Designo Leben Slang

I believe @polkfish has some experience with one in his lineup. I have stuck with the Torque Tunes, Vantage, Ltd, DUCR (older models) and Semi-order variants, personally, so I'm of no help. Maybe Lucaz will chime in.

Indeed. I have the “Hood”. I’ve been meaning to reply with some more detailed comments and some pics, but been a little slammed. Will do soon. The Hood is quite the rod in my opinion. While the line up is more big bait oriented, Leben Slang Hood might be the ‘lightest’ in the line up. It’s ‘only’ rated up to 2.5 oz. At 7’3’’, its incredibly versatile for bass fishing applications. I’ve even thrown small crankbaits with it while shore fishing with a box of goodies  in a backpack, so this model is definitely  not just a big bait stick. The others are and get into the XXH range. It’s superbly balanced and just floats in hand with a morethan on it. This one is also spiral wrapped in the guides, which is a configuration I like and has kind of a tactical, no frills appearance. If I had to jump into a friends boat to fish a random FL lake and told there was  room for only 1 rod, this is one I wouldn’t hesitate grabbing. I’ll post more details in the near future.

Posted by: @pkn8

Does anyone have any experience with this lineup of rods? There's quite a bit in the lineup and I've been eye-balling the FE01 and FE02 in the series. I know they are more for big baits and such. 

As I mentioned, I don't have either of the models you are interested in. I do have the Leben Slang Hood. This model is rated 0.25-2.5 oz with a max line rating of 25 lbs; is spiral wrapped; and while you might find it in the one piece section on Japanese websites, the blank does separate from the handle. The reel seat is an original Designo design and build, but it differs from the other Designo lines. It has a more rubbery outer texture than hard plastic. It's exceptionally comfortable to hold and grip. 

The rod's lure rating is broad and it's surprisingly capable within this broad range. As I've grown older I've moved away from bringing a dozen super technique specific rods with me and prize versatility and this one scores highly in that department. It probably has a sweet spot between 1/2-1oz, but I've thrown 110 jrs with it all the way up to a tiny Klash. It might not be ideal at the outer limits for those baits, but it does just fine in my opinion. It has a med-fast taper than moves toward regular under more significant load. It keeps fish pinned with treble equipped moving baits, but also has plenty of sensitivity and backbone to fish on the bottom with a wide gap hook, if that's what the situation calls for. While sensitivity is always quite subjective, I don't think this blank is as sensitive as the C6 Designo Torque Tune or Vantage Avants that I have, but it's no slouch. It has high end rod sensitivity. The rod is tough as nails and easily handles big fish in heavy cover situations. The balance photo below is sans reel. It floats with the morethan.