Stainless Steel Metalware

Reuben Heaton

by Darren Wilson, UKMatchAngler.

Reuben Heaton Ltd. is synonymous within the angling world for their first class weighing scales, which are used by the vast majority of leading specimen anglers, match organisers and also pleasure anglers alike. The company prides itself on manufacturing almost all of the products, bearing the name, within the UK so consistent and the highest quality materials only are used within the company’s products. Reuben Heaton is also one of the longest running companies with angling and has a history that can be traced back over 150 years!

What a lot of anglers do not realise is that Reuben Heaton are by far more than just manufacturers of weighing scales, but also manufacture other top quality items from their base in Warwickshire.

Within the range of Reuben Heaton equipment are also unhooking mats, weigh slings, weighing tripods as well as perfectly calibrated digital and traditional weather monitoring implements such as thermometers and barometers (both something that all anglers should have access to and understand to calculate tactics ands fish feeding patterns)

Recently, both Ray and myself were invited up to Reuben Heaton’s offices by Andrew Race, for a tour and to be shown how the company operate to strict operational standards. Both of us were very impressed indeed by the efficiency of the company in the manufacture of the trademark scales which are each individually calibrated by hand to exact precision (as required by Weights & Measures laws), which is something that similar products made completely in the Far East are not done to. Just watching this operation alone was enough to completely change my mind in thinking that scales are just scales – they are not!

Over the past 2 or 3 years, Reuben Heaton have also been manufacturing stainless steel metalware for the specimen angler such as banksticks and buzzer bars which are up at the top end of the market with the rest of the sector leaders.  To compliment the existing range of metalware, Reuben Heaton are now expanding into the bespoke and custom metalware market which the specimen anglers love to buy as it is made to exactly how they want it and unique. This is an opportunity that not many companies offer, and it also means that the angler gets exactly what they have asked for without having to pay a premium for one off pieces of metalware from a local engineering company.

The metalware is available in 2 standard sizes; 16mm and 22mm. The 16mm range is of similar diameter to other existing ranges of metalware, with the 22mm being perfect for the “tackle tart” or for the angler that fishes venues with very soft or unstable banks. On close inspection you can see that it has none of the metalware has been made to a price, like some other brands, but has been made to last from the highest quality materials and workmanship.

The points on the banksticks are pressed and glued into place and with one of the banksticks I have here, I fixed the point into a bench vice and literally hung off it with no sign of the point even moving in the tube of the main stick or even the stick itself bending!!!!!! The threaded section of the inners have been down-pinned using solid stainless dowels which combined with exact tolerances of the inner shaft and the threaded section give a rock solid fixture with no hint of movement from the join (something that side pinning can do).

The inner extending section has been kept hollow to conserve weight (something that more and more anglers are doing to keep mobile in their angling approach) but has not been made out of thin or flimsy material. Upon removing the inner from the outer stick, you are greeted with the sound of air release, which means that the tolerances between the inner and outer sticks are that precise there is basically no wobble at all even at full extension. The base of the inner stick has also been deburred which is something that some other brands forget or neglect to do.

The inner is kept extended and secured by use of a single “tommy bar” fitted locking screw. The locking system works on a drawer principle which means that it does not have to be over tightened to actually lock the stick in place.

The single bar on the locking screw also means that you will not be struggling in cold weather to secure the sticks at the height you want them set at.  That precise is the adjustment on the screw that even a 3mm rotation of the screw will turn the inner from free moving to locked solid.

Due to the various banks that I encounter at the venues I fish, I went for the 22mm diameter setup. As a rough average weight, each item in the 22mm range weighs approximately 500 grams, which I was very surprised at as I thought it would be much greater than that! This means that two 3 rod buzzer bars and 4 banksticks would weigh 3 kilos in the 22mm diameter tubing and obviously less in the 16mm. I have had some custom made sticks of the same length in the past that weighed almost a kilo each and were of thinner diameter tubing!

Also in the range is a concise array of buzzer bars in both 2 and 3 rod, and in single thread or snag bar configurations.  There are also two 4 rod snag bars available in either 16mm or 22mm stainless.

Built using the same grade stainless steel tubing as the banksticks and currently available in fixed width only (bear in mind that Reuben Heaton are entering the custom made market so if you like adjustable bars, these should be available to order). The distances between the end studs and the centre stud on the 22mm 3 rod snag bars that I have are literally exact which surprised me as on other stainless I have had, there has been a small difference in the spacing, which might not seem a lot to most people, but niggles on your mind when you know it is there!

As with the banksticks, all the threaded studs have been internally downpinned with the 3mm stainless dowel pins and again there is no movement whatsoever on the fittings.

Reuben Heaton has also produced a bankstick stabiliser for those that want a really solid setup on the bank especially in soft ground. Available both in 16mm and 22mm fittings, the stabiliser uses 2 prongs rather than a single prong which gives much better stability and resists any twist that could occur. The stabiliser secures to the bankstick using the same drawer locking principle on the thumbscrew and really does lock up solid with minimal pressure.

I am far from being an engineer, but I have probably had every brand of stainless on the market including a lot of custom made products, and the Reuben Heaton stainless is certainly up there with the best if not the best available (and that is something I do not say easily). Both Ray and myself were extremely surprised by the sheer amount of parts that Reuben Heaton hold at any one time, and all of the stainless items are made “in house” from the raw material. Once I have used the stainless for a while I will update this article, but I can honestly say that I cannot see myself having to say much other than singing it’s praises.