B.C.

Hi King Tench, been rereading this thread and there are so many conflicting views that your head must be spinning. Trouble is, there are so many shelters on offer these days and each person has their own preference and budget..... I had similar problems last season looking for an appropriate shelter to suit my own needs... From what I can gather, you are looking for a day shelter, than can provide adequate cover for the odd overnighter.... Well it's a no brainer to me..... A Brolly System with infill panel is perfect.... On days, you only need the brolly..no groundsheet or infill panel, so you are not carrying needless weight around. If you plan an overnighter, then take the infill panel and zip it on..... This will narrow your search down to just brolly systems, which you can then narrow down further to budget....... I'd be looking for a brolly system, with a rear vent for those really hot days and muggy nights....... Also, a mozzy mesh option on any openings on the infill panel makes life easier in mozzy season. Up to you how much you spend, but unless you are a bivvy rat and doing 4 or 5 nights a week, you don't need to go overboard, beware the marketing hype of some products. Plenty of decent shelters under £200. Some of the more expensive ones are sold on how light they are and as such are made from very thin material, which can leave you baking with no real shade in the warmer months.

The Fox Warriors are pretty good entry level rods, 1000's sold over the years, https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/fox-warrior-s-rods Good luck on your search

I remember you recommending the Tigerline before Carpbell, haven't used it myself......... I wonder whether a few fish have been lost last year to snap offs, or maybe some trailers pulled in or found in snags that don't look up to the job. If so, then I can understand why they might want to put some kind of ground rule in place. As mentioned before though, difficult to police.

0.05 mm thicker, 5 hundredths of a mm. Which I don't think would make ant real difference (unless, like Dave mentioned you are casting to the horizon) Most of these sort of rules are to prevent anyone going in silly with 8lb or 10lb bs imo...... If they are sensible, then your original line would be ok in the 16lb........ My last club had a similar rule, impossible to police, especially when you take floater and zig fishing into account... I'd just stick with your old line, 16lb is plenty strong enough......

Doubt you'll find a bivvy that is as quick and easy to set up as a brolly or brolly system. Something like the Titan Hide which Nige posted above, or Trakker Tempest Brolly would bridge the gap. And as Nige said, you can buy the extras to create a full blown winter bivvy....... Some of the lightweight shelters are made from very thin materials and the sunlight can penetrate, which can cook you up a bit in the hottest weather if theres no shade in your swim............ Out of interest Nige, have you used your Titan Hide in rainy weather. If so, what's the run off like in the front area, I assume there is some kind of gutter? The design looks as though any water would drip in the doorway. Does it just run down the sides?

Not quite the same as the Lowpro, and tbh, imo, defeats the object of a super lightweight shelter... I suppose ditching the ground sheet would lose a couple of kg.... Lets face it Dan, to be mobile on that water you intend having a go at, you'll probably have to rough it a bit mate.

There is a low pro mk2 with an infill panel I believe.... Not sure by how much this effects the overall weight though bud.

The Fox Pop Up shelter is pretty good... I've seen them used and they offer more space than you'd think. Perfect for day sessions or overnighters in decent weather.... Wouldn't trust them too much in strong winds, but that is just by looking at them...... Incredibly light weight. A few lads that do work overnighters use them on the lake I was fishing, and they've all had good comments. If you are doing day sessions with a chair and not a bed chair, there is plenty of room for kit inside them...... Phil Dalts has got one. He may be able to give you some more info if he's about, if not, I doubt he'd mind a PM about it.

Nightmare scenario buddy, and I've been there..... If it's that bad, I'll try and get away with 3 pegs , 1 at the back and 1 each side of the doorway. I have "handballed" gravel out around the pegging points before to about 5 inches deep and used my foot to push the pegs in to below ground level and then back filled and buried them. ( I can usually find 20mins once set up , to do this if needed) I've also added elasticated loops to the pegging rings of my brolly, 5mm bungie cord, gives you a few more inches of ground to play about with in trying to find a spot for the peg to go in..... My little Trakker bivvy already has these and they are brill.

I've had banks like this and I agree , they are a nightmare. I find that pitching near a decent sized tree (obviously not in high winds) is best.... Years of leaf litter mulching down will usually mean there's a layer of earth, you can angle your pegs into........... Mallets mate, you just shouldn't really use them on the bank imo, the guy a couple of swims down who's been patiently waiting with his traps nicely set would be pulling his hair out, he might only get 1 sesh a month to fish...

Batten... Batton...... Potatoe, potartoe....... I've got an off cut off 2x1 roofing batton, I push down on that and onto the peg, works for me... There's usually only 1 or 2 pegs that need it

Yeah, I've seen them up for £25.... I'll read absolutely anything about carp fishing, there's always something that you pick up on.... Whether it reinforces what you already know, or if it's something different to your own way of thinking, it's a win win situation imo..

Cheers mate I'll have a look in future... I gave a load of old mags to a youngen last week and he seems quite keen to have any bits I've no use for, just gotta clear it with his parents first. It will be painful parting with some of it, but someone else might as well put it to good use.... Downside is, I can't put off sorting the shed out for much longer.....

I was taught a long time ago to look for pegs where the metal work goes all the way through, that way you are pushing down onto metal and not plastic, which will eventually crack.... A 4" piece of batten in your peg bag is a decent enough "palm saver", so no mallet needed equals longer life span of pegs....

Life times worth there.

I've never bought new pegs........ I've lost the occasional peg on the bank and borrowed one from another bivvy set if I think it will be needed...... Damaged pegs are usually the result of a mallet being used, something I don't do... Besides, most of the time you only need 3 or 4 pegs.... I think there is an age group/mentality group that these sort of products are aimed at, and it's got nothing to do with fishing.... I've been trying to offload some used gear, free of charge to any youngsters that are without certain bits..... Bed chair, bags, Rod holdall...... First thing they ask is "what make is it".... There is a serious fashion thing going on with the youngsters today on the bank........ Designer fishing gear, pointless imo.

£5.70 delivered Ebay.... From reading this thread, sounds like there would be some useful info/reminders ..... Easy to get tunnel vision in your own fishing sometimes....

The Emperor's new bivvy pegs..

My mate sold his 50" original last year and I jumped on it after quite a search for a lightweight brolly, after hearing good comments about the originals, on here... Glad to hear that people still rate them. Much lighter than any brolly I've had before. Tiny foot print on the 50" means you can tuck yourself away. Only downside I can see is that it's a bit of a squeeze into the original bag supplied, so I don't bother with the bag, which speeds things up a bit when setting up/packing down.

Judging by your comments, A size up should do me. Cheers bud......... Van goes in tomorrow for a service, depending on what they find, will determine whether or not the pocket money will stretch as far as getting a pair, but they are definitely on the radar.

I've never owned a pair of the original lace up field boots, but I know some lads that swear by them.. It's the laces that put me off. They don't look as if you could get them on in a hurry if you were jumping out of the sleeping bag.... In fact, I've tried as many different types of winter boots as I can over the years, lace up, zip up, Velcro straps and I have yet to find the perfect boot in terms of grip, warmth, waterproof and ease of getting on and off and all with a removable lining... Lots of products that promise a lot, but don't quite cut it..... Incidentally SPR, with those Skeetex Ultralites , would you recommend getting a size bigger, or are they a decent enough fit already. I'm thinking thicker pair of socks and ease of removal....?

That is a big plus mate, and I think they sell replacement liners too. I also read that the tiny bubbles in the material they are moulded from, not only make them lightweight, but add extra insulation. Glad Crusian asked you about these, as I was going to, lol..... Almost bought a pair, then the sun came out.. but looking at next weeks weather they may well be on my shopping list soon, even for just walking the dogs atm.... I had some fur lined wellies once, non removable inners... Ok for a few trips, but soon wore out and didn't smell too good either . And I found that once your feet sweated up in them it was impossible to get them warm again.. Those Skeetex or similar look just the job.

After a quick browse........ The only difference between the two DXR and RX Digital,........ The DXR has an extra adjustment dial on the face of the alarm. So there are 2 dials that have an "S" on them (The bottom two).. These are both for sensitivity control... The first of these, 3rd one down, is for adjusting the sensitivity of the roller wheel and is governed by how much line you want to pass over the wheel before an indication is registered........ The second "S" dial, bottom one, is said to adjust vibration, ...... A micro adjustment, if you will. The RX alarm has one single sensitivity adjustment dial. When you turn this dial all the way round to it's most sensitive, there is a "V" symbol on the dial reading, which stands for "vibration", in other words , it's mega sensitive..... IMO though Dan, I doubt you'd ever use an alarm set at its most sensitive as the slightest breeze or ripple even, will give you a lot of false bites. Basically, the single sensitivity dial on the RX, does both jobs, that the two dials on the DXR do.. Side note... Those dinky little dials on the older alarms can be fiddly to adjust, especially if a little stiff. I use forceps, gently , if I need to adjust mine,. which isn't often.

I've not owned DXR, but I would assume that the "D" in their title would stand for Digital...... Some of the differences on these alarms could be something like, tone control or sensitivity control... I know the RX have Volume,tone and sensitivity controls,...... Let me have a browse and I'll see if I can pick up on any real differences between the two...... Don't worry, you are not chewing my ear

Think "digital" just means wireless..... Older models would have wires running from the alarm heads to a sounder box, meaning a few metres of mud caked wire to trip on and for the rats to chew on. Gardner do a wireless "dongle" set up that can convert some older set ups to a wireless/digital one. might be other brands out there too.....