Angling Pursuits Travel Max 9ft 4pc Travel Rod

How well is it built?

The Travel Max is a basic budget rod, and the 7.0 reflects that. The blank is glass rather than carbon, so you're trading lightness and crispness for durability, and glass should shrug off the knocks a travel rod takes in a car boot or a suitcase.

It breaks down into four sections, and at 75cm closed, it's compact enough to lie along the bottom of a holiday case or tuck into the boot alongside the rest of your kit. The fittings are simple and functional, and nothing about the finish feels premium.

For me, that's fine for what it is. A tough glass blank is a sensible choice for a rod that may spend weeks in the car between sessions, as it's far less brittle than carbon if it takes a knock against a wall or a car door.

Just don't expect the finish or lightness of a carbon travel rod.

How well does it cast and feel?

What does glass mean for casting? A glass blank bends further into the cast than carbon, so it's built to be forgiving rather than crisp, and it won't give you the same feedback from a lure working or a fish picking up a bait.

The 20-50g casting weight covers mid-sized lures, floats and light bottom rigs, which is the all-round fishing it's made for.

At 9ft, it's a useful length for most banks, and as a general point a four-piece travel rod is closer in action to a two-piece than a telescopic rod is.

The extra weight of glass will tell over a long session of casting lures, though, and a carbon rod of the same length will feel livelier.

So, the 7.0 is about feel more than distance. It'll get a rig out comfortably, but I'd pick carbon if sensitivity matters most to you.

How does it perform when playing fish?

This is where glass earns its keep. A softer, forgiving blank bends deeply under load, which cushions a fish's lunges and should help keep small hooks in place, and that's why playing fish scores a touch higher than casting.

A soft blank keeps that give when a fish makes a late dive under the rod tip, which is often when a hook pulls.

The 20-50g rating and 9ft length give you enough backbone for the general run of fish on a short session or a holiday. It isn't a rod for heavy baits or big fish in snags, and the joints still won't bend quite as evenly as a one-piece blank would.

Overall, I think the 7.5 is fair. A soft glass action also hides a few mistakes, such as a heavy-handed strike or a drag set too tight, which suits a newcomer or a youngster borrowing the rod.

Is it good value for money?

Is it worth buying? I think so, as it's one of the cheaper travel rods around and it gives you a full 9ft rod that packs down to 75cm. For a spare to keep in the car or a rod for the odd holiday session, that's a lot of use for very little money.

Next to the NGT Profiler Travel Rod 9ft, which shares the 9ft length and 20-50g rating, the Travel Max swaps carbon for glass, giving up some lightness and feel in return for toughness.

Next to the Leeda Tele Spin R, it doesn't pack down as small, but four sections should give a smoother curve than a telescopic blank.

Overall, I'd recommend the Travel Max to anyone who wants a tough, cheap all-round rod for the car boot, short sessions and holidays, and who puts toughness ahead of feel.