Chris Yates’s Barder Rod Co Tonkin bamboo float case.

This case lived in Chris’s tackle bag for thirty years. When I retrieved it, I noticed that the top of the tube was a little on the slant. The varnish was chipped and it looked rather forlorn but I accepted this with my usual indulgent good grace.

I asked Chris what had happened to the top of the tube. He told me it was fractionally too long for his tackle bag and he wasn’t planning to put long floats in it anyway so where was the harm? He shortened it with a bow saw.

A bow saw. That’s the one with the nasty flexible blade with not many teeth per inch. I’ve seen Chris use his bow saw on firewood, Oeufs terrible and once, to alter the leg of the carver’s chair in his dining room.

After I’d recovered from the assault on my aesthetic senses, I levelled the tube’s top, re-secured and cleaned its brass collar and re-varnished the bamboo. This unique case is now in perfect condition.

The accompanying pictures illustrate how delightful it is. The characterful patina of use on the bamboo is preserved beneath its new varnish finish.

Specification.

Tonkin bamboo with its nodal diaphragm left intact to form a natural base.

Brass collar to reinforce the opening.

Hand turned pine lid with a cork stopper.

Personalised Indian ink inscription.

Tube and lid hand finished with marine grade varnish.