In reply to Post #64
I think Cliff Fox was also involved with making Dexion type shelving.

Richard Walker definitely was employed in his family Lawnmower business though👍

Probably the greatest carp tackle innovator of our time - Richard Walker.

Famous for his Mk 1 to IV carp rods which were designed when no other existed and started the modern carp fishing era.

Although not as well known as the eventual MKIV rod, this was the net he designed specifically for carp and the one he netted the then UK record from Redmire. This unique cantilever design can still be found on modern nets including ones made by Lockey for Solar and also the Hutchey carp Q, both of which I have in my collection.





I was lucky to come into possession of a set of his original drawings and make these as 100% replicas for anglers who like to fish with traditional tackle. I’ve sent out quite a few over the years.

In reply to Post #11
Quote: if that’s what people enjoy doing then fair play to them we all go fishing for different reasons don’t we :)

And there’s the truth of the matter👍

There’s been quite a few threads on here over the years about people wearing beanies, Vass waders and videoing everything to the annoyance of others 😲

Do your own thing, but don’t be too quick to criticise others (who may be in turn criticising you, criticising them) 😂😂

It just ends up as a circular firing squad 🫤

👍

In reply to Post #59
100% agree.

I’m a big Aqua ( original) fan.

However one that slipped under the radar was the JRC X Lite. JRC was a good brand. Not as keen now with its tie in to Berkerly and Pure Fish but prior it was a good solid, no fuss brand with some good gear and the X Lite bivvy was a good product.

The X Lite was something of a clone of the Aqualite. High HD skin ( can’t rember off the top of my head but up there with the best) nice soft tactile fabric, aero grade ally poles, 3/4 groundsheet, lightweight alloy pegs, rear windows and all the other refinements you’d expect. I was doing reviews for a website so JRC sent it to me and both me from a fishing viewpoint, and my missus from a machinist viewpoint went over it thoroughly. She checked seams, general machining of seams, interlocking, over-runs, under runs etc and it was sound. I also acquired an overwrap which is something of a unicorn item.

Unfortunately it came at the time of the Aqualite and the first Tempests/ Pioneers 100’s when everyone was fixated with set up times. This coupled with a few modern anglers who weren’t used to flexible alloy poles in cold winter temps reported pole breaks ( as did the Aqualite) so as it wasn’t achieving sales it was dropped. A big shame, one of the nicest lightweights out there. I’d never sell it.😕

In reply to Post #55
👍

In reply to Post #6
The military MRE’s came with a package containing a flat cardboard board the same size as the MRE wrapper. You placed it inside the MRE bag, poured about half a mugfull of water in the bag then snapped the board in a few places and put in your meal pouches in it. The board was infused with chemicals which reacted to the water and started to heat up. In effect the MRE bag was now a container for hot water to heat up your boil in bag meal. Afterwards you just threw the whole lot away - single use, no mess, no noise minimum smell 👍

In reply to Post #53
👍

Did you always use the guy ropes? I never bothered as it was so stable.

In reply to Post #1
I first got introduced to MRE’s during the Gulf War in the early 90’s. We were initially attached to the US 1st Marine Division (1MARDIV) and some our lads were embedded with them. As per usual put soldiers of different nations together and they will swap things ( put Brit squaddies amongst Yanks and they will steal anything that’s not bolted down). So we were swapping compo rations for MRE’s - Meals Ready to Eat but which the Marines re-christened Meals Rejected by Ethiopians.

To be honest in the main, once the novelty factor wore off and we had rotated through the menus a few times I preferred our compo, especially as we had different types - 1 man 24 hour packs both tinned and boil in the bag, artic boil in the bag 24 hr packs, 5 man compo packs ( buddy up with 4 others and 10 man packs for if a ACC cook was attached)

. You will always have favourites in any selections and out of the MRE’s I was addicted to the cheese and biscuits. At some time, way down the chain the milk did actually come from a cow, but then it went through so many processes, had so many chemicals added that it probably glowed in the dark. But there was no doubt although the residents of Wendslydale would be horrified, it was very addictive.

Another nice little addition was a small bottle of Tobasco sauce for jizzing it up a bit.



I kept this as a souvenir. Its unopened and now around 33 years old 😲

So I reckon for fishing, probably overnighters, they are ideal. There’s also a good chance that the civvy versions are better than the military ones because as any squaddy will tell you - your accommodation, kit, clothing, weapons and rations are all provided from the supplier who’s cheapest - not the neccessarily the best.

Adam- can you still get the chemical MRE cooking kits?

Got a couple of MRE based stories as well 😎

In reply to Post #51
Funnily enough I had a PowerPlus Bivvy also. Mainly seen in the North of England.

I was working in Sheffield and Fishing Tyram Hall Syndicate near Wakefield. Dave Power was a member.

The inner was quite lightweight, a bit flimsy even, but the outer skin was very thick PU backed DPM nylon, very heavy duty and for its time also bloody heavy! The built in groundsheet was also very heavy duty. The bags they came in were bought in crap ones and lasted about 1 season and a normal sports bag would be used to replace them.

I think there were about 3 models and mine was the Carp Dome. Due to replacing the bag and not resewing on the cloth badge I have it somewhere in the tackle room 👍

Overall the Aqua dome was superior quality hands down.

In reply to Post #48
As stated mines an early one, bought from Chris Manifold directly at his house. I still remember when the Aqua brand took off him putting out an advert for his products and stating he was now VAT registered- this was some years after I bought mine 😊

Normally these were described as the ‘Full Monty’ which meant the came with the main nylon outer dome, a canvass/cotton inner dome, ground sheet, and groundsheet protector which was a circular piece of butyl like material. They were years ahead of any other dome type tent and with the inner they were warmer in winter and famed for their stability in storms.

Once it was retired from fishing it’s done a fair few trips to Glastonbury with the kids.👍