beach shelter or umberella which is best for using

I am about to get a shelter but dont know what to pic a beach shelter or a umberella. please help.

hi
personally i tink the shelter would be the better buy as it stronger than an umbrella and you stay completly dry and out of the rain i used to use an umbrella myself handy for if your on the move :lol:

Depends really.

Umbrellas are not too expensive, are lightweight and as Damo said are easy to pack up at the end of the night. On the down side, they dont last pi**in length (you may need to buy a new one every year), they dont keep you sheltered enough as the wind/rain comes in around the sides and they are VERY hard to put up and keep up in windy weather, which defeats the purpose really!

The shelters are the bees knees - the give complete shelter, are rock solid when up and will last forever if you look after it. However they are expensive and are hard to put up in really windy weather.

Hope this helps!

iam also thinking about one i saw one in argos flexi poles and big enough does anyone have one or know of them. price was 15 sterling

I have one of those Argos ones. They are fine for the summer but are very dodgy in even the slightest wind. They will be blown off the beach in winter! They are also very large, they could probably sleep 4 comfortably!

Better off shelling out the extra few quid and buying a brolly or shelter. Brollies are the better option if the weather is ok, they are light and very transportable, but in the depths of winter you're better off with a shelter. They aren't too expensive either, I've seen them in Dublin tackle shops for 80 euro, and advertised in the UK for 50 sterling. It may seem like a lot to some, but when you are sitting on a beach with the wind howling and the rain pouring, it won't seem like a lot!

Hello Sam, those shelters in the argos catalogue are for coarse fishing and personaly I would'nt go near them for sea fishing. As Steve said even the slightest wind causes trouble so that kinda defeats the purpose. They wont last either at the sea as there not built to withstand the salt and sand so it would be false economy as you'll have to replace it often

The wynnester puffin i find to be ideal. One person can put it up in about a minute, and I've yet to get a soaking except for the time i put it below the high water mark!!!
I'm sure they're all good but only get one with pockets right around the base so they can be filled with sand to keep the thing glued to the beach...

well lads, this is a bit of a tricky one I reckon. See, I had a brolly that lasted me for no less than EIGHT years, I kid you not. It was wicked, light, easy to put up and at the end of a night's fishing I just popped it down and Robert's your mothre's brother; no worries. I must admit that by the eighth year it was a bit heavier than when I started as it was held together with plenty of duck tape and the spines were as rusty as superman's wheelchair. I buried it in the garden and gave it the 'ol "spectacles, testicles, watch and wallet."
I couldn't change my ways and so I bought another one; it's heavier than the wife's handbag, needs securing down with a couple of meteorites and I should've gone for a shelter. I know they're a pain in windy weather but my mate has one of those spaceman jobbies which he got for about 50 bucks compared to the hundred I paid for me brolly (yeah, yeah, I know I could've got a cheaper one), it's just the job. Unfortunately it looks like I shall have to struggle on for another eight years. Anyone wanna buy a brolly?

There are brollies in both Henry's tackle shop and Argos for about 22 quid (leeda I think). They may only last a year or two, but for twenty quid what do you expect!

A third option is to purchase a one-man or two-man dome tent. Army surplus or similar stores will kit you out for well under 100 EUR.

Now I know it has an external cover that has to be put up and over the internal frame but they are very comfortable, waterproof, and if you leave off the "collar" supplied with some of them, you get in and out quickly...

They have the benefit of allowing you stack everything and sleep securely if you decide that a few dogfish at low water is not worth the wait... which is not possible in most bivvys. They are not that much more expensive, and even on rock marks you can typically secure the ropes with ...rocks.

Look for one with a relatively small footprint. If they get wet when packing up throw them in the washing machine on spin or hang them out to dry....

I have one that has been all around the world and is fifteen years old.

The only problem is the plastic joints into which the flexible jointed rods fit will weaken over time and snap off or split. I had the replaced with stainless steel bits made up at a light engineering company for 20 quid.

If you are planning a session of more than a few hours, its well worth it. They typically come with their own bag for quick storage and carrying...

FWIW...