Seat Box Choice

[warrington63]

First outing with my new (to me) Rive 25. The 2 black trays are the supplied Rive ones (one on the seat base, one on the stacker base, which slides into the void under the seat).

The silver trays are either Tubertini (from my old, originally red topped, conti box) or early Rive (that I bought from a guy in Upton on Severn). The all fit together just fine. The sliding catches are visually different, but the pins line up exactly the same, so I'm reusing my trays just fine.

My old Conti box had octoplus, I ended up selling most of it on eBay (made a tidy sum), which I then spent on Preston gear, which fits the 25mm diameter legs of the new box. (Octoplus is 16mm I think).



To be fair, I'm not convinced! The contibox setup was pretty light, and I took what octoplus I needed. (rarely a footplate for example). The Rive, it's all there, and it weighs a tonne! Ironically, the guy I bought it from sold it because he was getting a Matrix setup, and he said that is eve heavier.

I've finally come to terms that I need to buy a barrow for those longer treks.

Or take less gear, but dont forget your pole rigs ?

 

[Rick123]

Arch. Is that a one off made box, looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G darling. Seriously I remember mine being very light (empty) compared to the modern metal frame jobs. I had an old one I converted into a worm farm. Worked a treat.

 

[nejohn]

The problem with a lot of the new seat boxes is they are not made to be carried over the 1-5 meadows that you mention and trollies and barrows are not great at negotiating the stiles and fences that you usually find in those 1-5 meadows. So really a box for this type of fishing needs to be able to be carried over your shoulder and as such should be fairly light weight. I fish similar venues and my boxes of choice up until this year had been an old Brilo and when that needed replacing a Matchbox SX4 both are lightweight and very well made (although with a brilo you have the same 16mm leg issues you have with you box). This summer I dug my old boss modulator out of the shed and gave found it ideal as I can add or take away drawer units as needed, there is an area to carry reels in as I am not a big fan of 3 piece rods in ready rod bags and also not a big fan of long 2 piece rods for long walks over rough ground and fences (they need very long holdalls which can be a pain in the bum in undergrowth) another option box wise could be the Maver Venue which is very light weight but you would need an extra bag to carry you bulkier items in

 

[rudd]

TBH OP, would consider a decent chair (with strap) and carryall.
Unhooking mat, net head and towel tuck into closed up chair.
Load carryall with item you need for venue / method being fished and leave rest at home.
Rods, made up in readybags into a quiver along with landing net handle, bank sticks and float tube.

Can up sticks and move pegs in a few minutes and easily transportable on shoulders/back.

 

[NoCarpPlease]

Arch. Is that a one off made box, looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G darling. Seriously I remember mine being very light (empty) compared to the modern metal frame jobs. I had an old one I converted into a worm farm. Worked a treat.

It‘s a brennan and Hickman by the looks of it Rick.
Joe Brennan has been a successful matchman on the midlands circuit all his life.
they were fibreglass rather than plastic (as were the first shaky boxes) ... but the drainage channels on the seat were a weak point.

 

[OldTaff]

This is my little box - no manufacturers name on it and of indeterminate age but holds everything I need for a session, the 19mm legs mean there’s an abundance of accessories available secondhand cheaply too.


Theres no real weight to it so tabbing across fields is easy enough with it over you shoulder


All set up and ready to play

 

[NoCarpPlease]

If you are mainly a river angler I'd invest in a platform barrow first before a new box.
Either a Rigger or a Penrose - see plenty of both on the matches that I fish.
As NEJohn highlights - they can also be a real pain if you have to negotiate lots of fences/stiles, but one or two unload/reload is not too bad.

then you can use the platform legs for attachments for keepnet / feeder arm etc

personally - like Arch I love my AS1 - and find the integral side tray absolutely brilliant. If I did
I don't bother with a platform for canal venues - but do have a footplate (mainly to attached keepnet to)

 

[Simon R]

Todays incarnations shouldn't be called boxes IMO, they should be called seats. They don't hold anything.

These beauties are boxes.





I still use an AS1. I don't carry made up rods though, so all my reels and spare spools go in the bottom of my AS1 along with catapults, hooklength boxes, feeders and such like. If I ever needed a new box, I'd buy a second hand AS1.

Not much help, sorry.

I have a smaller version of that B&H box
Locally the big seller was this version:



Alpha Marine were a local GRP boat manufacturer who happened to have a couple of anglers amongst their board of directors and diversified into fishing boxes (probably after seeing the Brennan & Hickman product) before the Shakespeare / Galaxy / Daiwa boxes cornered the market.
The underside of the box featured the raised outline of a fish so you'd leave a nice little imprint in the mud to mark where you'd been.

Simon