Never one to rest on its laurels, Aqua Products have been busy reworking and improving many of its most popular products over recent months, and the new Tri Star Rod Sleeve is the perfect example. The old Tristar 3 rod sleeve was good, but the new Endura Tristar Deluxe is something to behold; nicely showing off Aqua’s clinical attention to detail along with its legendary build quality.
To improve rod protection during transit even further, the new Tristar Deluxe has more padding than ever before, and also now comes fully lined internally to ensure that three made up rods can be contained safe and snug during transit and storage. What’s more, the nifty external bank stick pocket keeps rods and stainless apart – ensuring never the twain shall meet!
The outer has heavy duty but-base pockets and upper retaining straps, so should you need to, you can accommodate more rods or a shelter externally, and twin full length zips allow easy access to your internally stored rods; a reinforced base means it can stand up to a bit of abuse, too!
In terms of mobility, carrying the Tristar is a breeze; there’s a heavy duty carry handle for manoeuvring at close quarters and the fully adjustable padded neoprene shoulder strap makes light work of the walk to and from the swim.
Overall, this is a really nice piece of kit, falling somewhere between a quiver and a rod holdall. It’s much less hassle than a quiver with individual sleeves, as just one zip gives immediate access to all three rods, allowing a much quicker set up and breakdown time, and yet on the other hand, it’s not as bulky or cumbersome as a full on rod holdall, so nicely fills a spot for the angler who wants a lightweight storage and transport system offering far greater levels of protection over a standard quiver.
The best thing about this newly improved rod sleeve though has to be the price, which remains the same as the old version at just £119.99… We like!
Julian Grattidge
Northwestcarp.co.uk
January 2012
