Tackle bags

Simon Wilson

New member
I've had loads of Meander tackle bags. They are cheap and cheerful and last a reasonable length of time but with Steve closing Bernies caving shop in Ingleton they have become harder for me to get. So I looked for an alternative and thought I'd give the Landjoff a go. What a mistake. It has a simple single stitched seam around the base which is cheap and OK if the material is strong like the Meander but the Landjoff material is the flimsiest I have ever seen used. It has done two trips and is seriously worn already.

The grey bag in the photo is a Phoenix which has had some serious punishment and has outlasted about four Meander bags. I think this is the best bag I have ever had. It is every bit as good as a Petzl and cost about two thirds the price from Inglesport. I'd have another but I don't know where to get one or even of they are still made.

After the disappointment of the Landjoff I decided to give Rodcle a go. It has just arrived and I like it. It looks very strong and well constructed and the price was good at 59 euros. It has a reinforced base like all the best bags. One problem is it has no drain holes but that can easily be sorted.

Bags-horz_zpswfjd9ni2.jpg
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Not sure if this helps but I've had moderate success at extending the life of bags (which wear on the corner like that orange one in the picture) by regular application of Aquasure. (But I agree, that's not great if it's happened after just 2 trips).
 

paul

Moderator
Thanks for that, I was wondering about the Landjoff tackle bags.

About the drain holes: we were looking at several makes of tackle bags while at Euro Speleo in the Vercors in 2008 and no tackle bags had drain holes, even the type sold in the UK with drain holes. Apparently the Europeans don't like them and UK sellers add the drain holes them selves for the UK market, which is easy enough to do with a cheap brass eyelet kit.
 

royfellows

Well-known member
Best tackle bag I have ever owned came from Starless River. It has a reinforcing ring thingy around the base which is where they fail. Just had a look for you but no brand name or anything.  Cost ?40

Its a good shop, recommended.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
We've got a couple of the grey ones at the TSG and they do seem pretty indestructible. I only wish we had a couple of bigger ones. My Beast 'Uncle' has proved its worth, but even that is beginning to crumble around the base now - that size/proportion ('fat', holding two Peli 1300s and small tripod in a padded case) is rather difficult to find.
 

andrewmcleod

Well-known member
paul said:
Thanks for that, I was wondering about the Landjoff tackle bags.

About the drain holes: we were looking at several makes of tackle bags while at Euro Speleo in the Vercors in 2008 and no tackle bags had drain holes, even the type sold in the UK with drain holes. Apparently the Europeans don't like them and UK sellers add the drain holes them selves for the UK market, which is easy enough to do with a cheap brass eyelet kit.

My Petzl bag (bought from a German webshop so hole-free) has a lid, and I don't find they fill up with water unless you are dragging them through a duck/sump etc (after which you just turn it upside down to empty it)? Most of the time it stays dry. I use it to store all my as-yet unused 'hero mode' gear (blizzard blanket, skittles, FA kit, spare bit of short rope etc...)

Maybe I am (as usual) just deliberately awkward, but I would give drain-hole free bags (at least if they have a lid) a go before putting holes in them. They end up with holes in them at some point anyway, after all...
 

Simon Wilson

New member
ianball11 said:
Simon, which Landjoff bag did you buy? the 600 or the 900?

I don't know. I didn't know they came in different weights but I guess I have the lighter weight. Now I'm totally pissed off with Landjoff for not making it clear that their bags come in different weights. I can see it in the small print now you have pointed it out.
 

ianball11

Active member
I don't know the Bulgarian for Heavy Duty, plus and Water but I thought it was quite nice of them to code their bags H for Heavy duty, PLUS for a little bigger and HW for heavy duty with extra drain holes.  :)

I like Landjoff, they have donated ?500 of stuff for prizes at the Eurospeleo event.
 

Les W

Active member
Dave Tyson said:
Les W said:
The best tackle bags were made by Dragon...  (y)
+1

I have one which has lasted a lot of trips over 10 years and its still (just) in one piece...

Dave

Our club (Wessex) used loads of Dragon bags over the years and we still have some now! That is a pretty good endorsement considering they are being (mis)used by a very large club.
When Dragon stopped trading they sold most of their bag designs to Beast or Phoenix.

I don't believe either is trading now, so I think the most robust bags available nowadays are made by Warmbac.

Our club uses them almost exclusively (apart from the remaining Dragon bags) and they seem to hold up to the abuse well.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Les W said:
The best tackle bags were made by Dragon...  (y)

I agree the Dragon bags were good but the very best I've used are the Lizard bags. Excellent design. Real shame they're no longer made. There's still some around (I'm certainly still using one) - in case anyone wants ideas for making a new version (assuming they weren't patented?).
 

PeteHall

Moderator
Les W said:
I think the most robust bags available nowadays are made by Warmbac.

Agree completely.

I bought 3 Warmbac bags in 2008 and they have been in regular use since. The stitching started to give up on 2 of them after 3 or 4 years, but I took them back to the factory and they re-stiched them and replaced the wear strip around the bottom edge for a tenner for the pair.  (y)

I've since bought a "speedy-stitcher" so I can re-stitch them for free. Every other part of the bags seems pretty bomb proof.

Not only are they very tough, they are very practical. All the handles on the sides/ bottom you need. Gear attachment points inside. Velcro pocket inside. Steel D-ring for a donkeys dick. Large drain holes.

Not sure I can find a bad thing to say about them to be honest, except the price tag, but you get what you pay for.  (y)
 
I have two Warmbac bags; a Huatla 35 thing and a mahoosive thing for carrying my 7 litre tanks in.  The big one does get the occasional beating but it is falling aprt quicker than I thought it would unfortunately - which is a shame as it wasn't cheap.  On the other hand the 35 one is my favouritest tacklesack ever. I hate the barrel shaped bags and much prefer that one for stuffing rope in.
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
MJenkinson said:
The big one ..... is falling aprt quicker than I thought it would

I once by accident took someone's bag with dive bottles through the long bypass in speedwell (instead of the Short), suffice to say the weight being dragged over the sharp spikes caused the bag to rip in several places. And severely reduced the life of the bag.

Oh well, at least I got the bags though colostomy.

Have you been doing similar with your dive cylinders/Bag?
 
Maybe. Yes. Perhaps. Yes in retrospect I have so perhaps that might explain the earlier wearing of that particular bag!
 

ah147

New member
Diving bags get trashed. End of. Too much heavy hard stuff with pissed off cavers/divers treating it badly.

As normal caving bags with rope etc the warmbac ones seem to last forever.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have a selection of bags from Lyon, Petzl, MTDE, Bernies, Caving Supplies and Landjoff. They are all much of a muchness, but for bang per buck, Landjoff are without doubt the best.

I also wreck all of my kit and the Landjoff bags are taking a beating fine.

They are the equivalent of a Roy Fellows Head Torch. Bloody good things and a bloody good price.

The heavy duty ones are overkill IMO. They are a more heavy fabric than all of my other bags.
 
Top