint between the verticle posts and the feet.
This friction-fit ABS joint is the source of another issue, if say you need to turn the rod rack away from the way or slide it somewhere else the posts can just pop out of the feet. This then causes the supports to go wonky and mess up, needing you to remove everything and reassemble the rod rack. Both of these problems could probably easily be fixed with a bolt run through both parts to secure it more solidly. There’s one more thing that could be done to improve the rod rack, add some threaded holes to the bottom of the feet, and then offer some rubberized feet or casters as upgrade options. A lot of garages or storage spots aren’t exactly flat so some feet on threads could help keep everything level.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this rack to other anglers who’re looking for rod storage options. I plan to get another rack in the future when I need some more storage myself. The Savior Rod Rack works well even with its few issues. The base plate finish is holding up well to having heavy aluminum gimbaled rods placed on it. Even if I do run into issues in the future I know that I’m covered. Like their other products, the rod racks all come with a lifetime warranty from Savior Equipment.
