Do you fish with a rod holder? Split-gripped ice rods have a tendency to not sit all too well in certain rod holders. If not, then it’s really just personal preference. Split-grips help with pencil gripping the rod too but again, personal preference. I own 3 precision noodles, all straight grips, and I have no problem jigging with a pencil grip. Another thing to consider is that if you go with a split grip, the blank section going from the front of the handle to the rods tip will will be shorter than a straight gripped rod to accommodate the split. So, for example, a 32” rod with a split-grip will have about 1”-2” less of fishable rod blank.
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So, if you want a 32” rod but in a split grip, I’d personally go with a 34” so you get about the same amount of fishable blank. Again, all of this is personal preference. However, once you get past 30”, the fishable length of the blank becomes less significant. For a 32” split-grip, you’d probably be alright going with a 32” and probably wouldn’t have even noticed a difference of a 34” rod other than a overall longer rod. Storage, transportation, and in-shack use is all other things to consider with a longer ice rod, especially an expensive TUCR.
I also own a straight gripped Bullwhip (all of my rods are 30”). For what it’s worth, I use the PN for tungsten jigs from 2.5mm-4mm. I wouldn’t go any bigger than 4mm because it tends to overload the tip. Still functions just fine but it’s too much for me. I use the BW for 5mm tungsten, 1/32-1/8oz spoons, and ultra light rippin-raps.
Both are excellent rods and both excel at what I use them for (gills and crappie). My PN’s have cork handles and the BW has an EVA handle. Honesty, with gloves, you will never tell a difference and honestly, without gloves I’ve never really considered the difference. I use the different handles to help quickly differentiate my rods. I got the BW first because it’s an extremely versatile rod (pushing 5 years old). Then, I got a few PN’s to further fine tune application specific situations.
Also, don’t be afraid to contact them and tell them what you’re looking for. They will be able to help you pick exactly what you want based on what and how you fish.