This to me is the Jewel in The Crown of the new Aqua
range. It is like Dr. Who’s Tardis in that you can
fit a lot more into it than first appearances would
make you think, and like all the range, it is well
designed and made. You can use the straps on the top
to hold your unhooking mat or sleeping bag in place
but I use it to carry the Stalking Bag.
Hopefully you can see the padding on the handle and
the shape of the large front pocket (just below the
handle). The zip, and the rain protection cover over
it, runs down at an angle towards the main body of
the rucksack. I’ve found that this makes it much
easier to open the pocket, see what is inside and
get things out. On my old rucksack the zips ran
straight down and I had to zip right to the bottom
before there was a clear view and easy access. It’s
only a small point I know, but it is an example of
the attention to practical, easy-to-use details that
have been included in the design of the range.
The rucksack when you start to load it up expands
and expands and expands until it is almost a cube in
shape.
At the back there is an adjustable, well padded
shoulder & waist harness system that is stored
behind a cover when not needed, if it is being
carried on a barrow for example. Unlike my old
rucksack (which was quite old) the harness on this
one, as on the 110L version, is more like that on
expensive, outdoor activity rucksacks as you can
adjust the height of the harness to suit by moving
it up and down the numbered rack that can be seen
between the straps.
There is lots of room for buzzers and bars
On the outside you have a narrow, deep pocket on
each side, an almost full height “wet sack” pocket
(held in place by velcro and easily removed for
cleaning) at the front with a fold down
half-height pocket in front of that is designed to
take your sticks, bars, alarms and indicators.
There are 4 loops to hold the sticks, 2 at the back
and 2 at the front. Underneath the back sticks are
pouches that I keep my alarms and indicators in.
Bars go into a pair of compartments so that they are
separated from each other. The sticks I use are JRC
12” and they fit perfectly as do the JRC 3-rod
extendable bars (with bug style rests fitted). I’ve
tried 16” sticks and these are too long, and, the
bars only just fit with the rests fitted. The sticks
have a habit of tilting to one side as they are held
by one central loop, but they haven’t fallen out.
The inclusion of a second loop would have been a
nice touch as that would hold them more securely.
Underneath the top cover there is a tray, about 1.5”
deep that you can use to put all those small items
in that you need close to hand – head torch,
needles, Klinik etc. This lifts out so that you
access the main compartment which is well laid out
and designed to work with the smaller, accessory
items in the Aqua range. There is a flap at the back
that takes the Rig Wallet, a pouch at the side that
takes the Bitz Bag (being lifted out below), and the
Small Cool Bag fits in the middle. I haven’t tried
items from other manufacturers to see how they fit.
There are a couple of other pouches that I use for
my tea/kettle/mugs and catapult/scales etc. as you
can see.
There is lots of room inside for kit
Underneath the various pouches there is plenty of
space for those items that you “need to have with
you” but don’t use that often. I store a few tins of
sweet corn and instant meals along with some ground
bait and spare clothes there.
When I arrive at the lake my sticks, bars, alarms
and indicators can be out ready for use quickly.
Leads are just under the top tray that holds all the
bits and pieces, as is the cool bag with freezer
bait in and pop ups are in the side pocket.
Everything is easy to get at and gone are the days
of raking through looking for something. Like all
the products I have for review the padding has to be
seen to be believed.
I’ve used it for 4/5 overnight sessions now and the
material used seems to be strong and the zips are
smooth with easy to hold tags. The base is made from
a waterproof material so standing it down in the
bank side mud doesn’t result in moisture seeping up
the material and onto the gear stored inside. One of
the side pockets and the large front (wet sack)
compartment is empty so I could fir more in if I
needed to. I could easily get enough in there for a
2/3 day session.
That is the only negative really – it would be very
easy to fill this to the brim and you would then
need two people to lift it up.
