Over the past decade, anglers across Europe have seen the benefits of using a roof mounted box to transport their rods and longer items to and from the bank. Before the roof box became available to anglers, it was almost on a weekly basis that anglers were either witnessing, experiencing or hearing of rod holdalls coming away from roof racks on motorways or dual carriageways, only to be run over by another car or even worse, a semi-articulated lorry! When anglers are running the risk of this happening with holdalls carrying anything from a couple of hundred pounds worth of equipment all the way upto to over ten thousand pounds worth of gear for the top end match angler, the use of roof boxes was a no-brainer.

Until recently, anglers were forced into using a roof box that was not designed for the angler, but for the skier, and to find a roof box that held the longest of rod holdalls cost close to what the angler could buy a reasonable "run around" car for. The roof boxes long enough to hold a rod holdall were also quite wide and in most cases, over half the width of the car, and if the angler fished on their own mainly, it meant that there was a lot of excess room in the box. The excess room in the roof box could be filled with smaller bags or lighter items such as clothing, but because of the size of the roof boxes, the aerodynamics of the car were worsened, and the cost of the extra fuel needed to be added to the cost of day tickets or match entry costs. The other aspect that anglers hate, is that most cars are not quite long enough with the seats down to house a long rod holdall easily and that the angler would be fighting with the rod holdall when changing gear during the drive to and from the venue, as well as struggling to see anything out of the rear view mirror.

When UKMA were at the recent Tackle & Guns Trade Show, we met Mark Hunter from Rod-Box who has come up with the ONLY dedicated roof box designed for anglers and angling equipment. After taking a quick look at the Rod-Box and after speaking to Mark, UKMA were sent a Rod-Box to put through the UKMA reveiw procedure.

What makes the Rod-Box different from other long roof boxes? Well the first thing that jumps out at you when you remove the Rod-Box from the substantial cardboard box and bubble wrap packaging, is that it is nowhere near as wide as most of the non-angling roof boxes. The dimensions of the Rod-Box come in with external measurements of 223cm long x 50cm wide x 34cm high and internal dimensions of 219cm long x 45cm wide x 32cm high. The width of the Rod-Box allows for fitting to most cars without interfering with standard length aerials, and also saves the angler money in not needing to buy a stubby replacement aerial or having the cost of fitting a new aerial system completely. When the lid is opened, on the UKMA test vehicle (Nissan Qashqai), it just touches the aerial, and when closed, has plenty of room between the Rod-Box and the aerial. This also means that there is no annoying rattling caused by the aerial knocking against the Rod-Box (which I have experienced in the past with other non-angling specific roof boxes). The Rod-Box itself, when empty weighs in at around 13 kilos, which may sound heavy, but given the size of the product, it does not feel it and is easy enough for most people to move about without difficulty.

As you would expect with a roof box, the Rod-Box will fit virtually every available set of roof bars on the market. I tested the Rod-Box on a couple of roof bar kits including a standard Thule bar, Thule Aero-bar and a generic no-name roof bar kit bought from eBay. The Rod-Box fitting brackets, fitted all of the bars test securely with no hassles. The fitting of the Rod-Box to the roof bars is one of the easiest I have seen from a roof box.

It is a simple case of loosely fitting the roof bars to the rails or means that your vehicle uses to attach the bars to, and to place the Rod-Box on top of them. To make things easier for the angler, open the boot of the car and move the Rod-Box and bars towards the front of the vehicle (or to the rear) so there is a gap of approximately 5cm between the boot and the end of the Rod-Box. This is often overlooked by people when fitting a roof box to their vehicle and then finding that the boot lid will not open fully because they have not left a gap. The way the Rod-Box opens, the box should be fitted on the nearside (passenger side) of the vehicle, else it will mean stretching to put items inside the box and make it much more difficult to remove heavy items once you have reached the venue.

The next step is to open the Rod-Box and you will see holes drilled into the base of the Rod-Box. These holes are what the metal "U" brackets fit through. Line up the roof bars between a pair of the holes, both at the front and rear of the Rod-Box. I have found through personal experience that the most aerodynamic way of fitting the box, is to locate the rear bar between the furthest holes towards the rear and to locate the front bar between the second and third hole at the front (if your vehicle permits this). What you are aiming to achieve is to evenly distribute the weight across the bars without the box becoming too loaded in the middle or at each end. You also are aiming for the front of the box to not be overhanging the front bar by too much as driving at faster speeds can cause the air that flows underneath the roof box to push the front up and cause a lot more drag, meaning that more fuel is used to maintain the speed and slows acceleration down drastically. The nearer the front bar is to the nose of the Rod-Box, the less chance of the Rod-Box causing the aerodynamics of the vehicle to be lowered. As a guide, it is recommended by the roof bar manufacturers that at least 70cm gap is left between the two bars.

The next step is to locate one of the metal "U" brackets underneath the roof bar and locate the two threaded ends through the holes in the base of the Rod-Box. Place the plastic bracket over the threaded ends inside the Rod-Box, and place one of the hand wheels over the thread and spin down. Once the handwheel meets the plastic bracket, you will hear a clicking sound. This is the serration on the base of the hand wheel meeting the three "teeth" on the plastic bracket. Do the same with the other handwheel. Once both handwheels have located up with the plastic base, tighten up 2 turns at a time alternating between the two handwheels, until the required tension is acquired. Check that the "U" bracket is flush on the base of the roof bar, and that the roof bar does not move along the base of the "U" bracket. Repeat the process with the other three brackets. Once all four brackets have been tightened, secure and lock the roof bars clamps in position on the car itself, making sure that the roof bars are sitting square on the car for best aerodynamics. The Rod-Box is now fitted.

I found that after putting the Rod-Box on and off the car a couple of times, it took me just under five minutes to fit the box, lock the lid, and then remove it again. Five minutes to give additional security, is time spent well in my opinion.

The fitting brackets have been fitted with a serration on the underside of the handwheels, and teeth fitted to the plastic bracket. This is to stop vibration during transit from loosening the handwheels. The plastic brackets are fitted at either end with a lever that is pressed and held down when undoing the handwheels when the Rod-Box is to be removed from the vehicle.

The construction of the Rod-Box is of the highest workmanship and quality. The material used is the same as what is used for other roof boxes, and is quite flexible when the lid is opened. The reason for the flexibility in the material is that it keeps weight down without sacrificing strength. The lid of the Rod-Box is textured which helps with aerodynamics, where the base of the box is made from a slightly thicker material to take the weight of the contents. The front of the Rod-Box has been designed to give the best aerodynamic performance without sacrificing usable space. The nose of the box has been moulded to disperse the flow of air around the box rather than purely for cosmetic reasons.

When the Rod-Box lid is opened, it is held open by a pair of hinge arms that lock by the the centre of the arms moving past the "straight" position to lock in place. To close the lid it is possible to simply pull it down, but it is recommended that the arms are pushed to the "straight" position first before fully closing the lid to take the pressure off of the hinged joint in the centre. The arms are made from a thick plastic compound to keep the weight down, and all the fittings are more than adequate enough to last a very long time.

When you look at the Rod-Box you can see quite a few hex-head bolts that keep the Rod-Box together. At first glance you would be forgiven in thinking that if someone wanted to gain access to it, they could simply undo some of these bolts to bypass the locking system, but this is not the case. The bolts have been designed to only undo a certain distance before they simply spin and undo no more. This is a security precaution, and proves that a lot of thought has gone into this product. The only way that someone will be able to gain access to the Rod-Box if they do not have a key, is to create a lot of noise and to use heavy duty cutting tools. This means that anybody attempting to break-in to the Rod-Box will be creating a lot of attention to themselves and would have less brain cells than an Amoeba!

Moving to the inside of the Rod-Box is where the design for angling is seen the most. When you open the lid for the first time, you are presented with two upright brackets which have three dips along the top edge. These brackets are for the angler that likes to carry their rods in individual sleeves or "naked" with just rod bands holding them together. If you top and tail your rods, you can fit 6 ready made up rods on these brackets, without the reels touching the base. To secure the rods to the brackets so they do not move in transit, 6 webbing straps are supplied which have plastic clips to join the straps around the rods and the bracket and can be tightened easily by pulling on each end of the webbing strap itself. If your rods have abbreviated handles, it is easier to locate them in the dips in the brackets. With full cork or duplon handles, it is a little more of a juggling act to locate both rods in the dip, but it is easily doable as you can see from the picture. As the brackets have a large gap underneath the upper bar, the angler can place thin items such as landing net heads, umbrella or unhooking mats underneath the rods to save the inside of the car becoming wet or smelly. As the Rod-Box has multiple fixing positions, the unused holes in the base allow for any water to drain out of the box.

For the angler that prefers to use a traditional rod holdall the brackets are removable. To remove the brackets, it is a simple job of swivelling the two locking levers on each bracket by 90 degrees and the brackets removed. To place the brackets back into place again, it is the simple task of standing the bracket up in the recess, and swivelling the levers 90 degrees to lock into place. When the brackets are removed, Rod-Box have tested the capacity and you can fit two flattish rod holdalls inside the Rod-Box by top and tailing them. With more bulky rod hodalls, it may require a bit of juggling the holdalls around to fit two in, but it is possible still. During our own testing, we found that a Cotswold Aquarius 3 Rod Trident Holdall and two "naked" made up rods fitted with 10000 sized Shimano BaitRunner reels and padded reel covers, fitted inside with ease, and no rattling was heard during the drive to and from the venue.

As security is a big part of the Rod-Box design, the locking mechanism is first class. Instead of locking at a single point, the Rod-Box locks at three places along the side of the box. Controlled by a single key lock, a bar is located along the edge of the box, and when the key is turned, the three latches move into position against the locking points located on the lid, to secure the box completely. With the Rod-Box, there is no danger of leaving the box unlocked, as the key is not removable unless it is in the locked position. If you keep the Rod-Box key on the same key ring as the car key, you will not leave the key in and drive off risking losing it. To be safe though, Rod-Box supply two keys with the box, so one can be carried at all times, and the other left somewhere safe in case of the other key being lost.

One touch that all anglers will appreciate is that the Rod-Box is not designed purely for use on a car as a roof box, but has also been designed to be used at home as an extra security measure. Rod-Box can also supply brackets which fit to the wall of your garage or outbuilding, and when not in use on the car, the Rod-Box can be secured to these brackets in the same manner as it fits to the roof bars. This way, the angler can lock their rods and other high value items away when at home, and be certain that anybody trying to steal them will make so much noise, that neighbours or the angler themselves, willbe woken up or made aware od somebody trying to steal from them. With the amount of tackle thefts that are reported on the various online forums or social networking sites, this is another string to the bow for tackle security at home. Even if the theif tried to undo the bolts holding the brackets to the wall, it would be highly suspicious to see someone walking down the street carrying a roof box with wall brackets sticking out of the bottom of it!

One final point, that we at UKMA feel is well worth pointing out, is that the Rod-Box is completely made in the UK. More and more anglers look towards purchasing products that are made in the UK, as they feel it gives them that peace of mind that the product has been made to last, rather than to a price point. The Rod-Box has a selling price of £399, which UKMA feel offers fantastic value for money given the security that the product has been designed to give to our expensive rods and poles - both in transit and at home.

Final Thoughts

I have been trying to find a fault with the Rod-Box, but I cannot find one. It does the job that it has been designed to do fantastically well and gives the security that anglers want. We have all heard about thefts from parked cars at venues or at the pub after a match has finished, and with some anglers carrying over £10,000 worth of rods, reels and poles in their holdalls, usually left in plain sight in a car, thieves are targetting vehicles as it gives them an easy chance to make off with expensive kit that will be shifted on for next to nothing. With the Rod-Box, there is minimal chance of these items being stolen unless the thief makes off with the actual car. Obviously it is not recommended to leave anything in the Rod-Box overnight on the drive-way or for any long period of time. The wall mounted bracket option is something that I will be taking Rod-Box up on at some point in the near future, due to as well as making much harder for thieves, it also protects the rods and holdalls against rodent damage (which almost every angler will have sufferred at one time or another with tackle kept in outbuildings or sheds!).

The selling price of the Rod-Box also will appeal to the angler that was looking at buying a non-angling specific roof box. I went out to a local roof box specialist to check out the other roof boxes that where large enough to hold two rod holdalls, and found that to get what I was looking for in the most basic of forms, and without the brackets for holding individual rods, I was looking at paying at least the same money and in most case, at least a hundred pounds more. The other roof boxes were also larger than the Rod-Box, which meant that fuel economy in the car would take a hit - and with prices of petrol and diesel being high as they are, the Rod-Box would save me money over time. During the testing procedure, I made sure that I done an identical trip with the Rod-Box fitted and also without the box fitted, of just over 100 miles. Each time I reset the computer in the car for fuel economy, and found that with the Rod-Box fitted to the car, my fuel economy dropped by a quarter of a mile per gallon over the 100 mile trip. I felt that the slight drop in fuel economy was nothing to worry about in true terms although you may experience higher or lower economy depending on weather and road conditions, as well as the car itself.

The Rod-Box has solved a dilemma for me in my search for easier transportation of my fishing tackle, and I cannot speak high enough of the product. I fully believe that EVERY angler that drives a normal family car for their fishing should buy one, and even if you do not drive a normal car, and use a van for your fishing, you cannot put a price on the additional security that the Rod-Box offers when the tackle is stored at home. If given a choice between spending £399 on keeping my rods and reels safe at home or having to deal with insurance companies/having to replace the items myself if stolen, it is a complete no-brainer that the Rod-Box comes out on top every time.

The Rod-Box can be bought direct from the Rod-Box website or through a network of select retailers including Johnson Ross.