I’ve been holding off on writing this review as it’s been far and away my most expensive piece of carp tackle to date and I wanted to make sure I gave it a good few sessions before even beginning to comment on it.

I think in total I have around $700 invested in this rod pod setup. Most say that is an absolutely barmy amount of money to spend on a rod pod, but I can assure you, after my 5th use, this pod is going to last me a lifetime.

You can configure the matrix patriot rod pod pretty much exactly how you like, almost al’a carte. I went for the “super slinky” setup as I already had 2 slinky bank sticks and loved them. The pod comes in slinky (thinner, lighter) rock solid (thicker, heavier) and regular, which fits most size bank sticks (like solar)

You can also customize how many rods you want the pod for – this was a huge deal for me as I fish in Oregon and we are only allowed 2 rods, you can buy 2,3 and 4 rod versions of the snag bars for this pod.

Everything about this rod pod screams quality, and you would hope so to for the price. I can set it up in about 90 seconds, another huge factor as I don’t want to be fiddling with gear when I first get to my swim. As far as stability goes, even with the slinky version, it’s as solid as a rock. You need a coin to tighten the thumb screws, I’d recommend a British pound coin for this.

So far I’ve caught my 2 biggest fish (a 25 and a 20) whilst using this pod, with plenty of smaller ones too. Even on the hardest of takes, the pod itself didn’t move an inch, even with my rod bent at an almost 45 degree angle.

Another great feature for this pod is the “pod roll” basically, the whole thing collapses into almost nothing then slots securley into a heavy duty roll which velcros together and fits right into a standard size rucksack.

You can also purchase the stage stands. This allows the pod to be setup on just about any surface imaginable.

Some people say this is the best pod ever made and you need to spend money if you want quality. I’ve only owned 3 pods so far and this one is about a thousand times better than my previous, though it is on the heavy side. A must buy if your looking to buy 1 set of quality gear to last you a life time.