David Craine
Senior Member & Supporter
Korum Ruckbag….
After my last outing to the Ribble, and experiencing about 8 hours of constant rain, and finding out that my faithful 18 yrs old Rucksack had finally been beaten by age, leaks, holes and the weather,I decided I was overdue a new fishing bag.
I had noticed over the years that the main problem with my rucksack was it had a habit of tumbling into the river, if not anchored by a bankstick. I had successfully trashed a mobile phone and a camera by severe dunkings , when the bag had slipped into the river, and was determined that this time I would like something better designed.
I have a couple of carryalls , and they do get used on single rod roaming, but I wanted something that held about the same amount as my rucksack, had the ability to fix my Chub chair to it for lengthy walks , was easy to access instead of having to rummage around in a “top loading” bag, was weatherproof, and could be carried comfortably on my back.
After doing some research, and asking a lot of questions, I finally decided upon a Korum Ruckbag. On the face of it it ticked all the boxes, and apparently did exactly what I wanted it to .
The two sizes as advertised on the Korum Website showed that they both were very similar, but annoyingly, the sizes quoted did not say if they included the side pockets or not. This was quite important to me, as if the sizes did not include the pockets, the bags would seem quite large.
Not being able to see one “in the flesh” so to speak, was a problem, and after a lot of soul searching ,viewing Youtube videos on the Ruckbag, asking questions,of other anglers who used the Ruckbag I bit the bullet and one of the larger ones was purchased online.
Today it arrived, first impressions are , well, average, to good ,I loaded it up with the normal amount of gear I would take on a days Barbel fishing, and it coped well. It is well big enough for the following..
A large flask, box for sandwiches, biscuits etc, Avon Scales in leather pouch,weigh sling, box cont midge repellant, headtorch, spare batteries and small wind up torch, two small towels, Gortex jacket, various rod rest heads, forceps , bits and bobs, tackle box cont leads,swivels, a few floats, lead strip,braid scissors,hooks , plastic bags cont hook lengths, and a bait bucket cont bait for the day, and feeders.
I use an 11 year old Chub seat, it fits the bag clips, just, any wider and it would have been too wide for the distance between the clips, and would not have fit
I measured the size of the bag , including the two side pockets it is , 50cm x 48 cm
The main internal compartment is 32 cm x 40 cm depth is 24 cm
It is a better design than my aged rucksack, and far easier to load up.
Straight away I noticed a few niggling problems that with just a little more thought by Korum,would have made a reasonable item a first class item.
Photos..
The Ruckbag is designed to stand on one “end “ when it has the chair strapped to it, the end it stands on should, in my opinion, be made from the same material as the base, more hardwearing than the main body of the rucksack as it will inevitably come into contact with the ground regularly, stones, damp grass, maybe mud, and puddles will all take their toll on the vertical base eventually.
It would have been nice to be able to either completely remove the carrying straps, or even better, have a built in pocket that they could be rolled up and secured in once the bag has been placed on the floor, the straps tend to “flap around” and if pushed inside the bag , will inevitably be “flicked out “ when accessing items from inside, when they get “flicked out” they will no doubt end up on the bank at the back of the ‘sac where it may well again be muddy or wet.At the end of a session nobody wants to be carrying a bag with wet straps on their shoulders. I have temporarily rolled the straps and secured them with elastic bands for stowing when on the bank, I will probably make or alter them to something of my own design in the coming months .
The when fastened to the clips, the chair has an annoying habit of “flapping around” as it is not secured very well at the bottom of the “sac. Relying on the chair being kept in position at the bottom, just by the carrying straps does not work well, this can be seen in one of the “Youtube” videos. A strap securing the chair firmly to the seat would be a great improvement. For myself I have eliminated the problem by slipping the straps through gaps between the chair material and the chair frame, luckily the aged Chub chair I use has velcro fastenings that keep the chair closed, they are just right for the job , and this makes the chair stay firmly and snuggly attached at the bottom.
When fastened by the clips at the top, the chair also “flaps around a bit “ I have again managed to stop this by making some additions to the chair frame, and “sac , simple enough , just a couple of split rings a couple of small alloy carabiners, and a short bungee cord. The cord is clipped to the split rings, is stretched over my unhooking mat, then through the two “”D “ rings and back to be clipped on the second “D”ring. this effectively keeps the whole chair snug to the main body of the Ruckbag.
No doubt anybody buying a Ruckbag will have their own ways of attaching their seat etc.
And Finally… the Ruckbag is designed to be carried upright, but accessed flat. I would have liked to see a few adjustable compartments added to the inside, similar to those you get in a good quality camera bag, fixed via velcro to the insides of the bag, carrying the bag upright means that whatever you load it with when flat, inevitably falls to the “base” when it is in the upright position.A few compartments adjusted to your own needs would see this problem gone.
So there in a nutshell are my first impressions of the Korum Ruckbag…I have added a few photos of the way I have rigged the ruckbag for use. I am sure it will work fine.. the endurance test will come over the next few months.
David
After my last outing to the Ribble, and experiencing about 8 hours of constant rain, and finding out that my faithful 18 yrs old Rucksack had finally been beaten by age, leaks, holes and the weather,I decided I was overdue a new fishing bag.
I had noticed over the years that the main problem with my rucksack was it had a habit of tumbling into the river, if not anchored by a bankstick. I had successfully trashed a mobile phone and a camera by severe dunkings , when the bag had slipped into the river, and was determined that this time I would like something better designed.
I have a couple of carryalls , and they do get used on single rod roaming, but I wanted something that held about the same amount as my rucksack, had the ability to fix my Chub chair to it for lengthy walks , was easy to access instead of having to rummage around in a “top loading” bag, was weatherproof, and could be carried comfortably on my back.
After doing some research, and asking a lot of questions, I finally decided upon a Korum Ruckbag. On the face of it it ticked all the boxes, and apparently did exactly what I wanted it to .
The two sizes as advertised on the Korum Website showed that they both were very similar, but annoyingly, the sizes quoted did not say if they included the side pockets or not. This was quite important to me, as if the sizes did not include the pockets, the bags would seem quite large.
Not being able to see one “in the flesh” so to speak, was a problem, and after a lot of soul searching ,viewing Youtube videos on the Ruckbag, asking questions,of other anglers who used the Ruckbag I bit the bullet and one of the larger ones was purchased online.
Today it arrived, first impressions are , well, average, to good ,I loaded it up with the normal amount of gear I would take on a days Barbel fishing, and it coped well. It is well big enough for the following..
A large flask, box for sandwiches, biscuits etc, Avon Scales in leather pouch,weigh sling, box cont midge repellant, headtorch, spare batteries and small wind up torch, two small towels, Gortex jacket, various rod rest heads, forceps , bits and bobs, tackle box cont leads,swivels, a few floats, lead strip,braid scissors,hooks , plastic bags cont hook lengths, and a bait bucket cont bait for the day, and feeders.
I use an 11 year old Chub seat, it fits the bag clips, just, any wider and it would have been too wide for the distance between the clips, and would not have fit
I measured the size of the bag , including the two side pockets it is , 50cm x 48 cm
The main internal compartment is 32 cm x 40 cm depth is 24 cm
It is a better design than my aged rucksack, and far easier to load up.
Straight away I noticed a few niggling problems that with just a little more thought by Korum,would have made a reasonable item a first class item.
Photos..
The Ruckbag is designed to stand on one “end “ when it has the chair strapped to it, the end it stands on should, in my opinion, be made from the same material as the base, more hardwearing than the main body of the rucksack as it will inevitably come into contact with the ground regularly, stones, damp grass, maybe mud, and puddles will all take their toll on the vertical base eventually.
It would have been nice to be able to either completely remove the carrying straps, or even better, have a built in pocket that they could be rolled up and secured in once the bag has been placed on the floor, the straps tend to “flap around” and if pushed inside the bag , will inevitably be “flicked out “ when accessing items from inside, when they get “flicked out” they will no doubt end up on the bank at the back of the ‘sac where it may well again be muddy or wet.At the end of a session nobody wants to be carrying a bag with wet straps on their shoulders. I have temporarily rolled the straps and secured them with elastic bands for stowing when on the bank, I will probably make or alter them to something of my own design in the coming months .
The when fastened to the clips, the chair has an annoying habit of “flapping around” as it is not secured very well at the bottom of the “sac. Relying on the chair being kept in position at the bottom, just by the carrying straps does not work well, this can be seen in one of the “Youtube” videos. A strap securing the chair firmly to the seat would be a great improvement. For myself I have eliminated the problem by slipping the straps through gaps between the chair material and the chair frame, luckily the aged Chub chair I use has velcro fastenings that keep the chair closed, they are just right for the job , and this makes the chair stay firmly and snuggly attached at the bottom.
When fastened by the clips at the top, the chair also “flaps around a bit “ I have again managed to stop this by making some additions to the chair frame, and “sac , simple enough , just a couple of split rings a couple of small alloy carabiners, and a short bungee cord. The cord is clipped to the split rings, is stretched over my unhooking mat, then through the two “”D “ rings and back to be clipped on the second “D”ring. this effectively keeps the whole chair snug to the main body of the Ruckbag.
No doubt anybody buying a Ruckbag will have their own ways of attaching their seat etc.
And Finally… the Ruckbag is designed to be carried upright, but accessed flat. I would have liked to see a few adjustable compartments added to the inside, similar to those you get in a good quality camera bag, fixed via velcro to the insides of the bag, carrying the bag upright means that whatever you load it with when flat, inevitably falls to the “base” when it is in the upright position.A few compartments adjusted to your own needs would see this problem gone.
So there in a nutshell are my first impressions of the Korum Ruckbag…I have added a few photos of the way I have rigged the ruckbag for use. I am sure it will work fine.. the endurance test will come over the next few months.
David
