I got your kickstand

[LONGCAST JOE]

I think I've found what Jim was referring to as a sand spike with a kickstand. It's made of aluminum so weighs less than 2 lbs, folds down to 40" to carry. Can hold 2 rods, be used just as a regular spike without the legs. extends up to 7 feet high and is fully adjustable as far as leg lengths and angles that it sits at. Can be used in the soft sand or on hard rock. It has a hook to hang a counterweight from under the center, like a bucket full of water or a sand bag  I'll be putting to the test on the sand this weekend and will post my feedback as to how it actually performs in battle conditions but....check it out.

This is it broken down

[BackBayMan]

I WANT THAT!!!!!!!

[xjchad]

I WANT THAT!!!!!!!

ME TOO ME TOO!!!!!!

Joe,
You said you ordered it from Italy?
Maybe we can do a group buy??

[Latimeria]

Dude!  That looks Great!

[spideyjg]

That looks awesome. The only drawback may be getting pulled over if you don't have the line straight out. Possibly the rod getting yanked off also.

How sand resistant you think it is?

Jim

[LONGCAST JOE]

That looks awesome. The only drawback may be getting pulled over if you don't have the line straight out. Possibly the rod getting yanked off also.

How sand resistant you think it is?

Jim

My biggest concern would be the rod getting pulled out sideways, I think I'm going to modify the top notches where the rod rests on a bit to make them deeper cupped so it can't be pulled off to the side. As long as the rod stay's sitting in the top notch it really can't go anywhere because the bottom rest that the butt sits in is about a 3 inch deep cup. Like I say you can adjust the length of the legs and their angle, i have them a bit steep here but you can put them out at 45 degrees or whatever and hang a sandbag from a hook in the center that gives it an anchoring downforce. Would I trust it on concrete with a 15' rod that has the drag buttoned down when a 55" bat took my bait and i was 100 yards away? NO! Of course the whole thing would topple forward and rod and reel dragged into the abyss. But I don't ever see a time where I would have my drag tightened down far enough when my bait was soaking where it would topple before my drag started clicking. Like I say the main rest is made of thick aluminum angle bar sharpened at the bottom to drive into the sand like a regular sand spike, and the legs as well are spiked. You can also adjust how high or low the butt rests sit on it, so if you lower them to down near the sand it's going to give it a lower center of gravity with your rod at rest in it...Would it be more stable if it was made of steel?, yes, but I like the less than 2 lbs portability factor.  It's anodized aluminum if by sand resistant you mean corrosion resistant, it should be all good there. Like I say, field test this weekend, all this is just speculation...     

[LONGCAST JOE]

OK, first overall field test on the sand grade = B. Takes a few set ups to learn the best sequence to deploy at the best angles, adjust and tighten down the clamps but after a few trips I'm sure it will be second nature. Best thing about it was it holds well even in a foot deep of whitewater surging by and under it, didnt budge. I intentionally tried to put it to some extreme situations out of bordem , as the mid-day conditions were less than desirable for actually catching fish. I am going to mod the top rests a bit to better cup the rod and prevent sideways yank off but that'll be easy, just a bend of the aluminum some. Biggest problem that needs to be prevented before next trip is the ease of two of the smaller knobs to fall out of my fingers and into the sand. I got lucky and saw right where they landed at and was able to sift the sand with my fingers and recover it, twice, but if I didn't see right where it landed probably would have been gone, and I don't even want to try to find how to get replacement knobs. A small chain on each, leashed on close by should be a pretty simple fix...It does draw the comments from other fisherman passing by 
If you can see the line angles off the rod tips, testing the sideways pull. It did fine
 


Next test, some cobblestone or similiar ground....

[spideyjg]

Looks awesome and a rocky ground test is really the acid test.

Jim

[Latimeria]

Looks great Joe.  Rocky ground is a great test as I just snapped one of my heavy aluminum rod holders planting in a semi-rocky area.  I bet that would work on any rocky outcropping also.

I love the detailed product reports.  I have one coming out myself soon on this new surf back pack system I got that I'm loving.  I might make an entire product review page on the main website and if I do, I see you being a main contributor with all of the field testing you've been doing. 

[Pinoyfisher]

I might make an entire product review page on the main website

This sounds great!

[xjchad]

I might make an entire product review page on the main website

This sounds great!

X2