Golden Paws

If you leave any electrical item for any amount of time, it's best to remove the batteries as they can leak over time.

Too excruciating for words!

More good advice.

https://www.total-fishing-tackle.com/ridgemonkey-advanced-boilie-crusher-full-kit?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAtNK8BhBBEiwA8wVt9z8O4N-y42mxVRRF4fqP2EaZj1Bn2XqRXRlaIBJ9tDWANusYyJ43vBoCo8EQAvD_BwE RRP is £57 and got if for £40. You can get a particle plate for it but haven't bothered with that. (Yet!)

After a few hand me down kitchen blenders and most of them burning out, I took the plunge and got a dedicated manual version! Just the job, a nice combination of part baits and fine crumb that should the carp grubbing around for quite a while.

I've been there! After working for the same Company for 30 years, my job went to India. In the next 15 years, I must have had 20 different jobs including 2 years running when I had 4 different employers. I've been at the same place for the last 2 years and haven't even looked for another job. Luckily I'd paid off the mortgage years ago and had a bit of a redundancy cushion to fall on but it is liberating to tell a manager to stick his job - I think I quit and left 3 jobs the same day. There are good jobs out there, you've just got to kiss a few frogs before you find it! Good luck.

https://www.anglingtimes.co.uk/advice/tips/how-to-keep-warm-in-a-bivvy-safely/ This has not long gone up, possibly after the latest tragedy. Lots of really good advice.

That should give you a starter.

I know it sounds stupid that the less you wear, the warmer you are. I'm sure I read it somewhere and tried it and was pleasantly surprised how warm I was. Possibly the extra layers trapping sweat and making you wet and causing your body to cool down as it tries to get rid of it. I've got a pair of gardening clogs at the bivvy exit that are easy to step into and my coat is on my table ready to pick up.

I know what you mean but I made the mistake years ago or "overdressing" in the sleeping bag. If it was cold, I'd wear my base layer full arm length shirt and a jumper and sometimes a fleece and I'd be cold. By wearing the shirt only, the heat you generate is retained by a good 5 season sleeping bag and you are warmer. You have to ensure your coat is easily available to grab if you get a run in the night otherwise you could freeze outside.

Sorry to hear your bad news Nick. Carbon Monoxide is known as "The Silent Killer" as it is odourless and as you breathe in, it makes you sleepy. As you sleep, you breathe in more and the concentration increases. Oxygen is readily attached to the blood and released, CO holds on 400 times more strongly and blocks the Oxygen from attaching and you die. I would never use a bivvy heater, candle system or cook inside. If it is that cold that you think that you need external heat sources, go home, the fish ain't feeding!

I had a right miserable old curmudgeon on my local water. The first time we met went badly as I caught him climbing over a fence then he just shouted "ticket" at me when he appeared in my swim. I told him he couldn't be a bailiff as I had seen him climb the fence and asked to see proof. He said he'd left it in the car and I told I wasn't showing it to him until he produced it. He stormed off and turned up 10 minutes later with it and then demanded to do a rig check. He also let slip into the conversion that he had a shotgun, like you do. I wrote a letter of complaint to the Chairman and did get a call from the head bailiff a month later but not an apology. He did mellow a bit but was still a bit of a Hitler to the general public on the lake who got lost and was often heard shouting across. Luckily he's gone now and the new bailiff is a really nice old boy who you'd happily make a brew. I would definitely make a complaint and list all the problems you've had with him in a calm and logical manner. They would have to look into it and confront him and perhaps he is just oblivious to the chaos he causes. If you do nothing, it will continue as no-one will know anything is wrong.

Bet they promise the earth and fail to deliver!

I have several pairs of merino socks for work and fishing and they are good. Might be slightly pricey compared to bog standard socks but they are good and last a long time.