............. Octbox

No expense has been spared in the creation of the Octbox D36, one of the most advanced seatboxes on the market

OCTBOX D36 SYSTEM SEATBOX RRP: From £695

The latest incarnation of the legendary Octbox D36 is the most advanced to date, boasting a host of angler-friendly innovations. With no expense spared on materials or design, the box is superbly stable, even when positioned on soft or silty ground thanks to its 35mm diameter legs and cleverly corrugated mudfeet. In lab tests the leg block systems were found to support up to 280kg (44 stone) without slipping. You can tailor it to all situations, but the basic box is enough to keep most anglers happy! Crossdrawers make up the storage module, three at 2cm deep and the fourth at 4cm, which has removable alloy trays. This sits below the padded pole seat, and you can add more trays, bases and drawers for more space as needed. There’s no space above the precision-fit drawers for items of tackle to fall out of place or stick up and jam. You can actually tip the drawer module upside down without mishap. Rather than the module of drawers being built upwards to increase height, the box has a height adjustment frame on the main box legs, so you can adjust the height without having to fiddle about with all four legs to get it just right. The D36 comes up trumps for stability, too. The footplate and frame are made from a strong, light alloy in a manufacturing process requiring more than 180 precision welds – that means it’s incredibly robust and solid. The all-metal welded leg clamps that fix the inner and outer legs have less lateral movement than any other system and you can tighten the clamps with fingertip pressure alone. Available separately is an outrigger system that can raise the box up to 6ft off the floor without sacrificing one iota of stability. The bar is used as a ‘step-up’ when climbing on to or off the box. The 36mm legs are an interesting feature, as the inner can be extended upwards and any side trays attached to this. Therefore, the tray is always to hand, no matter what height your box is set to – that doesn’t happen with any other seatbox! The mudfeet are also unique, as they are designed not only to support the system on mud but have the ability to dig in and grip on difficult surfaces such as wet, grassy banks. The D36 also comes with an in-built adaptor bar that extends out from the sliding footplate. This bar, when fully extended, is rock solid and enables a pole support to be pushed up to 18in forward of the front legs. This is a massive advantage when fishing at range when delicate presentation is required in difficult conditions. The added ability to swivel the support to the left or right then enables the angler to create a forward support that does not impede leg movement, or interfere with the landing of fish or placing them in the keepnet.

The Octbox D36 has ample storage including four cross drawers, three at 2cm deep and one at 4cm

Pivot plate can be lowered to same level as alloy foot which is designed to grip slippery banks