Guru Fusion x case

[Paul Cresswell]

Had this a few weeks now (bought in bobco Boxing Day sale and paid £72) and been out a few times with it.

I used to carry my top kits in a Drennan top kit tube, which has been great, however I also have four shalla 1.8m kits I leave rigs on. I used to store 2 in an extension and 2 in a slim tube. This wasn’t great and often found tangles and it was inconvenient/annoying. The guru case means all my kits are in one place which I like. There are 2 sides to the case with straps and I have in total around 16 kits, there is room for plenty more (and you could put spare 4ths or landing net handles in it). There is a full zip which Is very good quality. I’d say it’s fairly waterproof but in a deluge I suspect some water may inevitably get through the zips, but I have no concerns leaving it out whilst fishing. It’s easy to wipe clean. It’s around 1.95m long.

With the Drennan I could partially slide it out of my holdall (the guru pole holdall), unzip half and get the top kits I wanted out. You really need to get the whole guru case out of your holdall and open it fully to access your top kits. It fits snugly into my Guru pole holdall, but with the straps in the holdall and the handle in the x case (excellent clip handle) getting it in and out is a faff (you end up unzipping the whole holdall) and I have ended up carrying the x case separately. In fact I intend to try an old holdall which has side straps and a net for ready rods on the outside and I will use that for the x case (some irony for guru!).

The two sides of the x case don‘t always line up perfectly but I don’t see that as a problem (I saw a post where someone didn’t like this). i guess the perfect carrier would be like the snooker cue cases with metal hinges, suspect would be too heavy and expensive. The x case is lightweight but offers very good protection.

I think it’s a really well made and designed piece of kit and the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for me. There is a lot of value in a bunch of top kits and protecting them is important. I’ve seen a few for sale secondhand already (used once!) and guess it just depends what you carry and how and whether it works for you.

I would like to say well done to Guru for properly launching this product and by that I mean they have ensured there are enough on the market and getting hold of one is easy (loads on eBay). Often tackle companies launch something new, hype it up, then don’t supply enough and then people can’t get hold of it for ages. I’m thinking about things like the white MAP shalla kits which were launched, I missed the first batch and had to wait over 4 months to get one.

 

[bikeboy]

Cracking review. Had mine a few weeks and agree with all you said. It really is a great bit of kit.

 

[Martin25664]

That's a good review Paul, and I fully agree with the issues you have noted and would go further on these.
I was very disappointed in that the two sides of the case do not align properly. In fact I would go so far as to say that if you are only carrying a dozen top kits and not filling the case fully, there is a strong possibility that the case will miss align and could in fact crush the kits inside. I was horrified as I purchased the case to protect my top kits!! The problem does seem to go away if you fill the case to its max capacity as this prevents the miss align. Unfortunately for me I do not carry that many kits so I certainly won't be using mine to protect my top kits and have gone back to individual tubes.
The other niggle which you also mention is that the carry handle prevents you from easily placing the case inside and removing it from your Guru holdall. I do think this could have been better designed and they could have placed an additional strap at the top of the holdall to just hold the case in place rather than have to use the strap which is half way up the holdall where the case handle is positioned.
So my review would conclude that the case is not suitable for people who will not be able to fill it due to the miss align problem and a pain to use with the guru holdall due to the strap being in the wrong place.

 

[Paul Cresswell]

I do think it works better full and now carry my margin pole in it (saves space elsewhere), that said I think part filled I don’t see it providing less protection than my Drennan kit case.

I am using it in my Guru pole holdall to go fishing, don’t slide it in the straps, just the net bit in the bottom then zip up the holdall, invariably carry it separately on the way home.

As I said in my first post it is whether it works for you, clearly for some people it won’t.

 

[chefster]

I’m just going to use mine for my short/shallow kits for TBF

 

[Paul Cresswell]

Thought I’d update my original review as I’ve used the x case a lot more.

I really like it a lot, some comments:

- it all works better especially zipping it up when it’s more filled than empty. I now carry my fighting 4,5,6 section in there. I’ve also just taken it for a short session and put my margin pole in it and my landing net handle (Acolyte carp so 1.8m sections) and it’s been great as my holdall.
- I have the guru fusion pole holdall and it fills one side of it, I don’t thread it into the straps inside the holdall, just put it in at the bottom and zip up the holdall. As I said previously you have to get it out fully to access the contents when you use it.
- I tend to leave it out but fastened closed while fishing, even in the rain. Inevitably you get some water in through the zips when it’s raining heavy, but not much and in lighter rain no problem.
- it’s well made and nothing is fraying or coming loose, if I cleaned the mud off it would look like new.
- I carry 5 one piece shallow kits in it and not had any issues with rigs coming loose or tangling.

I'm very pleased with it, I notice they are in short supply at the moment but assume that’s covid related shipping issues (there does seem to be a shortage generally for several manufacturers at the moment), when they were launched as I said in my initial review they were very plentiful.