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Weight

Matt Withers

Matt Withers

Active Member
Went fishing last night. Felt a bit under the weather. Got to the river and was absolutely knackered, it felt like all my gear weighed twice what it usually does, any how when I unloaded the van this morning, I decided to weigh everything , all my gear minus a full flask and bait , weighed over 90lb’s, I was carrying 18lbs of leads and swim feeders alone , I think I need to slim down what I take with me
 
Suggestions ....

What is the ultimate setup for a long walk?

For those with experience, what is the ultimate setup for a relatively long walk? I'm thinking mats, rucksacks, nets etc I was asking myself this as I was struggling back to the van yesterday, so thought I would throw it out there! I had gone for an unhooking mat/sling rather than a rucksack...
barbel.co.uk
 
How much do you weigh Matt? I’m about 12 stone, so your 90lbs is approximately half my body weight you’re carting about 😮
 
Alan Rose said:
How much do you weigh Matt? I’m about 12 stone, so your 90lbs is approximately half my body weight you’re carting about 😮
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I’m about 13 stone, I’m sure I used to be taller than I am now, must be all the weight I’m carrying 🤣
Terry Simner said:
Suggestions ....

What is the ultimate setup for a long walk?

For those with experience, what is the ultimate setup for a relatively long walk? I'm thinking mats, rucksacks, nets etc I was asking myself this as I was struggling back to the van yesterday, so thought I would throw it out there! I had gone for an unhooking mat/sling rather than a rucksack...
barbel.co.uk
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yes, seen that post, that’s what prompted me to post this
 
Matt Withers said:
Went fishing last night. Felt a bit under the weather. Got to the river and was absolutely knackered, it felt like all my gear weighed twice what it usually does, any how when I unloaded the van this morning, I decided to weigh everything , all my gear minus a full flask and bait , weighed over 90lb’s, I was carrying 18lbs of leads and swim feeders alone , I think I need to slim down what I take with me
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Better than going to the Gym
 
Matt Withers said:
Went fishing last night. Felt a bit under the weather. Got to the river and was absolutely knackered, it felt like all my gear weighed twice what it usually does, any how when I unloaded the van this morning, I decided to weigh everything , all my gear minus a full flask and bait , weighed over 90lb’s, I was carrying 18lbs of leads and swim feeders alone , I think I need to slim down what I take with me
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Chuffin’ nora! What sort of distances have you been lumping all this around?

Honestly mate, i feel like I’m weighing myself down if I even take a small radio with me these days. Mind you, recent health issues have done wonders to concentrate my attention on such things and I now pursue weight saving like an F1 team manager.
 
Haydn Clarke said:
Chuffin’ nora! What sort of distances have you been lumping all this around?

Honestly mate, i feel like I’m weighing myself down if I even take a small radio with me these days. Mind you, recent health issues have done wonders to concentrate my attention on such things and I now pursue weight saving like an F1 team manager.
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Depending were I am fishing I could easily end up walking 4-5 miles, I must admit I was only really loaded up as the weather forecast wasn’t great so I ended up taking the brolly and loads of diffrent weights and feeders as I wasn’t sure what the river was doing big adjustable chair as the banks aren’t great were I was
 
I routinely carry a small bag of leads that probably weighs less than a pound. Occasionally a feeder or two sneaks in.

Earlier this week I did a short trip to the middle Thames as I had to travel to Essex for a meeting. I switched my handful of leads for bigger ones as my last trip had involved only 2oz.

I walked about a mile to an old favourite swim and the river looked great…..I went to put a big lead on my rod and then realised that I had left the bag of leads in my shed !

I upended my (tiny) rucksack and all I could find were 2 Richard Isaacs 2oz cage feeders. I stiched them together with a metre of line and they were heavy enough to hold for 10 or 15 minutes each cast. I blanked….

Maybe there is an argument in favour of chucking a few ‘spare’ leads in the bottom of my rucksack. My minimalist approach does have its disadvantages.
 
I had a similar experience years ago when fishing the Ribble. Yomped a half mile and discovered I had left feeders and sinkers at home. Neccesity being the mother of invention caused me to have a search around in a patch of washed up branches and detritus etc that had been deposited after a flood .
I found some old faded plastic sweet tubes and a couple of small plastic bottles . A bit of work with my Leatherman , some mono , and a few pebbles sorted out a couple of feeders and I was set . They worked well enough to tempt a few Barbel . As I make all my own feeders anyway it was not difficult.
Makes me think that we all could manage very well if we just refused to pay for some items of tackle and used our ingenuity more .

David
 
I think it's the "just in case" mentality. I'm always adding things to my bag, feeders and leads, mainly. But very rarely take them out. Every now and again I'll have a clear out, but there never seems to be that much stuff that goes back in the shed. I always take a brolly - can't remember the last time I put it up.

Better to have something and not need it, than to need something and not have it.

It's the same at home. I've a tub of old screws that I put any useable ones in after I've taken something to bits. If I need a screw at anytime, I'll use one from a box of new ones. I never take one from the tub.

We're just hoarders by nature. I'd imagine we've all got stuff squirrelled away we don't need/use, that if we got rid, we wouldn't miss, but just can't let it go.
 
Simon Archer said:
I think it's the "just in case" mentality. I'm always adding things to my bag, feeders and leads, mainly. But very rarely take them out. Every now and again I'll have a clear out, but there never seems to be that much stuff that goes back in the shed. I always take a brolly - can't remember the last time I put it up.

Better to have something and not need it, than to need something and not have it.

It's the same at home. I've a tub of old screws that I put any useable ones in after I've taken something to bits. If I need a screw at anytime, I'll use one from a box of new ones. I never take one from the tub.

We're just hoarders by nature. I'd imagine we've all got stuff squirrelled away we don't need/use, that if we got rid, we wouldn't miss, but just can't let it go.
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Yes, more gear gets dumped into the rucksack with out bothering to see what’s already in there, especially if going out for an impromptu evening session ,

I have a Tupperware box in the back of my work van , every time I fit or chance a lock, door closer etc, all the decent spare parts go into it , it’s save me on more than one occasion, when things are supplied with bits missing
 
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