Solar Tackle
Advanced Carbon Composite
"Worldwide" Pod

When Martin Locke and his team at Solar released their first rod pod way back in the late 80's/early 90's in the Sod Pod, rod support was to change forever. Anglers simply were not used to seeing metalwork of this quality available for all to buy - even custom made items were not of the same quality! Without any shadow of a doubt, the Sod Pod and the rest of the Solar Tackle stainless steel range became instant classic items and it is not uncommon to still see original items from this range in use today and still looking as good as new. There were a few other pods released by Solar which did not have the cult following that the Sod Pod did, and these were soon replaced by newer advancements in rod pod design. Arguably the next huge success for Solar and Martin Locke in the world of rod pods was the stainless steel Worldwide Pod. This pod bought once again a new slant on the design of pods and it was thought that Solar would struggle to come up with a pod that was equal or superior to it. Well when Lockey launched the Advanced Carbon range of items in 2010, the Worldwide Pod was made available in the carbon composite material and the same high quality stainless steel components that Solar are renowned for using. With this in mind, we contacted Martin and he generously supplied an Advanced Carbon Composite Worldwide Pod and all the required accessories to put through its paces.

As you would expect from Solar, there has been no expense spared and the Worldwide pod is supplied in a neat khaki padded bag to protect and keep everything together in transit. The bag is in two parts - the main section which houses the uprights and legs and a thinner bag which houses the centre bar. Having the bag in two pieces allows the angler to keep the centre bar bag in a holdall pocket if space is at a minimum or it can be carried together by securing it between a pair of plastic buckle clips situated at the base of the main bag. Inside the main section of the bag is a zipped central divider which can be used to house indicators or the legs whilst in transit as well as to stop the uprights knockingagainst each other.

Inside the bag are the main components to the Worldwide Pod. These components consist of;

• 2 x Uprights
• 4 x 12" screwless advanced carbon legs (which can also be used as banksticks)
• 1 x Centre Bar

The components that make up the Advanced Carbon Composite Worldwide Pod are all manufactured from high grade materials including stainless steel and a carbon composite material that Solar Tackle have chosen for both the weight saving properties and strength. The stainless steel components of the pod have been manufactured to the highest degree of quality which is something that Solar have been renowned for many years.

If the angler has not used a Worldwide pod before, it has a number of features that are unique to it. The first is the way the legs adjust. Most pods have legs that are adjustable by simply extending the legs to the required distance to level the setup. The Worldwide goes one step further in that it has been fitted with ratchet locking leg adjusters which allow the angle of the legs to be adjusted as well as extended. This allows each leg to be independently adjusted to suit even the most uneven terrain. It also allows the front or the rear of the pod to be raised at angles which were previously unheard of for when fishing at extreme distances on inland continental oceans where underwater snags cause the angler a nightmare or when fishing on fast moving rivers where the less line in the water means less weight needed to hold. I have not got a protractor handy, but the range of adjustment on the ratchet is approximately 120 degrees. The 12" legs that are supplied simply screw onto the threads on the ends of the ratchet sections. The legs are essentially the Advanced Carbon Banksticks without the Posi-Loc section on the thread (this is not required on the legs) and these extend from 12" through to approximately 20". 12" legs on a pod may sound long, but as the fitting rotates, the longer length gives fantastic stability at all heights that I have set it at to test. If the 12" legs are too long, Solar do manufacture 6" legs which are available to purchase separately. For the angler that does fish the inland Continental oceans and finds that the legs are too short to get the required height on the rod tips, a Global Conversion kit is available which is supplied with 18" legs as well as a pair of 18" leg extensions and a longer centre bar).

The main centre bar is manufactured from the Carbon Composite material that Solar have chosen to use in the construction of the Worldwide Pod, and is fitted with Stainless Steel components to attach to the upright sections. The centre bar is adjustable and extends to lengths between 23” and 41” approximately, which allows the angler to set the distance between the front and rear buzzer bars to what is desired by the angler for the situation in hand. The adjustment in length is secured by and inline locking system which works by the knurled collar tightening down on the the insert section.

Instead of screwing on to the upright sections, Solar have used a “plug in” systems which allows a notched stainless peg fitted to the uprights to slot into the end of the centre bar and is secured by a large thumbscrew at each end of the bar. The ends of the bar have been concaved to fit against the upright sections stopping twist at the ends and for the tackle tarts, allowing the thumbscrews to be perfectly in line underneath. Solar have kept the diameter of the centre bar as slim as possible whilst retaining rigidity without excess weight. The wall thickness of the carbon composite material used is aproximately 1mm.

The uprights are unique in that the fittings for the buzzer bars are not threaded and instead have a plastic insert placed into the stainless steel upright bars which allows any of the Solar Adjustable 3 or 4 rod buzzer bars - carbon or stainless steel - to drop in and be used with the Worldwide. This means that you do not have to go out and buy a new set of buzzer bars should you already have the stainless versions. The Drop-In adaptors on the end of the upright bars lock the buzzer bars in place by use of a thumbscrew which has been fitted with a conical spring on the thread to keep tension on the screw in transit and stop it from loosening unless you turn it.This means of attachment might sound fiddly, but once the buzzer bars have been initially fitted, to pack away it is a simple case of loosening the thumbscrews and allowing the alarms to sit upside down when in transit. The other major benefit of this method of attachment is that the buzzer bars can be rotated to ensure that the rods sit on the alarms in the optimum position to give best indication without the rod blank interfering with a roller wheel or speaker. The uprights themselves are approximately 6" in height which gives more than sufficient room for big pit reel handles, but requires the use of shorter indicator chains/cords so that the middle rod indicator does not drop against the centre bar when not attached to the line.

Final Thoughts

I have gone through phases of loving and hating pods, but when I have gone for another pod setup, I have only really considered Solar products. When I was asked to review the carbon Worldwide pod, I was a little apprehensive as I thought the the original Super Sod Pod design could not be bettered (especially with the tripost adaptors used), but I have to admit, that the carbon Worldwide has changed my mind drastically. The first thing that you noice is the weight of the pod. Including the carry bag, the Advanced Carbon Worldwide Pod weighs in at a super light 1.85kg!

As you would expect of something that is of the quality of the Solar pods, the Advanced Carbon Worldwide is not cheap and has a RRP of £310 for the basic kit. If you do not own buzzer bars from Solar, then you are looking at spending around another £100 for a pair of 3 rod adjustable Advanced Carbon buzzer bars. This may sound like a ot of money - and by anybody's bank balance it is - but you are getting a serious amount of kit that you would never need to buy another rod pod for as long as you live. You will not wear it out, and Solar Tackle are still able to provide replacement parts for their products for many years after they have been superceeded, so if you damage or lose a piece, you can get your local tackle shop to order you a spare part.

The other bonus with the Solar range is that if you want to fish with a buzzer bar on a single stick, you cando that by using the leg of a pod as a bankstick. Other options will be explained more indepth in the next feature reviewing the carbon accessories from Solar which are also in the range.

Am I converted? You bet I am & I cannot wait to get out on the bank once again with the Worldwide!

For further information on any of the Solar Tackle products, please visit the website by clicking the image below.