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I will fess up i am buying ready tied choddy rigs as i do struggle to make chod hook links they are sharp and decent knots but i do all my other rigs myself

Say you are using metal sizes, in engineering I think called a 'gauge". The higher the number, the finer or thinner the gauge. A size 10 hook may be made with 18 gauge material, but a size 6 or 8 is made from 14 or 16 gauge wire. Now think about the fight of the fish, by putting pressure on the hook, you are 'trying' to straighten or break it. A finer gauge wire or hook is more prone to straightening than a heavier gauge. It may have the elasticity to return to shape after the fish has gotten off, or it may not; if it has sprung back into shape you may not notice the problem. Then think about other issues, a small hook in a big mouth, less weight, or mass, more easily blown out. The bigger hook is more likely to get a point into a piece of flesh. Plus you have as @Carpbell3 has said. Yet with a smaller hook, a size 10 can land a big carp when on say a 1½lb test curve rod. I actually use size 10 hooks for floater fishing, a dog biscuit fixed to the shank of the hook by a loop or tying the hook on with a knotless knot after creating the loop so the dog biscuit is tight to the hook.

I have never bought a ready tied rig, other than hooks to nylon for smaller species, although mates and I have 'pinched' each other's rigs. There is a 'but' in there; at Nazeing I pinched one of Big Daves rigs after I had landed a fish and for some reason hadn't got another tied up. I cast it to where I had caught from, and within minutes started getting a series of bleeps on the buzzer which then stopped. Around 4 in the afternoon every day I would reel in, check hook and bait and recast, so at 4 I reeled in, replaced the rig with one of my own, freshly tied and recast the same bait out. Within minutes I had a take and landed a decent fish. When I got home I did a hook point comparison of my Gardner Muggas, Gamskatsu curve, whatever the number was and the Korda Kurv's Dave was using, by attempting to lift a 3oz inline lead off the desk with the hookpoint on the ball of my thumb. The Gardner and Gamakatsu hooks were sharp enough to draw blood without the full weight of the lead. The Kurv, I could lift the lead off the desk! Not long after Korda released their 'hand sharpened' hooks... I prefer to play around with my rigs, working on thoughts and theories in my head, and the experimentations and experiences in the water. I said years ago I don't think of Rig Mechanics of say the KD rig, Spinner rig or even the Chod rig as a rig that passes the palm or thumb test may still be a blank rig but the basic rig that is put in the right situation will catch.

Never ever bought a ready tied, I've been using a stiff end section multi rig for the hinge rig, the 2 doubled over strands hold the hook well and you can change hook as and when. A little more faffy to put the required bend in with 2 strands but finished rig looks just as good IMO. Some of the pro anglers use pre-tied chods so must be OK - but it's hardly a technically difficult one to tie anyway. 👍

Chods everyone must of bought a pack of chods at some point they are just right for hinge rigs.

Also switched over to Daiwa reels from Shimano as not happy with their recent offerings, again reliability the issue.

Favourite bit of kit is deffo my Jag 2+1 buzz bars and Fox RX+ alarms 👍 Reliability and carpyness all in one package 😂

Put a half inch #6 screwinto a piece of 4x2 wood and see how easy it pulls out then Try that with a 11/2 #10 screw

Totally agree won’t even let my best mate tie a knot..

I have used the gemini booms and quite like them, cost its always a factor for me though could spend a fortune on them rather than hooklink and I do prefer to tie my own as you can change the length, material or anything else. As I get older rigs do seem tougher to tie but will keep going til I can't do it anymore 😂

I love tying my own rigs, the attention to detail of getting it just right, the little adjustments you make to length and pop-up height for instance - it's all using the grey matter. I will always remember sitting in my bivvy all day trying to work out why my non tangle rigs were suddenly tangling every cast, chucking fast and low under pylons, did my head in completely. That day I came up with huge loops over half the length of the boom effectively lengthening the anti tangle sleeves properties if you like, and giving you a set place to mould the rig putty stopping that ever slipping. By the end of that day I'd come up with better anti tangle properties and more importantly realised that if I tied the hook end section almost in reverse order I had total control of how much stripped braid was left exposed, instead of ending up with whatever you got after tightening the knot. So I tie the hair last if that makes any sense at all - hard to put in words. So one problem ended up improving all elements of the rig I'd been tying for years and years. I thought about tying rigs many years ago for those who struggled to do it themselves, like a complete custom set-up, was a good idea, couldn't be arsed in the end lol same as all my other great ideas 🙃🤣

I couldn't bring myself to use a ready tied rig. Hooks aint sharp enough for my liking but more to the point, imagine losing a special one if the knot went.... you'd never forgive yourself.

Depends what line you use you can tie a multi rig easy enough you will need to use a much finer line for the hook length as the eye of the hook will be smaller considerably so once you get above a size eight hook. Then you have the TC of the rod, a heavy rod anything above 2.50 test will always lose more fish than land using small hooks.

Forgot to say, they are nice and long some are two foot others a metre so you can adjust the length or add a micro swivel.

So who's owning up to buying the occasional spinner rig or pack of loops ( i really do rate loops). Ready rigs today are hard to beat in terms of neat and tidy and value for money, a pack of spinners and a bit of line is cheaper for most people in the short run than buying all the bits for various rigs. Trying some of the Guru ones they look good in sizes from 12 to 16, got hair rigs on the 12 and a bait band on the 14 for on the bottom, a 16 waggler band rig and a 16 maggot corn waggler rig, eight in a pack at a few quid each I'm not tying size 10 to 16 hooks on fine nylon to the same standard as the ready rigs especially the tiny hair rigs all lined up nicely so I'm getting ready tied ⛔

so by trial n error, i started off with size 2 n 4 hooks...now i'm down to 6-8 I'm catching and hooking more carp then ever. I have noticed when I"m using a smaller size i'm losing fish especially 8 and 10s. Also what rigs can i make with size 10 other than hair rig?

Rods free spirit helicals 12ft 3.5lb tc, great all rounders 👍 Okuma 8k reels, I've had quite a few sets of reels over the years and these have been better than all of them, still as smooth and reliable as the day I got them Atts bite alarms, love em. Matrix blackout buzz bars and bank sticks Bivvies:, 2 man fox eos TT for when the kids come Sonik axs shelter and cyprinus bunker for winter Gardner net, fox and trakker retainers, wychwood oval mat Thermocell backpacker, ridgemonkey bivvy light, Wychwood spod rod and aerlex spod reel (which is pants) and currently testing a £20 temu rooblinos spod reel which is going to get a serious test this weekend. ESP trig hammer XT hooks, or J precision Lg's or a wide gape by ESP or J precision Line Gardner GT80+ but also recommend hydrotuff. Trakker x trail compact barrow, which is a pretty great barrow, wychwood comforter rucksack and tackle pouch and a korda tackle box Korda kontainer bucket is also a great bit of kit.

Usually try for the mid range gear My carp rods are 10 ft fox torque 3lb test with dawia 25 mini big pits nice solid set up had carp to 39lb on them. Just setting up some lighter rods same again the mid range rods from Drennan a 1.25 test for waggler fishing and a 1.50 test for a lead rod fishing one or two swan shot as the ledgering weight.

Saying that I did order a small unhooking mat at the same time I ordered the rods, just the roll up one from drennan perfect for what I want, I'm not taking my carp mat to sort perch and bream out.

Got some Facebook market place bits lined up, need a chair for day sessions my carp chair is one that sits on the bed so not ideal, prices new are a bit much, so found a wyhwood one for 25, there is that much used tackle available I would only buy new for the delicate stuff.

I've tended to go middle of the road price wise. Currently using, Rod -free spirit Helical (13ft for my old reservoir ticket) Reels -Shimano 10000 xtr baitrunners (going strong after 11 years) Alarms- ATT's with deluxe receiver Line -Gardner Hydrotuff 18lb (for very snaggy res) Bivvy - JRC 2 man 2 skin (nearly good as new after 11 years) Hooklink -Rigmarole hydro link or flurocarbon. Hooks -Korda Krank, Kurv, chod & wide gape, in all sizes from 8-2. OMC Lock in 4, seems OK but not had them long. Barrow - Carp porter mk2 Bedchair - Lidsters xl. Not long had it, but seems well built. Had a few cheap ones, which are a waste of money. Nash indulgence gave up after about 3 years. I'm on the large side though. Scales -Ruben Heaton Sling and stink bag -Shimano Net- Sonik 2 piece. Handy for stalking. Had this a few years now, it's out lasted Trakker, Greys & JRC ones. There is loads to choose from different manufacturers, all pretty similar in their offerings & price range, it can be confusing. I try to keep everything simple.... A good tackle shop should set you up with reasonable kit if you tell them what kind of waters you're on Good luck

Definitely nothing worse than cracking off on a big chuck when the bail arm closes, well maybe other than losing the fish or woman of your dreams...

Hmm! There are so many differences of opinion on tackle, rods, reels, line, hooks and alarms. What I use has changed over the years depending on personal choice, some of my tackle deals or 'sponsorship', even water to water, or personal ethical reasons. For years I used Century rods, SP and NG's were the last, but then got a deal on Rod Hutchinson The Ones in 3.25lb TC and Enduro's in 2.75lb TC. What rods I use depends on how far I need to cast, and at the moment 100metres is the limit. Reels I don't think that I have used any other reel manufacturer for freshwater fishing than Shimano since the days of Abu Cardinals, the original Aero GTE Baitrunners, Aerlex's, DL10000's and 7000 XTA Beastmasters. Line, again personal choice there are so many out there, Gardner Pro is the current. As for hooks, currently Gardner Muggas and Incizor's because annoyingly my other favourite hooks became difficult to get hold of. There is no magic answer, because every uses what they find works for them.

Just ordered the Solar Undercover Medium carryall for my gear £38 for decent branded bag

Ebro Google ditch Ballard or ebromadcats.