Hawker 12 Volt Battery
(2500:-)

Ever since I was a schoolboy I have been playing with electrical stuff and batteries, making circuit boards and torches in a matchbox. So I used this knowledge and put it to some good use.
This article is about what extra comforts you can make yourself while carp fishing and it is all powered from a 12-volt battery.

Härlanda Tjärn 2007 - The Fox guide to carp fishing

Over the last few years I have been keeping my eye out for anything electrical that is powered by a 12-volt battery. If I find something in a shop I will then think if it can be used in carp fishing. These 12 volt items sometimes just make it that little bit more comfortable while out on the bank.

Here is a list of the 12-volt equipment that I use:

• Bivvy Lamp
• Mobile Phone charger
• Portable DVD player
• Battery Charger
• 12V Air Pump (for inflating the rubber boat)
• Mini TV
• Kettle

All this can be used in the car and has a 12-volt cigarette lighter connection.

To customise it for in your bivvy you will have to make a connection box. These are pretty easy to make and you can add more connections if you want.
I have added extra connections to mine plus ON/OFF switches to the various connections (not shown in the pic, these were added after this photo was taken).
This then simply connects to your 12-volt battery with a nut and bolt fixing, crocodile clips or cable shoes.

My connection box before i installed the switches (see first photo for switches)

To make the connection box you will need:

• A 2-Way cigarette lighter connector
• 2 Crocodile Clips 1 Red (+) 1 Black (-)
• A length of cable with 2 wires in it
• Wire connectors (Kopplinglister)
• A Housing box for the 2 way connector

To make one of these boxes you will need a few things.

Firstly you will need a cigarette lighter connection like you have in your car.

This can be bought from www.jula.se and costs 49kr. This is a 2-way connection so you will be able to have 2 pieces of equipment connected at the same time. You could always buy 2 of these if you wanted to, so you have 4 connections, the choice is yours.
All you need to then is build a casing/housing around it.
You can make this a simple box or you can make one with switches and connections as I have done.

Once you have made the casing you will need to add extending cables from the back of the box so it will reach your battery.
You can use the wire connectors that join two wires together (Kopplinglister)

and these can be bought from electrical shops. You can also get them from Biltema, Jula, Rusta, Överskottsbolaget etc.

You can also buy the crocodile clips here and most of the 12-volt equipment you will need.

What the equipment is used for:

Bivvy Lamp

This is pretty obvious what its used for. I bought mine in England about 3 years ago and I cost £15 (reduced from £40).
(The remote is hanging to the right)

This is by far the best bit of 12-volt kit I have.

It has the 12-volt connection and also it can be run on normal batteries. There are 2 lamps inside and they are low energy lamps so they don’t hammer the battery like normal bulbs do.

It has 4 settings OFF – 1 lamp – 2 lamps and remote

The remote setting is great as you can climb into your sleeping bag and turn it off from there. Its also great for turning it back on again in the dark. Just point the remote at the lamp and hey presto!

Mobile Phone Charger
Its always good to have a phone charger with you, in case of an emergency and your phone is dead. Also if you are fishing a long session, more than a few days. The one I have has all the different connections for different makes.of phone. Great piece of kit. This one also has a USB connection so you can charge your phone from a computer.

Portable DVD Player
This is a luxury item and a great piece of kit to have but it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. Some people frown upon having a DVD player whilst out fishing, but im afraid im not one of them!
These Portable DVD players usually come with a 12-volt cigarette lighter connection cable so you can watch it in the car/caravan/boat.
On a dark lonley wet miserable night you can cheer yourself up and give yourself some inspiration by watching such classics as “A Passion for Angling” or “Korda State of the Art Underwater Carp Fishing”.
Most of the Portable DVD player play .AVI format so you can fit 5 films on one DVD disc.
Obviously watching films does not take priority over carp fishing, but it does give you something to do whilst waiting for that screeeeeeaming Delkim/ Fox LOL!!!!!

Battery Charger
This is an important bit of kit if you are going carping for a long period of time.
What I mean by a battery charger is one of those that charges AA, AAA, 9 volt in the car. And not a 230 charger for the actual battery that is your source of power.
There are lots of bits of kit that take these kind of batteries. So its handy to have a battery charger with you. Obviously you can take spare batteries. But you can save a lot of money with rechargeable batteries.

For Example:

• Digital Camera
• Torch / Maglite
• Head Lamp
• Digital Scales
• Bite Alarms (9 volt batteries for Delkims)
• Alarm clock
• Digital Thermometer
• Portable Radio
  

12 Volt Air Pump
Only required if you have an inflatable boat (which I have)
It saves you hand pumping up the boat even though it may be quicker.
Only one problem with this bit of kit is the NOISE!!! It makes one hell of a racket, drawing unwanted attention and frightening any fish around :O
But then again you can use it to pump up your car tires if they deflate or if someone lets them down in the lake car park.

Mini TV 5.5”
This is a piece of kit that I have had for years before the DVD age came around.
I used to watch television on it every now and again, especially the football if there was a game on while I was out fishing.
Now I use it as a monitor for the underwater camera. The TV can be powered by 6 normal batteries (which don’t last long) or a 12 volt connection.
You can also use the camera to see who is coming :) '

Kettle
The 12 volt battery powered kettle can be used to make a nice quick cup of tea/coffee or you can also use it to steam your rigs.

By holding a hooklength (mono or coated, not braid) over the steam while it is boiling you can straighten them by running it through the steam while pulling tight on each end
You can also straighten rig tubing this way aswell!

There are lots of other 12 volt stuff you can use out in your bivvy.

Take a look at some of these: