Umbrellas

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Richard Drayson

Guest
My fishing brolly blew-up yesterday and is now a tangled mass of ribs and nylon.
I'd like some suggestions re: suitable replacement.
Most of my fishing (99%) is done on rivers and I frequently change swims during the day, so I'm not looking for a Brotel or anything that needs dismantling and packing away in its own carry bag.
I want to stick with a traditional brolly that I can simply lower and roll up.
Your thoughts please.
 
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Paul Williams

Guest
Richard....i'm also on the look out for a similar bit of , i hate messing about, much prefering something i can erect and take down VERY fast.......all i want is something as light as is practically possible yet can cover me on my chair, i don't want a centre pole but i still want some protection.........i also don't want it emblazoned with a name, just a nice dark green will do nicely!......ideas please, or perhaps a manufacturer would like to listen to our recomendations/requirments?
 
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Mike Parker

Guest
Dont be silly Paul, it the law of the land that us mere 'Pleabs' have to skimp and scrape to buy our equipment so that we can advertise manufacturers goods for free; so the likes of Matt HAYES et al can go Bonefish fishing in the Caribbean between March 15 and June 16 and tell us about it in Angling Mags that we buy, that are as much as 64% adverts!!!
 
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John Pleasance

Guest
Richard, you seem to have made up your mind about a Brotel but if you look at one you will find they are no harder to erect than a normal brolly.

If you have only seen the first incarnation of this design,(the Fox one) then you will find the Brotel is much easier to erect.

They really do give very good protection from the wind.

I still use the old design and don't keep it in a bag it just goes in the quiver.

Mine stayed up alright today,(the brolly, Paul the brolly).
 
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Chris Bishop

Guest
Have you seen those ex-army ponchoes you can get for around ?20..? Make you look a bit like an extra from The Magnificent Seven, but you can get quite a bit of kit under one.
 
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John Pleasance

Guest
Chris, I've got one of those and find it ideal to take in summer when there is a possibility of heavy sudden showers that only last a few minutes but I wouldn't want to fish under one for any length of time.In conditions like we've had today you could well achieve lift off!
 
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Alan Roe

Guest
have a look at the Badger oval brollie a well made piece of kit the one I saw at the NEC looked good and at ?60 looks like being a bargain. I am hoping to have one for review shortly ....whatch this space
 
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Rodney Wrestt

Guest
I agree with John about the Brotel, I have the Delux (the one with side panels)....plenty of cover and when moving swim it turns inside out when closed so you don't get soaked from the wet material if you are just going a short way and don't want to pack it all up.
 
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Craig Smith

Guest
The brolley/brotel that I use is the Relum. It has no centre pole(Paul), It takes a matter of seconds to put up but a bit longer to put in the bag(Richard). The ziped L's on the back are a bit low for seeing where your roller is but I've found that most times you put the roller in the same place so now it's force of habbit knowing where your roller is. It is perfect for use when using a low chair, There is a fair bit of cover as well which is good coz we all take far to much stuff when we go fishin'.
 
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Paul Williams

Guest
Some of the swims i fish on places like the Teme are on steep banks sometimes with only a very small area to sit in.....i don't think the brotel type shelters would be suitable for them, but i would be happy to be wrong?
Oh to have all those flat mown grass river banks you have on those sedate Southern rivers...... ;)
 
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Keith Miller

Guest
Paul, on the Teme a bit of lateral thinking is required sometimes.The pole can be put in the bank at a steep angle,near horizontal, so that when erected the brotel forms a canopy.
 
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Craig Smith

Guest
Paul,
I've used the brotel on steep banks. The support pole runs up the back of the brotel so no matter what angle the base can always be on the floor or above if required. Above floor level can lead to draughts!
 
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Paul Williams

Guest
Cheers fellas,
Friends of mine have brotels but i have only seen them up on level ground and they looked to me as if they were great in that situation but a little out of place in some of my "tight" swims, eg, would they peg down?.....i will have to take a better look at them.
 
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John Pleasance

Guest
Paul, those flat banks may be comfy but the wind don't half howl across them.
 
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Richard Drayson

Guest
Thanks for all your advice chaps.
I've looked at 2 reviews on the Brotel, but I'm still going to go for a replacement brolly.
My main gripe is the fact that you have to hammer in 8 pegs to secure the thing, try doing that on a bankside of hard gravel or chalk and lumps of flint!!!
OK on a nice piece of flat/soft ground, but most of the swims I fish just aren't like that.
Not only that, but I simply cannot put up with fiddling & farting around with carry-bags, pegs, guy-ropes or anything else.
It would undoubtedly be sooo comfortable aswell, once erected, that I'd feel reluctant to move swims.
That is one thing I don't want to do.
 
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John Pleasance

Guest
I've seen a brolly advertised somewhere with an odd shaped back (has the same effect as the Brotel) which will keep the wind out better than a normal round one Rich but I can't remember a name.I'm sure if you are looking into it you will come across it though.
 
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Steve Burke

Guest
Preston also do something similar. I have to say though, like many others, I consider the Brotel unbeatable.

Mind you, if I'm roving on a river I rarely take any kind of shelter or indeed a chair, instead using an unhooking mat to sit on. I've found the more I take, the less I tend to move, which can be counterproductive.
 
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Paul Williams

Guest
I don't take a brolly for roving either Steve......but if i have been dropping a couple of gallon of maggots in a swim for half a day it can be counterproductive to move!
 
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Robert Draper

Guest
I've just bought a flat back brolly and for the type of fishing I do it is wonderful. I can jam the pole down between the gravel and the boards on the fishing stages on my local lake and with a couple of home made articulated storm poles I can create a stable tripod which still allows access to the bankside.

I have used the Relum Brotel and while it is wonderful for static fishing on a level peg it can be far too big or unwieldy on tight or uneven pegs.
 
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