Bivvies, Shelters & Brollies

Dangler is the Ebay of the fishing industry, built by anglers for anglers.

Lightweight pram-hood-style bivvy featuring aluminium bars and 20,000 hydrostatic head outer material. It’s easy to set up and boasts lots of internal space. Supplied with winter skin. For more information go to: www.

It is surely one of the most popular and successful bivvies of all time because I remember seeing an Easy Dome or 10 on just about every lake that we used to venture to while doing our features. Indeed, I have owned two myself over the years – a one-man version, which I bought long before starting work at DHP, some 12 years ago, and later, a two-man version, which I used for French fishing excursions. It was the epitome of quick erection but at the same time offered a full-on, all-round shelter capable of keeping the occupant warm and dry. Setting up, as I touched up, was ridiculously simple and involved simply taking the bivvy out of its bag – which was never quite big enough when trying to put it back in – pulling up on the central boss, locking the joints in place and it was up.

When we saw this at the Tackle & Guns Trade Show it literally stopped us in our tracks. The compact design, top build quality and unquestionable value for money really did blow us away. A simplistic but effective two-rib, pram-hood design ensures quick erection and with the fitted porch offers extra protection for when the elements take a turn for the worse. The Royale Classic features a mesh or removable PVC clear-panel front door and two mozzie-mesh panels on the front that keep bugs at bay and supply a welcome airflow in the warmer weather.

The single biggest disadvantage with a brolly is that the inner support frame compromises the internal space. Sitting on your bedchair and watching the water generally means that you either have to suffer backache or sit as far forward as possible. That’s fine in the summer, but not great in the rain. The standout feature of the Supa Brolly is its unique STS mechanism.

The original Supa Brolly was launched to critical acclaim and was followed soon afterwards by the ‘system’ that included zip-in front with mozzie and standard options with doors and windows and suchlike. Not able to get hold of the simple brolly due to its popularity, I bought a system when I discovered that Chapman’s Angling Centre was one of only a few shops that actually had a delivery. I didn’t particularly want the infill and certainly not the mozzie front, but it was either this or miss out altogether. So, out came the credit card and the next day the Supa Brolly system duly arrived.

For years I’d used a set of stainless steel bivvy pegs that were made for me by Martin Locke of Solar Tackle fame. You know how it is, though, you lose one or two of them here and there and then realise that you’ve suddenly got none left! It was a revelation for me therefore when Top-Notch brought out its version. I’ve been using these pegs for something like three or four years now and have got to say they are made from extremely good quality stainless, can be hit with a mallet if needs be and are virtually indestructible. They are available in a 5in stumpy version that are ideal for hard ground, a standard 8in version, and a nice touch is that they come supplied in a hard tubular case.