Milk Crate

[d-a]

Originally Posted by BretABaker

larger as in the ATD or the 665?

With chunking reels I still keep mine on.

665's, my little 197 doesn't need one however it has one.

d-a

[DeepBlueGulf]

The best reel clamp I've seen is the small stamped stainless one that comes with the Shimano Ocea Jigger. Very thin and out of the way, wish there was one available to fit my Accurate and Avets as their clamps don't work well for jigging!

Those lightweight Fuji reel seats look like they could let go pretty easy at times and with a $400-$500 reel it would be nice to have that extra bit of security!

DBG

[awesum]

I'm fairly new to the "milk crate crowd" having only two trips under my belt using one.

And mine actually is not a "milk" crate as I dug it out of the trash at Hom Depeaux (along with a couple of extras) and it was carrying hose fittings made by Nelson. So as a matter of correctness I'll refer to it as a Hose Fittings Crate (or HFC). Now in the world of POS and UMC mine is very ordinary.

For a long time I observed the various ones being carted on and off the boats. I also observed them as we were underway in substantial seas. Of those I saw that either slid around, turned over or were otherwise unstable I noticed two similarities. First and I think foremost the PVC rod holding tubes extended above the crate (in some cases 6-8 inches), thus giving the rods and reels leverage when the boat listed from side to side causing some of the aforementioned affects. Second, some of them did not have any weight in them to give them stability.

So with those two things primarily on my mind I went to work creating something to use. I made sure I cut the tubes level with the top of the crate (I also beveled them with my Dremel tool) and left room to put my lure and weight boxes in the middle.




Now on it's maiden voyage I had the rod tubes secured by just wrapping zip ties around them. That didn't work. I wrestled with redoing them several times and could hear Jerry snickering in the background ... "That doesn't work" he said, "trust me" . I took that as a been there, done that statement. So when I got back I decided to drill holes through the HFC and PVC and run the zip ties through them. One near the top and one near the bottom. Solid as can be.



The other thing I like to do when I am taking backup rigs is ... I remove the reels and pack them away in my bag. I take the rods (sans reels) and and using the little Velcro thingies you buy at Hom Depeaux of Academy I strap them to the other rods. Solid.



This HFC passed with flying colors on the recent 76 hour trip on the Big E. Never moved an inch.

Now if I could just get the hang of carrying it on and off the boat without jamming and bending all my tip tops of my rods I'd be a happy guy.

[Snagged]

Bobby,
My crate and rods go seperatly.

[d-a]

Awesum

the crate in the background of the last picture looks like on of my milk crates.

d-a

[xs_tackle]

Securing pvc "rocket launcher" tubes in crates--
I'm no craftsman; but, no one has mentioned what I thought was the obvious first choice for securing pvc tubes to plastic crates: aluminum rivets. They're cheap, easy, strong and maybe even look better than cable ties. Just put'em along the line(s) of contact between the tubes and the crate side(s). 5-6 years and still going strong (but no fashion statement). Then throw in a water bottle (for drinking or spritzing rigs), a few 1 lb and 3 lb trolling wts for ballast and monster AJ fishing . . .