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Nick in waters fished little, the carp will do better with very cold winter so it is not expending energy that it cannot replace, that's one of the main reasons carp do well in Europe. However if its a fished lake with plenty of feed going in, the carp can replace energy, so milder weather helps them, so in the Uk this is a better bet for the carp as mostly we don't get it cold enough, so the carp is looking for feed that is difficult to find unless put there by anglers. You are right in that the English method of carp fishing has resulted in bigger carp being caught in the rest of the world.

Its quite simple really, adult carp are at their lightest straight after spawning, not just because they have shed spawn / milt, but with all the excursions they lose body condition. They then set about eating and what they eat is important, remember this is normally the start to mid summer, naturally the food would be in the for of various natural fauna, all very high in protein and little else, this soon builds muscle and supplies the carp with any energy it may need it is at this point that the carp gains any AVERAGE annual weight gain[if it is gaining at all][this is why I believe in High Usable Protein bait.] By this time it is the end of Summer and heading into Autumn and this is where my own experiments taught me something new that is not normally seen in print and differs somewhat with what some people preach. The carp start eating natural flora, this gives them carbohydrates that not only gives them the energy they need but lays down fat reserves that help them over the coming months. As the autumn progresses and goes into winter the carps diet slowly changes into a high protein diet again, but far less that eaten in the warmer months, sometimes eating is so infrequent one might believe they don't feed at all, this is brought on by the cold water slowing down their metabolism and a lack of food also due to cold, it then becomes worthless for the carp to search out food expending valuable energy. That energy is better utilised by converting it into Spawn/Milt, now dependent on each individual fish, this could be the point at which it is at its heaviest, or sometime later in others when the spawn has begun to expand somewhat. You are then into spring and the water warming up, the carp then starts to burn the last of its fat reserves off as energy looking for food, if it finds enough, it wont lose weight, but if it finds it difficult it will lose condition using its one muscle for energy and the spawning process. Then the whole cycle begins again.

Imo the innovators such as Aqua set their price point so ridiculously high that I have zero sympathy for them when their tooling is used to manufacture for other organisations that are prepared to undercut them. After all, if the likes of Aqua's prices were reasonable there'd be less point in Cyprinus undercutting them. I've heard before that prices are high due to design/development costs - that's not right. In every other industry the manufacturers invest their own profits into R&D/product development to establish long term growth. Why is it acceptable for carp brands to hike the price up instead and pocket the profit? They chose not to invest as they do in other industries and ultimately they'll pay the price. All industries use price point as a marketing tool, I understand that, but when I see what is essentially a tent for 600 odd quid my sympathy goes out of the window. It can only benefit the angler imo. These big old brands are forces to be reckoned with nowadays and their marketing power will keep them going just fine, whereas anglers that aint bothered about an Aqua badge can get quality gear for half the price. Result.

They are decent beds mate, mine was recommended on here Yonny and Greeksi gave me a nod on it. I was prepared to compromise on comfort for weight, but no need to, slept fine on mine. I think once you pick one up you'll be sold bud......... Anyone looking for "hotel" comfort, shouldn't be out on the bank in the first place imo.. Enjoy your 40 winks mate

Ooh , ta very much Yonny ! .

Not after hotel comfort by any stretch of the imagination. Just a bed that’s long enough so I don’t have to lay curled up all night. When the design fishing gear they don’t have tall blokes like me in mind. Mind you done hotel beds aren’t big enough either 🤣

I have some sympathy for British manufacturers, who design and build in this country, but too many big name brands have gone to the Far East, to get gear made while keeping the high price. Its also an environmental, human rights and other concern, the cargo ship coming all the way from China, the fuel to bring it that way, the risk of your container being one of four to fall into the sea every day. The child workers in the factories in China, at minimal wage, tuppence a day. I could quite happily see a couple of brand names slip from the tackle market! Some factories 'sell to the highest bidder'. One factory may make tackle for Fox, Nash, JRC etc. The brand that pays most gets their bedchairs before the next payer gets theirs. It is why sometimes there can be a shortage, as well as brands purposely holding gear back to create interest. You have as Yonny says, tackle brand owners making big profits in their own pocket yet not wanting to put money into R&D. Updated tackle, some of the new advances in tackle is a step backwards, some original gear is brilliant, yet newer models are frankly awful. I have a TFG oval brolly, I think it was £80, yet why should the same thing from Fox or Nash cost £200? Why should a Fox bedchair cost £300, when exactly the same from JRC is £150? The items are essentially the same, in some cases just a different badge! Carp tax, fishing line is fishing line, sea line is the same as fishing line, (example) yet the Fox, Korda brand is £20, compared to £9.99 for Sea fishing line. It is the same stuff!

They are. If you go through Tackle Discounts (Cyprinus UK distribution) on Ebay you'll find the Cyprinus one for less than 50 quid when they have them in stock. Ridiculously cheap. Great bed.

Hotel comfort , now that has to be my 8 leg Nash indulgence.

So is the Cyprinus Base Camp Flatbed the same bed as the Wychwood Tactical Flatbed pls. , Yonny ? . Ta .

The answer is long and complicated but I will start with the Europe. The Carp here are in their homeland, the closer to their[species] birth place the better they do, so carp in Hungary will do better than carp in Germany on average. Up until recently the culture in Europe was to catch what you can and eat it, so carp never grew big at all, but now the iron curtain has gone and people have more cash, they would sooner buy a lump of salmon, so the carp do get chance to grow and because they grow fast it does not take long for monsters to appear, this combined with a relatively new movement of pleasure carp angling has resulted in the catches you hear about. Next comes SA, the carp here are a mixed bunch bred from the original German fish and later aditions of Israeli fish and the can and do grow massive, somewhere in my files I have photos of 3 carp weighing in the 70-80lb bracket shot by two Irish lads at Umlilo. These came from a freshwater storage dam that was very deep with no shallows [very important]The carp were stocked by the bucket load and allowed to grow, no shallows so no breeding so plenty of food for the fish. However a lot of waters have perfect breeding for the fish and are then massively over populated. Australia had its fish from, Europe and Asia, so two different sub-species of carp, where only European carp live the same rules as SA apply and they can and do grow big, however the hybrids etc. don't grow so big and on top of this the constant harassment by people works against the carp. New Zealand had its fish from Asia and these were what we tend to call Koi, they reverted to wild type, small long and lean. But as already stated by others on this thread, the USA and Canada are a different ball game in that most of Canada does not have enough degree days to produce big carp, they get a great start because of warm water in summer but suffer in winter, so tend to grow quick for a few years and then slow right down, also they are mainly in rivers as the ponds, lakes etc are a predators playground, with Bass, Pike, Muskies, Trout, Sturgeon etc. and of course the otter. USA is the same in some senses with predators reigning supreme yet in other its the same as SA, they over populate and starve themselves out. One thing I will say is in quiet backwaters where carp can thrive there will be carp as big if not bigger than anything in Europe, but people have to fish to catch them. I think I've covered it all there in a simplified manner, although I could add a lot more.

Inside

Little bit of drizzle here at the moment, so decided to break it out. Not a breath of wind so haven't bothered to peg it down properly. Loads more room than my previous Solace, can sit much further under it. Doddle to put up with the new central bar. Loving it so far😀😀😀