What would y'all do to make either of these better ?

Weld a spring instead of the solid holders, that way if it’s real big it won’t break the rod. It could be a pretty stiff spring as well, just something with a little give.

"Here", the land of white beach sand, those spikes won't hold, you need a broad surface to be supported by the sand for the under ground portion. The sand spike holders around here are basically a piece of aluminum pipe, around 1 1/4" with the underground portion pressed/hammered closed making a broad "spike"

leave the spike proud of the top so that as you beat them in your hitting the rod and not the pipe or weld

since they are open bottom , you only need a loop at the top and a loop to keep the base of the rod from popping out , measure the shortest rod you might use and make them fit that , the longer rod should still work
less pipe = less cost and less weight.

set the drag lower and let the bend of the rod and drag keep from pulling the rod over

on shorter poles with spinning reels some people like to make a cut so that the reel is between the top and bottom pipe but then you need a stop in the bottom tube it can just be a pin that can be used or not

Welp ended up with this

I like the camo, but maybe you want a brighter color when you lay them down or travel here and there along the water

Paint em a bright color, I made some similar to that and left them bare, now they’re rusted and they’re hard to spot sometimes lol I’ve left behind a couple

What’s the ring for?

Not a bad idea. I had a rod snap off right below the reel that way on the ones I made.

For hanging them up on a nail for storage that or if you need a ride off point for whatever. Many hand a little lantern or something

True. I have to get some I'm usually camo painting traps and stuff so thats all I had on hand lol

I would paint them white. I frequently find them when guys fishing at night misplace them.

Wolfdog1….Yoir fishing pole holder looks great. you need to make a few of them to sale. Every one including me would buy 2 or 3. In Iowa you can fish up to 3 poles. You could ship them in Post office shipping tubes. Let us know The price. Marty

The key to a great rod holder is how fast you can set the hook if needed. Those you would have to remove the rod first. If the bottom was shallower and capped and the top piece was shaped like "C" all you have to do is pull back to set the hook.

Zebra stripes
Camo-white-camo-white

since your not covert fishing some reflective tape might even be in order , that way they stand out night fishing

or even a loop of this reflective paracord , I got some years ago and would put my gait clips on it you can see from a distance if they were clipped or hanging with a flash light then they could hang on the wall with the paracord and save yourself welding the washer on
https://www.amazon.com/WEREWOLVES-R...a1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

X2

used to go to the motor pool and get old shock absorber's. everything needed was right there!

Well picked up some nice new pipe and angle today. Went to 2" schedule 40 to make sure any rod should fit. Chopped them down to 30" with I think isn't too bad honestly. Got some nice gloss Rust-Oleum too. Now I just gotta get some flat rate tubes ordered

Glad you took our advice and painted them bright colors.