Worst piece of kit you have bought in recent years?

[fred hall]

Well it's gratifying to find that I'm not the only one who has rushed out and wasted good money on rubbish tackle. To be honest I'm going into a cold sweat thinking about my follies in this regard because there have been so many of them over the years. The most recent was purchasing a MAP 18/20 foot float rod for a bargain ?60 from one of these Tackle shows and the top section cracked in half on my second cast with it! To add insult to injury I shelled out another ?40 to a local tackle shop to order a replacement section before my more-practical-than-me son came along and spliced the broken section into itself. I therefore decided to fish the repaired section to destruction before using the replacement and, surprise, surprise it is still going strong.
Not quite on the same track but one phenomenom I've noticed many times is the more expensive the swimfeeder the more likely you are to lose it quickly.

 

[Nathan]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>fred hall wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>Not quite on the same track but one phenomenom I've noticed many times is the more expensive the swimfeeder the more likely you are to lose it quickly.</blockquote>
I've found exactly the same thing happens with lures!

 

[Macca_EFC]

Either the most expensivelures or the best one's which have caught the most and you cant remember where you bought it so cant replace it!

 

[Neneman Nick]

Ha Ha Ha paul....anything else i can intrest you in ???

I have a load of water damaged PVA bags.....i only want £15 for them.

 

[Tony Cummings]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Clive Moore 2 wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Greyfox, you DO NOT bad mouth greys or solar/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif.......i have solar stainless and i can assure you it is worth the money as it is quality and indestructable. greys are up there for rods, my rods have single legs and none have broken andi dont use rod bags or anything and also they get battered on the bank but are fine.

The elephant thing made me laugh though haha/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif</blockquote>
Greyfox is probably a clumsy git like me!! You can't beat three legger rod rings for roughty toughty fishing but they are invariably on expensive rods that I can't afford..../forum/smilies/sad_smiley.gif

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Free Spirit Bivvy, PANTS, weighs a ton, not stable and more condensation than you would get from a kettle in a ice box.

Free Spirit service Crap, my son has been waiting 6 weeks to have two cork handles put on his rods, a job they said would take two weeks.

Greys rods crap, All stainless steel is over priced no matter who makes it.

 

[Spiggy]

1. Noramark Nova Travel Carp rod - totally tip heavy even with a large pit reel fitted.
See also the Carp Travel Rod Forum http://www.fishingmagic.com/forum/forummessages.asp?URN=1&UTN=29481&last=1 & SP = & V = 1

2. Just as Blunderer says in the the first post in this forum, I have also been waiting several weeks for Calm Productions to deliver the Catching the Impossible DVD and Book that were to have been a birthday present for me. Maybe in time for Christmas?

 

[Tony Cummings]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Ray Daywalker Clarke wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Free Spirit Bivvy, PANTS, weighs a ton, not stable and more condensation than you would get from a kettle in a ice box.

Free Spirit service Crap, my son has been waiting 6 weeks to have two cork handles put on his rods, a job they said would take two weeks.

Greys rods crap, All stainless steel is over priced no matter who makes it.</blockquote>
NAH yu tell me............

 

[Clive Moore 2]

WTF!!! Greys rods are NOT crap.......what do you use then!!!???/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

 

[Clive Moore 2]

stainless is unbeatable, solid and WORTH THE MONEY.........you get quality. kicks the s**t out of those s****y, horrible fox pods and banksticks garbage s**t. stainless is the way forward, and no-one tell me "oh its too heavy", thats 'cos its SOLID. all i hear about some GOOD, SOLID, QUALITY tackleis "its a little heavy/forum/smilies/confused_smiley.gif", thats 'cos it is built like a frickin tank!!!

end of

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Clive,

Rock solid Carbon banksticks, light and as strong a stainless, and your not carring scrap metal around, pods? are people still using them?

Rods I use, Harrison, Free Spirit and Normark Titan 2000, Sonik rods are the same blanks as the Greys, and cheaper, so why pay more for the same rod?.

 

[Morespiders]

I had a stainless steel sink unit fitted years ago, and cannot comment, i have never used it, the wife says it good though.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

hahaha trust you

 

[Robert Woods]

We have got a stainless steel sink as well. Wife keeps asking me is it a good one.../forum/smilies/embarassed_smiley.gif.

 

[Andy "the Dog" Nellist (SAA) (ACA)]

Fox SX Alarms bought in 1995 when my delkim optonics were nicked - utter rubbish and cost me a lot of fish including missinga full blown drop back on wilstone on opening day 1995. Couldn't sell them as that would havebeen spreading misery to a fellow angler. Replaced them with delkims and have never looked back.

Fox easy dome. Easy to put up but wasuseless in even moderate winds. Had poles break twice in the first five trips ruining those trips. Its been in theroof of my garage ever since.These daysI use an Aqua Ultralight - very expensive but extremely sturdy and you can put it up/down and out/in itsbag in about aminute.

Mitchell 206 reels in the late seventies/early eighties - couldn'd afford better whenI was in my teens. One big fish and it was curtains for the gears which appeared to bemade from putty. Although I'm a Shimano fan these days you can get aOkumaImpala for a tenner that is better than any of the reels available then.

Rod Hutchinson Ambience one piece suit 1993. Supposed tobe the best available at the time and cost me £190.The Ambience leaked like a sieve and had the thermal properties of a cotton boiler suit. Fortunately I got my money back. My current suit a Sundridge Igloo Mark V bought at the end of last year cost £20 less, looks fantastic andis utterly brilliant. I've happily fished through all of the crap weather this year and the suit has kept mewarm, comfortable and dry all the time. All of my other experiences with hutchinson bait and gear have been good.

Shakespeare 3 piece carbonlanding net handle in the early noughties (£60).A section snapped on my second trip out with the pole. Assumed I'd damaged it and went back to the shop for another. Found I had to buy a completenew handle which the shop did for me at a reduced price (£40). It broke the first time out when I netted and lifted from the water a 2-11 chub for my youngest son.Shakespeare said it was improper use and wouldn't replace it.Strange that in 40 years of fishingI have only ever had one landing net handle break whilst landing a fish. They lost a customer and I ended up £100 quidout of pocket. These days I use Korum landing net poles which are very light and cheap if like me you have a habit of breaking or losing them (2 trodden on and 2 left behindin the last 3 years - whoops!)

My oldest piece of fishing gear that i still use all the timeis a Happy Hooker weigh sling whichI think I bought in 1979.Great simple lightweight design and obviously made tolast. Lost it in the summer of 2008 andcouldn't find a decent replacement. luckily I found it a couple of months later andlast used it to weigh a fish it last Sunday. Still a superb piece of kit 30 years on.

I also still have and use my original kettle and rubber mallet bought in the early eighties.

My philosophy with tackle these days is to buy the best because apart from being nicer to use it tends to last far longer and in the end its durability often measn that its real cost is lower thancheaper alternatives which don't last.

 

[Mark Wintle]

Landing net poles have been the bugbear for me. A £50 Daiwa one about 10 years ago lasted all of a fortnight yet an alloy one from 1971, long since stopped being telescopic, has survived being run over, and still going strong - had a replacement end thread over 20 years ago, that's about all.

 

[Day Breamer]

I bought a Keenets rod pod off e-bay for a total of £20 which included postage.

In the blog it said the words 'quality' well made' etc... and it did look just like what i wanted, finished off in stylish black and even came with 2 x hangers... perfect for my budget, so i bought it !!

It arrived 2 or 3 days later, and i will not exxagerate, the aluminium bank sticks were so thin that i broke one just by screwing it in (gently).

The rod rest heads were cheap plastic and one had a worn thread right out the box...

The whole thing was so cheap and pathetic that i vowed NEVER to buy anything without being able to see it first and even then i'd want to check it out fully.

It was cheap, it was rubbish... anyone thinking of buying one of the basic very cheap rod pods think twice, you may well end up with unusable junk and have to go and buy a better quality one, which i for one should have just gone and done in the first place.

 

[Tony Cummings]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Day Breamer wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

I bought a Keenets rod pod off e-bay for a total of £20 which included postage.

In the blog it said the words 'quality' well made' etc... and it did look just like what i wanted, finished off in stylish black and even came with 2 x hangers... perfect for my budget, so i bought it !!

It arrived 2 or 3 days later, and i will not exxagerate, the aluminium bank sticks were so thin that i broke one just by screwing it in (gently).

The rod rest heads were cheap plastic and one had a worn thread right out the box...

The whole thing was so cheap and pathetic that i vowed NEVER to buy anything without being able to see it first and even then i'd want to check it out fully.

It was cheap, it was rubbish... anyone thinking of buying one of the basic very cheap rod pods think twice, you may well end up with unusable junk and have to go and buy a better quality one, which i for one should have just gone and done in the first place.</blockquote>


Lot to be said for using banksticks, particularly for pike fishing but carp too; rods can be pointed at where the lead is reducing resistance which improves sensitivity.

Easier to remove and carry to where fish have been spotted.

Easier to set up in tight / jungle swims

Dosen't look as cool though does it?/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

 

[Mark Hewitt]

"reducing resistance which improves sensitivity. "

No. Resistance and sensitivity are totally different. If you reduce resistance then you reduce sensitivity.

For example, free-lining is resistance free but fish may pick up a bait without giving and indication to the angler, so is not sensitive. A quivertip with a tight line and short hook link is very sensitive, as every movement shows up. Its not resistance free though.

Both types of rig have their applications, but both are very different.

 

[Tony Cummings]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Mark Hewitt wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

"reducing resistance which improves sensitivity. "

No. Resistance and sensitivity are totally different. If you reduce resistance then you reduce sensitivity.

For example, free-lining is resistance free but fish may pick up a bait without giving and indication to the angler, so is not sensitive. A quivertip with a tight line and short hook link is very sensitive, as every movement shows up. Its not resistance free though.

Both types of rig have their applications, but both are very different.</blockquote>


Mark, I am comparing the relative virtues of fishing from rod rests versus fishing from a rod pod; your reference to freelining is out of context.

Can't remember ever having seen anyone freelining from rod rests or rod pods/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif