I’ll throw out the very unpopular opinion that my favorite commercial ice rod is a JT. They changed my attitude toward higher priced ice rods.
I had a Scheels rep in Fargo, who was sponsored by Elliot, push me in that direction. My feedback was not appreciated. Good but not great rods for the price after fishing with popular models for two seasons. If they were all free I’d tell you buy even with the odd handle material.