i wouldn't worry about about stiffening the rod because you used double foot guides but the single foot will give you a crisper feel and not dampen the tip. i have build many with a double foot stripper then single foot for the rest. it does offer you protection because the height of the single foot striper guide is what makes if more likely to get broken, mostly in non-fishing accidents. i assume you are using a relatively small reel for this so you probably don't need the kwag 30 but the kwag 30L, move it in close cause the ring is probably larger than you need but you might not be able to go with a lower height guide. then klag 20, 12, 8's makes a nice rod. can also look at 20, 10, 6's if you ok going that small