Thursday, September 1, 2011

Gear Review: Ti Net by TrailLite Designs (angled version)

You may remember how excited I was early August to get so many packages with gear the same day and my comment that the angled version of the Ti Net of TrailLite Designs is WAY COOL.

In the meantime, I had a few opportunities to test and put the Ti Net to good use, including a trip to New York and fishing the Ken Lockwood Gorge in New Jersey, my first trip to Rocky Mountain National Park this year, hunting grayling (without success unfortunately), a trip to Creede on the Rio Grande and a short outing last Saturday on the South Platte.

The Ti Net in action:






In less than a month, have netted with the Ti Net well over 100 trout as well as some bluegills and a smallmouth bass and I have to say it is not just WAY COOL, it is AWESOME!

The design is sleek and simple (just like Tenkara), a simple carbon fiber handle with a titanium hoop and net. It appeals to me because of it's simplicity and high tech look, light weight and it is very well made. Don't be fooled by the hoop's "thin" construction, it is titanium and it has already withstood in this short period a lot of abuse - bushwhacking, slipping and falling on my behind,  climbing over rocks and a few not so gracious looking instances loosing traction while wading and trying to avoid complete submersion. In fact, the net still looks as new were it not for the net's slight discoloration of being dirty of landing all the fish :-). It is me who got all the bruises and scratches.

If you haven't read my initial post, here are the specs again:

Handle: carbon fiber, 12"
Hoop: titanium, 9.5" diameter
Mesh: 2mm,
Weight: 2.7 oz.

I think the only improvement I could think of is maybe a slightly longer handle, maybe 1", tops 2" to improve reach and balance a bit.

As previously mentioned, I reviewed the angled version, which looks like a like high tech Japanese Tamo. The angled version is available for purchase at TenkaraBum. There is also a straight version which is available directly at TrailLite Designs. Both go for $115.



Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with TrailLite Designs nor did I receive any compensation to review the Ti Net, however, I received the Ti Net free of charge for testing & reviewing from TrailLite Designs.

3 comments:

  1. Great review Karel! I have the straight version because I like to be able to pack it flat to minimize bulk but the angled net is great for day-to-day tenkara fishing. The hoop diameter is just about perfect and what you said about it's strength is spot on--it's 100 times stronger than it looks!

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  2. What is the best way to carry the net when you're on the stream? (I noticed that it doesn't have an eyelet on the handle to attach it to a magnetic release.) How do you stow it when fishing so that it is ready for use when you need it?

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  3. Hi Kai - thanks for stopping by. I carry the net with the handle in my wading belt on my left side. This way, the net bag is angled away from my body. That's the way I carry it in the third picture of this blog post.

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