Cotswold Multi Roamer Bucket

Cotswold Aquarius Multi Roamer Bucket

My very first impression of the Cotswold Aquarius bait roamer bucket were good. It is large (305mm x 305mm) and has many pockets around the edges, it also has a removable inner lining and a good padded strap though non of the fittings are metal and don't feel very robust.

My first job was to transfer the contents of my old faithful rucksack to the bait roamer. This is when I started to become aware of some the short comings with the design.

The bucket has a large pocket that will take a Fox type tackle box and many small pouches all of which are around the outside, unfortunately all the small pockets are the same small size and have no flaps or zips to stop items falling out. Having put anything that would fit, into the small pockets and my tackle box into the large one, I was left with one option for everything else (Avon scales, headlight, camera, flask etc.), the large central area that I planned to put my bait in. Because the main compartment is removable I was able to put licences ect. between the lining and the bag. Everything else went in with my bags of bait.

On my first outing with the roamer I was impressed with it's comfort when walking. It has no rigidity so moulds around the body nicely. The lack of rigidity does mean that it flops around a bit when sat on the bank as the side walls don't hold themselves up.

It was when the heavens opened that I became aware of another drawback. The material that the Roamer is made of is not water proof and it sucked up water like a sponge making the bag slightly heavier and even more flacid after rain. It also needed a few hours in my boiler room to dry it out properly!

On our second outing we got on better! The weather stayed dry and I was starting to appreciate the easy access of a device like this, devling easily into the large central 'bucket' area usually finding whatever I needed very quickly (always a problem with my old rucksack). Another useful feature is the detachable lined lid that can double up as a ground bait of mixing bowl if you're into that sort of thing.

In conclusion the Cotswold Aquarius roamer could have been so much better without too much effort. Some variable sized, sealable pockets around the outside and some waterproofing would have made me much happier.