Whether traveling by trains, planes, or automobiles – or bikes, boats, or horse-and-buggies – the new Trxstle CRC system keeps your rod safe and secure.
Trxstle – pronounced “tres(ə)l’ – created the Convertible Rod Carry system to help modern anglers transport their rods regardless of their travel method. The unique cases telescope from 30 inches to 10 feet in length, holding rods when broken down to four-pieces as well as when fully set-up.
The CRC features four aluminum sections that nest together when in compact mode but slide apart and lock in place when extended. The CRC can be mounted to virtually any car rack when setup in any mode – the quick-release clamps fit onto any of the four sections, so it can be adjusted to fit any car style.
Inside the system’s machined aluminum tubes are a pair of elastic ‘rubber’ sleeves to safely cradle the rods inside. These sleeves stretch as the CRC sections are extended, narrowing down as the system gets long. So when the CRC is in compact mode, the sleeve is wide enough to allow all four rod pieces to slide in together. When fully extended, the sleeve stretches and the diameter narrows to better secure the slim, fully set-up rod from butt to tip. But this sleeve does double duty. Besides safely cradling the rod, it also provides structure and support to the CRC itself. The tough elastic nature of the sleeve acts much like the shock cord in a tent pole, pulling the various sections snuggly together. This helps the CRC ride more securely on rooftops by keeping the sections tightly together, thus minimizing vibrations through the system.
The CRC’s reel housing is padded and is roomy enough to secure rods with modest fighting butts below the reels. The system is designed to secure the rods and reels with the reels sitting upright. This keeps the rod from resting on the line guides in the sleeves, and better protects the reels from bouncing in transport. The ‘reels up’ design also makes it easier to access the CRC when mounted on tall SUVs and trucks.
Trxstle’s designers created the CRC to secure contain rods when one, two, three, or all four sections are used, and they designed to be portable. That means anglers can compress the CRC to its one-section length, load in a couple of rods broken down into four pieces, and carry them safely onto planes, or toss it into a car trunk. In this compressed mode, the CRC can be mounted to bicycle handlebars or a rear bike rack.
When flying to a fishing destination, the CRC switches from a carry-on rod case to a ready-to-mount roof rack in minutes. Just make sure your rental car has roof crossbars, and the CRC will fit on top. And the system is secure. The reel housing locks, but so do the mounting clamps, and a single key operates all the locks.
The unique design of the Trxstle CRC functions wonderfully, though there are a few things to keep in mind. First, the sections must be extended or collapsed in the proper order. Out of order collapsing, especially, created some moments of confusion as we had to figure out how to reverse course as the locking buttons were hidden inside the system. The soft sleeves also are prone to catching fly hooks if you insert a rod with an attached fly hooking through the rod’s fly holding loop, or worse, on a line guide. To ensure the fly hooks don’t snag the pliable rod sleeves, the fly should be clipped to the reel or the base of cork grip – anywhere that keeps the fly outside the sleeve section of the CRC. But those issues are minor and easier worked around. The versatility and performance of the CRC easily beat any other rod-transporting system we’ve seen. And at a fraction of the price of many of those competitors. $325. Buy Now