Solar Tackle
Advanced Carbon Composite
Accessories

When a company lauches a new major product, there will always be accessories launched that the angler will either require or want to accompany their new purchase and get the most out of it. With the Advanced Carbon Composite Worldwide Pod now available from the plethora of shops that stock Solar Tackle products, the shelves are also now stocked with the other items in the Advanced Carbon Range.

Advanced Carbon Composite Buzzer Bars

Solar Tackle are well known for their stainless steel buzzer bars, and this is the company's first foray into the world of carbon fibre buzzer bars. The main cross bar of the bars are constructed from the same composite material that the carbon Worldwide pod is made from and the weight saving is immediately felt when handling them for the first time. All of the other components are constructed out of Solar's Supreme Stainless Steel. The dimensions of the bars are the same as the stainless equivalents and the stainless accessories will fit the composite bars as well (such as the drop in goalpost adaptors etc).

The composite bars are available in the below dimensions;

• 2 Rod Back (5.5" to 9.5") 139mm to 241mm (approx. weight 130g)
• 2 Rod Front (6.5" to 11") 165mm to 279mm (approx. weight 130g)
• 3 Rod Back (8" to 14") 203mm to 355mm (approx. weight 150g)
• 3 Rod Front (9" to 16") 228mm to 406mm (approx. weight 150g)
• 3 Rod Extra-Wide (12" to 19") 304mm to 508mm (approx. weight 150g)
• 4 Rod Back (17" to 24") 440mm to 600mm (approx. weight 230g)
• 4 Rod Front (19" to 25") 480mm to 600mm (approx. weight 230g)

All of the bars are single stud attachment to banksticks, but as aforementioned, they are compatiable with the drop-in goalpost adpators for those that prefer a snag bar setup. All of the buzzer bars are extendable and use a clever screwless system. The screwless system utilises a collet which tightens up to the extending section to secure it and loosens off just as easily. The benefts of the screwless system are plentiful but the main ones are that they are self adjusting so even with a little wear they will still lock tight and that they are non-marking.

The underside of the inner sections of the bars are milled flat to create a twist-free setup once the collet has been tightened up.

Each of the buzzer studs are fitted with Solar's Posi-Loc system, which allows for perfect alignment of the buzzers or rear rest heads.

The Advanced Carbon Buzzer Bars are not cheap by a long shot, but quality never is and these bars will last a lifetime - saving money on not needing to replace every couple of years. As a guide, the 3 Rod Buzzer Bars have a RRP of around £52.50 each (£105.00 per pair).

Advanced Carbon Composite Snag Ears

One product that has garnered a huge following from the anglers are snag ears. Most anglers use these as "fashion" rather than function, but the Solar Advanced Carbon Snag Ears have been developed to appeal to both sides. The base plate of the Carbon Snag Ears is constructed from the Solar Supreme Stainless, and has been designed to allow almost every alarm on the market to be compatiable and usable with 3rd party remote systems such as the ATTx dongles (something which some of the other snag ears will not allow). At the front of the base plate, a 2BA female threaded section has been placed to allow almost every indicator system to be fitted to it although it has been developed to be used with Solar's own indocators components.

The Carbon Snag Ears are actually very clever indeed. The first clever part is that each of the ears can be removed independantly so if you only require one ear, then you can use just one ear or remove both when packing away (if needed). The second part is that each ear is adjustable in height to suit whichever alarm you use. This is done without the need for screws or other mechanical means. This process is called Air-Lock and I can only concur that the tolerances between the outer and inner are that tight that a seal is created which stops the inner section dropping without pressure being placed upon it. However it works is something that I am sure Martin Locke would not appreciate me telling the world, but I can say that it works perfectly and the adjustment is infinite along the length of the inner section.

We have used the ears with almost every popular alarm on the market and there has been more than enough adjustment to stop the rod being dragged off the alarm on a fast take when locked up or using a tight clutch.

The gauge the height when fully enclosed, the snag ears fit perfectly behing a Steve Neville alarm which allows a cover to be placed over both alarm and snag ears without the need to remove them. As you can see from the image, we have tried them with alarms from the smallest to the tallest with success.

The Advanced Carbon Snag Ears have a RRP of £29.99 each, and are worth every penny.

Carbon Adjustable ButtBanger Arm

Where would ANY carbon fibre setup be without a carbon effect indicator swing arm and Solar have not let the angler down with theirs! The Solar ButtBanger indicator has a cult following that refuse to use anything else due to the versatility, and rather than use a fixed length carbon arm (which they could have easily done), Lockey has developed an adjustable carbon arm in the same vein as the adjustable snag ears in that the arm is adjustable without any need for thumbscrews yet still remain at the length set after or during a take. The Airlock system is used and I have tried to get it to fail in normal use but cannot see a way of doing so without extreme physical force! The outer section is made from the carbon material with the inner section of Supreme Stainless. At each end of the arm is a hinged 2BA thread which is compatiable with almost all indicator bosses and heads. Each of these threaded sections have a working axis of 90 degrees, and when used with the Solar hockey sticks or Snag Ears, means that the arm will not drop and hit the centre bar of a Worldwide pod even at full extension. As per usual Solar have thought of everything!

There are two lengths of the Carbon Adjustable ButtBanger Arms available; Short (110mm - 175mm approx) and Long (175mm - 300mm approx), giving the angler a choice depending on situations faced or personal preference.

I have not been able to find a RRP for these as yet, but I know for certainty that I will be getting another 2 of each to make a set up!

Final Thoughts

Over the years I have had literally dozens of different rod support systems, and found it hard to find a set that done everything I wanted of them. The closest I got was the original Solar Stainless bars which I bought over 20 years ago, and it was these that I always ended up comparing later purchases to. This has now changed and I will be using the Advanced Carbon range of products as the benchmark now.

The workmanship and quality of the items is as you would expect in a top marque product and if I had to match these to a car brand, it would be Bugatti or Bentley without any shadow of a doubt.

Just like Solar did over two decades ago with the stainless steel products, they have done the same again with the carbon and bought it to the masses.

Everything has been thought of and I cannot think of any way of improving the products, and that is not something I can always say. The price tags on the products may seem expensive, but as the very well known cosmetics firm says "You're worth it!"

I know that I will be seeing a fair bit of the Advanced Carbon Composite products on the bank in the coming seasons, and know for a fact that I will be looking at it every time I peek out of the bivvy door!

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