PB Products
Rig Lines

First Impressions

PB Products may not yet be a "household name" when it comes to angling products, but with a new range of products that were displayed at the Five Lakes Carp Show earlier in the year, anglers have already been talking about them and the online forums have been alive with questions about the company and the range. UKMA recently received a box from PB Products containing the new products for this year as well as some of the existing products. Over the next few weeks, we will be reviewing the products that have been received.

PB Products have been known for their hooklink materials with their JellyWire coated hooklink material so when UKMA discovered that they also had a couple of braided hooklinks in the range along with a leadcore, we asked them to supply us with samples to take a look at.

Chameleon XS Braided Hooklink

When anglers look for a braided hooklink they look for 3 key factors; suppleness, camouflage and density. PB Products have looked at these key factors and developed a braid that has all three key factors as well as superb knot strength and abrasion resistance. Chameleon XS has a two-tone green and sandy brown colouration which runs along the full length of the spool. The light and dark colours break up the straight line syndrome that can occur with single colour materials. The changes in colour are not too drastic so that they stand out like a sore thumb on the change, but they are distinct enough to be usable over a wide range of substrates.

Chameleon XS also sinks very well without fluffing up and will lay flat over the bottom as well as over small raised areas. As with all braided hooklinks, even though it sinks very well, we always suggest that small pieces of putty or other ways of pinning the hooklink down are used. The abrasion resistance is up to spec with other non-dedicated abrasion materials so can be used when light snags or other hazards could present a problem.

Chameleon XS is supplied on 20 metre spools in 15lb or 25lb breaking strains, and sells at around £9.99 per spool.

Downforce Leadcore Material

More and more anglers are turning to leadcore for their angling with the advent of the "chod" rig and other rotary rig presentations, and there is a plethora of leadcore materials on the market of which anglers have their own personal favourites. PB Products have looked at the materials currently available and come up with their own leadcore which on first impressions, ticks all the boxes that anglers will look for in a leadcore material. The colouration of the Downforce material is a broken up two-tone colouration with (on the Gravel colouration supplied) a lighter main colour that has been broken up with darker bands along the length. These darker bands help to break up any "straight line" issues in the water over the bottom. The diameter of the Downforce material seems to be thicker than some others on the market, but this helps with less risk of lifting scales during the fight, as well as maintaining enough density to lay flat on the deck. The diameter also helps with using the material in a safe manner in that beads sit snugly on the material with thinner lengths of silicone or shrink tube needed to help the top bead stay in place during the cast.

Downforce splices nicely and cleanly and PB have provided a nice little tabbed ended splicing needle in the package. The 45lb breaking strain of the Downforce material is also very accurate and with a 4cm long splice, I would not be surprised to get a higher breaking strain from the material. Even when spliced, Downforce leads itself nicely to be used safely with the new PB Products Hit'n'Run safety lead clips which we will be looking at in the next week or so.

Downforce is supplied on 10 metre spools in Gravel or Weed colourations and sells for around the £8.50 price range.

Armabraid Hooklink Material

PB Products Armabraid is a very supple, perfect round, sinking hooklink material. Designed to be more abrasion resistant than Chameleon XS, Armabraid is not as supple, but it is more supple than a lot of other similar products. The low diameter and materials used in the make-up of the hooklink means that Armabraid behaves naturaly and is best used with short rigs. If there are Crayfish or Catfish in the water that you are fishing, you can be sure that Armabraid will not let you down due to the higher abrasion resistance. PB Products think that camouflaging every item of the rig will help catch more fish and with this in mind, there are three different colourations of the material in the range; Weed, Gravel and Silt. The colourations along the length of braid are subtle enough to break up the material as it lays over the substrate. As with the Chameleon XS, even though Armabraid sinks very well, use of putty or other means of pinning the hooklink down should be used for complete peace of mind that the hooklink is not looped up.

Armabraid is available in three different colours (weed, silt and gravel) on 20 metre spools in 15 and 25 lb at a selling price of around £9.99 per spool.

For more information on the PB Products range, please visit their website by clicking the image below.