New purchases

[kevtaylor]

52 minutes ago, jh92 said:

Anyone use a separate holdall/bag for their cooking stuff? Thinking about getting a large coolbag so it can carry everything for cooking? 

Cool bags are rubbish, you need a cool box - Check IGLOO but there are others.

[salokcinnodrog]

2 hours ago, jh92 said:

Anyone use a separate holdall/bag for their cooking stuff? Thinking about getting a large coolbag so it can carry everything for cooking? 

 

1 hour ago, kevtaylor said:

Cool bags are rubbish, you need a cool box - Check IGLOO but there are others.

I'll second @kevtaylor 's comment. I use a cool bag for my pike and sea fishing bait. Frozen fish will thaw out within a couple of hours, unless the actual air temperature is close to freezing.

I have the original Korum ruckbag, with the silver insulated liner for food, powerbanks and a few odds and sods. A chopping board fits flat in the main compartment. Everything is boxed in Tupperware or Ice cream containers apart from the two cans of Magners currently in there.

My stove, Bialetti, gas, plate and pans go into my main rucksack and get tidily sorted under the bedchair when I'm fishing, while I keep an emergency stove in the car.

Yes it is a pain to have a separate bag, but if I have to barrow my gear, no matter what, it is two trips, or if I unload behind the swim from the car, it makes no difference.

[B B]

3 hours ago, kevtaylor said:

Cool bags are rubbish,

Bit strong lads 

All I want from a cool bag is to keep the food and bait fresh and liquids cool for 48hrs and with the room for the gas and stove with a small ridge monkey and bits and bobs. 
And it does it in the heat of summer no problems….All in one bag. 

[framey]

Problem with cool bags is you need the ice blocks and they don’t stay frozen long enough to help any.

possibly keep frozen for a couple of hours.

better is to use a bottle of water from the freezer and then you can get about a day out of it.

[elmoputney]

32 minutes ago, framey said:

Problem with cool bags is you need the ice blocks and they don’t stay frozen long enough to help any.

possibly keep frozen for a couple of hours.

better is to use a bottle of water from the freezer and then you can get about a day out of it.

Just remember to not use a full bottle in the freezer or it will split when you freeze it 😏🙄😳

I did that with one of those metal water bottles it really tore it a new one. 😱

 

[kevtaylor]

2 hours ago, B B said:

Bit strong lads 

All I want from a cool bag is to keep the food and bait fresh and liquids cool for 48hrs and with the room for the gas and stove with a small ridge monkey and bits and bobs. 
And it does it in the heat of summer no problems….All in one bag. 

Cool boxes are many times better than bags IMO

[jh92]

19 hours ago, kevtaylor said:

Cool bags are rubbish, you need a cool box - Check IGLOO but there are others.

Yeah I got you mate, the cool bag I've got at the moment will keep a frozen meal frozen for about half a day and by night time it has pretty much thawed out but don't trust anything after that lol. I mainly want it for storage, just so I can keep all my cookware stuff in it, and some grub for the day. I don't need it to keep meals frozen for days as I have a tescos that's a 5 minute walk from the bank, so normally do a shop in there each day while doing a lap of the lake 👍🤣

[kevtaylor]

59 minutes ago, jh92 said:

Yeah I got you mate, the cool bag I've got at the moment will keep a frozen meal frozen for about half a day and by night time it has pretty much thawed out but don't trust anything after that lol. I mainly want it for storage, just so I can keep all my cookware stuff in it, and some grub for the day. I don't need it to keep meals frozen for days as I have a tescos that's a 5 minute walk from the bank, so normally do a shop in there each day while doing a lap of the lake 👍🤣

My Carp Porter front bag is silver padded lined but like you say they don't keep anything cold for long, I've tried a few of those, in summer this is a prob if you want to eat fresh meats etc.  The OGLOO brand are good and not too expensive, I've actually got 3 lol - one being giant for foreign trips, used once.  We cant be popping to and from the lake to shops coz our track is notoriously bad, once in - you're in for the duration if you value your car  

[jh92]

2 hours ago, kevtaylor said:

My Carp Porter front bag is silver padded lined but like you say they don't keep anything cold for long, I've tried a few of those, in summer this is a prob if you want to eat fresh meats etc.  The OGLOO brand are good and not too expensive, I've actually got 3 lol - one being giant for foreign trips, used once.  We cant be popping to and from the lake to shops coz our track is notoriously bad, once in - you're in for the duration if you value your car  

I will check them out for the summer mate, something like that would come in handy on the ressies 👍

For now I've opted for the korda compac dark camo xl cool bag, just to match the rest of my kit 👍🤣 seems like I can get all my cooking stuff in it, brew kit stuff and some food for the day 👍

When I ordered the 45l rucksack I imagined it to be big, safe to say its not as big as I thought and keeping the ridgemonkey armoury tackle box in there is gonna take up a lot of room, so I've ordered the korda basix tackle box just to store the essentials which also has a little rig board, will keep the armoury under the car seat so if I run short on the water I can restock from there 👍

[ouchthathurt]

On 18/03/2025 at 14:20, ouchthathurt said:

Just brought 2kg of Robin red direct from Haiths, 100 10mm cork balls, some belachan flavour and maple flavour time to start knocking up the pop ups and bait for the next few months 👍🏻

50 belachan pop ups and 50 maple pop ups rolled onto 10mm cork balls. 
 

the belachan is evil smelling… the wife wouldn’t let me air dry them in the house! 

[Golden Paws]

Finally took the plunge and ordered a Trakker Tempest RS 150 bivvy and the skull cap to go with it. I've got an older trakker with the pram hood style and it's such a faff to get it up and down. I have preferred to use a brolly system for years but it was a bit cramped and it did suffer from condensation if I had to have it zipped up.

 

[jh92]

24 minutes ago, Golden Paws said:

Finally took the plunge and ordered a Trakker Tempest RS 150 bivvy and the skull cap to go with it. I've got an older trakker with the pram hood style and it's such a faff to get it up and down. I have preferred to use a brolly system for years but it was a bit cramped and it did suffer from condensation if I had to have it zipped up.

 

Very nice mate, I think the 150 has a lot of room in it, I seen one a while back and even with the bedchair tucked to the back there was a lot of room in the front 👍

Years ago me and my dad bought the fox royale bivvies with the pram hoods, they were an absolute nightmare to put up and even worse to take down. Safe to say we sold them after a couple sessions 🤣

[Golden Paws]

Thanks for that. It was a toss up between the 100 and 150 but decided to go large! The 200 is definitely a 2 man and just too big for one angler.

[jh92]

Just thought I'd update on the korda compac camo luggage 👍 

The 3 rod holdall fits 3 rods made up with my daiwa sportsmatic-x 5500 reels, they fit really nice and not too tight. Its also carrying a spod/marker sleeve on one of the outside pockets. Distance sticks, net/handle, and camera tripod all fits in it too.

The real challenge was stripping down the nash monster carp holdall and tfg coolbag, I've transfered to a 45l rucksack and a xl coolbag. The hardest part was emptying the ridgemonkey armoury into a korda basix tackle box, what I've ended up doing is putting all the metal/kickers etc into the basix box and using a small case/bag for the hooklink materials etc. I've done it though and feels much more organised.

The 45l rucksack takes the tackle, scales, radio, popups, camera, torches/lights and some spare batteries etc.

The xl cool bag has everything to do with cooking. I can fit a kettle, stove, gas, ridgemonkey deep xl pan and griddle, with room in the bag for teabags, coffee, milk and food etc. Has some straps I can slide the ice blocks into. It also has a front pocket where I can keep cutlery etc. And the bottom of the coolbag I can keep a thin chopping board too.

All I can really say at the moment is I'm pleased with how organised all my kit is now. Quality feels wicked too, but time will tell I suppose 👍🤣 sad to see the monster carp holdall go, it was the first ever holdall that my dad got me when I was a kid, it really gas took a beating 🤣

 

 

[Roughtor]

I fish some big ressis or small private waters  so I try and go minimal as I can 

 

I use a 45 litre ESP rucksack ,all my cooking kit plus bait and alarms go in that bag ,cook kit is a Trangia 27ul triggers broom version..tiny cup,  spork that's it ...

 

Food is frozen ,meant to last one day til cooked ,rest of food is easy cook stuff so I don't have the extra hassle of a another big bag ..my little food bag is the NGT tiny version  ,my car is my hub ...

 

I try and keep everything in its place ,so I know where it tis,...

[yonny]

British Army NI Patrol Pack.

These are getting tricky to find in good condition. Most of the surplus stores now show as sold-out. I used my old one for 15 years+ until the foam padding in the straps and back plate became brittle and it became uncomfortable to wear. I managed to find a dealer on e-bay so messaged him and he went through his stash and found an absolute corker..... almost looks new which is mad since they've not made the DPM one for almost 20 years. That's me sorted until 2040 now 😁

[elmoputney]

I need to have a trim down of what I take, my rucksack has got to the stage where it is heavy again. I don't know what I take that I don't need though 😂

Will have to get ruthless 😱

[kevtaylor]

1 hour ago, elmoputney said:

I need to have a trim down of what I take, my rucksack has got to the stage where it is heavy again. I don't know what I take that I don't need though 😂

Will have to get ruthless 😱

Been saying to my mate that my rucksack weighs silly amounts, I just don't see where the weight is coming from tbh it must weigh 30-40k 

Anyway into the fishing store room goes the rucksack, everything is now packed into the barrow luggage - hopefully this will be a game changer for me. 🤞

[jh92]

Really happy with this, keeps it all organised 👍 also got rid of the stuff I didn't use 🤣

[Roughtor]

1 hour ago, yonny said:

British Army NI Patrol Pack.

These are getting tricky to find in good condition. Most of the surplus stores now show as sold-out. I used my old one for 15 years+ until the foam padding in the straps and back plate became brittle and it became uncomfortable to wear. I managed to find a dealer on e-bay so messaged him and he went through his stash and found an absolute corker..... almost looks new which is mad since they've not made the DPM one for almost 20 years. That's me sorted until 2040 now 😁

OK Yonny ,..I gave my son my original NI patrol pack ,he uses it all the time for fishing and shooting on the moors..

 

If anyone is interested,Kombat UK do a klone version of the NI packs and I've seen the originals for sale in the local surplus store..

 

Kombat ones are good ,but not as good as the proper ones ..

[elmoputney]

17 minutes ago, kevtaylor said:

Been saying to my mate that my rucksack weighs silly amounts, I just don't see where the weight is coming from tbh it must weigh 30-40k 

Anyway into the fishing store room goes the rucksack, everything is now packed into the barrow luggage - hopefully this will be a game changer for me. 🤞

Are you gonna get it down to 1 trip now 😱😂

[salokcinnodrog]

I've stuck with British Army Bergens, my old 100litre DPM Bergen lasted years, probably around 15 I guess, the only reasons I replaced it is that the top skirt had a rip in it and it was delaminating. As a rucksack it still works!

I replaced it a couple of years ago with an Airborne Bergen https://www.militarykit.com/products/kombat-airborne-bergen-100-litre

Front pockets take Delkim receiver, stove and Spods and Spombs.

Top outer pocket takes cup, top inner pocket takes scales and weigh bar. The main rucksack is loaded as such:

Frying pan, spatula and plate against the back of the rucksack.

Waterproof jacket and trousers right at the bottom. On top of them go spare socks, trousers and t-shirt and a long sleeve top dependant on time of year. Then the saucepan, 2 gas canisters, Bialetti coffee maker, a rig bin with bottom bait rigs and a rig wallet with pop-up rigs. On top of that is my fleece and my coffee and sugar containers, usually packed in last.

As much as @elmoputney hates it, my tackle box contains all the bits, leads, baiting needles, rig rings, quick links, hooklink materials etc.

My food bag is the Korum ruckbag which also has a couple of powerpacks in the side pocket.

3 hours ago, yonny said:

British Army NI Patrol Pack.

These are getting tricky to find in good condition. Most of the surplus stores now show as sold-out. I used my old one for 15 years+ until the foam padding in the straps and back plate became brittle and it became uncomfortable to wear. I managed to find a dealer on e-bay so messaged him and he went through his stash and found an absolute corker..... almost looks new which is mad since they've not made the DPM one for almost 20 years. That's me sorted until 2040 now 😁

 

1 hour ago, Roughtor said:

OK Yonny ,..I gave my son my original NI patrol pack ,he uses it all the time for fishing and shooting on the moors..

 

If anyone is interested,Kombat UK do a klone version of the NI packs and I've seen the originals for sale in the local surplus store..

 

Kombat ones are good ,but not as good as the proper ones ..

 

[yonny]

1 hour ago, Roughtor said:

Kombat ones are good ,but not as good as the proper ones ..

Agree.

The proper ones are the nuts. Half the price of tackle brands, ten times as tough, and carpy as Terry Hearns nut sack.

[Roughtor]

I love threads like this ,minimalist I be, after many years of trying different ways of carrying our essential kit ..

I find it very interesting seeing others kit,as in reality I don't fish with or see many other anglers ..

 

So 40 litre ESP rucksack 

27ul Trangia ,+ bit of fuel

Old skool fox Alarm pouch plus bankstix underneath 

Bit of bait front pocket, coupla head torches, and my monster sized pouch .lol.....took me years and years to refine it ..

[kevtaylor]

1 hour ago, elmoputney said:

Are you gonna get it down to 1 trip now 😱😂

Deffo 1 trip now, was a struggle with 2 trips lol