Dave's How To - Getting There

This entry was posted on 6th June, 2017

Dave Coster looks at getting your fishing gear to distant swims in the most comfortable fashion, along with discovering a super smooth and very clever pole roller.

Getting There... On a recent fishing trip with my mate Andy Griffiths, I noticed he had just bought one of the new MAP Extending Barrows. As he got all the bits out of his car I thought to myself: this will be fun seeing him trying to piece all that lot together! But to my amazement the whole barrow took shape in just over a minute. Even better, the main frame extends, so all of Andy’s copious fishing kit fitted on nice and comfortably. Andy had opted for the X4 4-wheel version and I must say it’s a doddle to push, even when heavily loaded. But what I liked most about this brilliant design is the way it breaks down very neatly, so at last there’s a decent sized barrow that will comfortably fit into standard sized cars. Yet another bonus is the wheels are solid rubber, so no fear of getting punctures. A top piece of kit in my book. There’s an extending X2 version as well by the way, with just two wheels. Both barrows are normally stocked by Angling Direct, the X2 retailing for £99.99 and the X4 for £129.99

Rolling On... After Andy effortlessly got to his swim with his new barrow, the next new item of gear I spotted as he was setting up was an MAP Dual Pole Roller. I was beginning to think he must be getting sponsorship from MAP, but he insisted it was just a great bit of kit! I’ve seen a lot of dual pole rollers and this one didn’t look much different, until of course Andy showed me what it can do! It turned out the central upright roller is detachable, so for out and out speed purposes it can be removed for a wider gape, while for double unshipping it can be located in three different places – clever! But there’s more. The legs are detachable and it comes with a spare set of stumpy ones. The latter are useful when you want your pole roller close to the ground, but in this instance it won’t get muddy like other lay flat designs tend to. The upright rollers are made from conventional EVA foam, but the horizontal ones looked different. These are apparently made from thick memory foam, which helps to stop your long pole from bumping when it’s being shipped in or out, yet another top feature. There’s even built in anchor points for guy ropes, to make sure the roller doesn’t blow over in windy conditions. So, if you want the most versatile pole roller ever designed, this has to be it! You can get the MAP Dual Pole Roller in your local Angling Direct for £99.99.