I have to confess that many years ago I had a JRC Bivvy and it was a load of old rubbish! I vowed I'd never buy another one.....until now that is. Well, the new venue that I have recently joined requires a somewhat smaller bivvy due to very compact and overgrown swims.
These are tight and sometimes muddy, making it impossible to put anything much larger than a 60" brolly up. Bearing this in mind with the fact that it is a walk from the car to the better swims and the fact that my back is getting worse by the week, I needed something lightweight and small enough to fit into my quiver.
I looked around the whole market of brollys and to be honest there were only 2 which stood out from the rest. These were the JRC and the A Lite from Trakker. A recent issue with a Trakker item put me off this product and I liked the fact that the STI was going to come out to me for £80 + P&P!
I ordered the JRC from Fosters of Birmingham who I have to say were very quick at turning around my Internet order and with 48 hours the brolly was sitting in my lounge!
Well done to the lads at Fosters, great service!
The first trip to the new venue and I have to say that my initial thoughts were that this is a great piece of kit. It's compact, folds down tightly into a rod quiver and feels very rigid when upstanding. There are a good number of solid stainless T pegs and the bracing poles (x3) are strong yet very light weight.
Pegging points appear rugged and the whole thing was up and pegged down in around 4 minutes. The front has wide access with both sides having ties to hold back the front to give even wider views.
There is a bracing cable along the bottom of the brolly with three settings for height and width.
I am thoroughly impressed by the STI, my only gripes are that the groundsheet is absolutely rubbish but at least its very light I suppose.
The only other problem I encountered was that with my bad hands I found the poles very difficult to pull apart at the end of the session, they're rather tight.
I am sure this will probably ease with use. It looks nice when erected and I was also impressed at the amount of room underneath too!
My Nash 4 leg Indulgeance fitted under with ease and room to spare.
Overall, its a good piece of kit and a vast improvement on JRC kit of old!
Retail is around £139 and £70 for the overwrap. Shop around for a good deal and you'll pay about £80 for the brolly!
