My better St. Croix rods each came with a small container that has
paraffin for the rod ferules. The instructions with the rod says to
put some on the ferule every so often and insert the ferules together
with a slight twist so that straight grooves are not formed by
straight insertion of the ferules together.
It keeps them from sticking together. If rod parts are stuck
together, the rod can be damaged by efforts to pull them apart. The
paraffin, or some other slight lubricating material (my dad always
rubbed the ferule on this side of his nose for a little skin oil) is
better that a damaged rod.

Mel

On Fri, 9 Oct 2009 10:51:38 -0500, "Rodger Buffington"
wrote:

I would appreciate some advice on fly rod care. I have a selection of
rods, i.e. Loomis,
Sage, Orvis, T&T, etc., and it's time to clean and store. I recently had
an Orvis rod repaired and
they graciously sent along a tube of ferrule lube....which, unhappily, I
cannot find.

Having 'googled' the subject I get a variety of answers. Obviously,
cleaning the rod is a given, but,
I am getting mixed 'google' advice on what to put on ferrules, whether or
not to wax the rod, and
whether or not to store in the bags/tubes. One guy says parafin is good
for the ferrules, another says
absolutely not! Another says to store in tubes....another not! I would
like my rods to outlive me so
any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Buff