Rigged & Ready X Series X Ultimate Review: one rod to throw in the car and forget about (in a good way… mostly)

I took the Rigged & Ready X Series X Ultimate out as my “do-it-all” rod for a few weeks. I wanted something I could just leave in the car or backpack and use for whatever: quick perch session on the canal, chucking lures at bass on holiday, or even a bit of fly fishing when the mood hits. On paper this thing is pretty wild: one rod, tons of sections and tips, spinning, baitcast and fly in one setup. The question is: does it actually fish well, or is it just a gimmick you play with once and then forget?

First impression: it’s a very compact kit. The case is short enough to go in a cabin suitcase or a bigger backpack without sticking out. Inside, you get a lot of bits – tips, sections, handles – so it feels more like a Lego project than a normal rod at first. That’s both fun and a bit confusing. I had to sit down and actually lay everything out on the floor to understand what was what.

I mainly used it for spinning with small to medium lures (10–25 g), a bit of bait fishing for coarse fish, and some quick and dirty fly casting with a #5 line. I didn’t baby it: it got thrown in the boot, in a rucksack, and even in a suitcase on a short flight. So my opinion is based more on “real life abuse” than careful, gentle use. I wanted to see if it holds up as a proper travel tool, not as a collector’s toy.

Overall, it’s not perfect, but it’s also not a toy. It actually fishes. Some parts feel a bit plasticky, and there’s a learning curve with all the combinations. But if you like the idea of always having a rod with you and you’re willing to compromise a bit on feel and simplicity, it’s pretty solid. If you’re super picky about rod action and balance, you might get annoyed by some of its quirks.

Price-wise, this sits above the cheap telescopic travel rods but below high-end multi-piece rods from big brands. For the money, you’re basically paying for versatility and compactness more than pure fishing performance. If you compare it to buying three or four separate rods (spinning, feeder, fly, baitcast), it starts to look like decent value, especially if you don’t have much storage space at home or you travel a lot. One hard case, one kit, and you’re covered for most casual fishing situations.

Compared to cheap telescopic rods, this feels like a clear step up. The multi-piece design gives better sensitivity and reliability than most telescopics I’ve used. You don’t get that spongy, wobbly feeling as much, and the action is more predictable. That said, if you only ever spin for perch and pike, a single decent 2-piece spinning rod at the same price will feel nicer in the hand and cast better. So it depends how much you value the all-in-one aspect versus pure performance in one technique.

The Amazon rating around 4.1/5 matches my feeling: most people will be happy, but there are some quality control misses and some users will think the price is a bit high for the plastic feel in the handle. I agree that it’s not cheap, and if you get a badly assembled unit, it would feel like a rip-off. But if you get a good one, and you actually use the different setups (spin, coarse, occasional fly), the value is there.

I’d say: if you’re a casual angler who travels or someone who likes to always have a rod in the car “just in case”, the value is pretty good. If you’re a tackle nerd who already owns dedicated rods for everything and cares a lot about perfect rod feel, you’ll probably see it as a fun gadget rather than a smart financial move.

The design is clearly built around one idea: pack as much fishing flexibility into the smallest possible tube. Visually, it’s pretty low key: black/silver blank, EVA handle, camo case. Nothing flashy, which I like. It doesn’t scream “expensive rod” so you’re less paranoid on holiday or in sketchy car parks. The layout of the guides is decent, and the stainless-lined hybrid eyes look like they’ll handle braid and mono without cutting grooves.

The star of the design is the Switch & Flip handle system. You’ve got a balanced screw handle you can shorten, flip, or change to go from spinning to baitcasting. There’s a micro-trigger on the baitcast side, which is small but usable. When you’re in spinning mode, it feels like a compact spinning handle. Flip it, and you’ve got a basic baitcasting grip. In practice, it works, but don’t expect the exact same comfort as a dedicated baitcasting rod with a big ergonomic trigger. It’s more of a “good enough for travel” solution than a perfect specialist handle.

The interchangeable tips and sections are the other big design point. You can build different rod lengths and actions by mixing bits. This is where the design is both smart and slightly annoying. Smart because you really can tweak the setup for different styles. Annoying because you have to remember which tip and middle section go with what, and you’ll probably end up double-checking the manual or experimenting. Once I’d settled on 2–3 favourite builds, it got easier, but the first couple of sessions felt like I was assembling IKEA furniture on the bank.

Balance-wise, with a medium-sized 2500–3000 spinning reel, the 8' and 9' builds feel okay – not perfect, but not tip-heavy to the point of being painful. The 7'3" build feels the nicest for lure work in my hands. For baitcasting, it’s usable but a bit more awkward; you can feel that the rod isn’t originally designed as a pure baitcast blank. Overall, the design is clever and practical, but you need a bit of patience to really get used to how everything fits together.

The rod uses a mix of SRF carbon, high-glass, zylon, graphite, and PBO fibre, which is a fancy way of saying it’s a composite blank aiming for a mix of strength and sensitivity. On the water, it feels like a medium action rod with a bit of backbone and a fairly forgiving tip. It’s not as crisp as a high-end single-piece carbon rod, but for a multi-section travel rod with 11 sections and 4 tips, it’s honestly not bad. You do feel a bit of deadness compared to a good 2-piece spinning rod, but that’s to be expected.

The eyes are stainless-lined hybrids, so they should cope fine with braid and saltwater if you rinse them after use. They don’t look cheap, and the wraps are clean. The joints are well finished, and I didn’t get any creaking or obvious wobble, even when casting heavier lures around 30–35 g. I wouldn’t push it to the absolute 40 g limit all the time, but for real-world fishing up to about 30 g it feels safe enough.

Where the materials feel a bit cheaper is the handle and some plastic parts. The EVA grip is fine – standard travel rod stuff – but some of the plastic around the reel seat and flip/switch mechanism has that slightly toy-like feel. It doesn’t mean it’s going to break instantly, but it doesn’t give the same confidence as a solid Fuji seat on a mid-range rod. One user mentioned the handle being put on backwards and missing a clip, which is more of a quality control issue, but it matches the general feeling that the handle system is the weakest part of the build.

Weight-wise, at around 1.37 lb for the whole package, individual setups don’t feel overly heavy. You can fish a full session without your arm falling off. For a rod that packs this small and offers this many options, the materials are pretty solid, but if you’re used to £200+ rods, you’ll definitely notice the difference in refinement. I’d sum it up as: blank and guides feel trustworthy, handle and plastic bits feel a bit cheap but workable.

In terms of durability, I treated this thing like a travel tool, not a trophy. It lived in the boot of the car, got thrown in a backpack with other gear, and went through a short flight in checked luggage inside a suitcase. The Cordura case does a good job – it’s stiff enough to protect the sections from normal knocks, and the zip held up fine. The soft rod bag with the fish measure is more of a bonus, but it keeps the sections from clanking together inside the case.

The joints didn’t loosen during sessions, which was one of my main concerns with an 11-section rod. I just made a habit of checking them every now and then, like you would with any multi-piece rod. After several trips and a few fish, I didn’t notice any cracks, splintering, or weird noises. The guides stayed straight, and the wraps didn’t show signs of lifting. From that side, it feels reliable enough for regular use, not just once-a-year holidays.

The weak point for long-term durability is again the handle and plastic mechanisms. They worked for me, but I can see how a badly assembled unit (like the review mentioning a backward handle and missing clip) could cause problems and affect casting. The plastic doesn’t feel like it would enjoy being dropped hard on rocks or stepped on. This is the part I’d try to treat with a bit of care. The 2-year manufacturer warranty is reassuring, but you still don’t want to deal with returns in the middle of a trip.

Overall, for a rod made in China with this many moving parts, I’d call the durability pretty solid for normal use. It’s not bombproof, but if you don’t abuse it like a crowbar and you seat the joints properly, it should hold up. I wouldn’t hesitate to take it as my main travel rod, but I’d still pack a bit of common sense and not slam car doors on it or use it as a wading staff.

Performance-wise, I looked at it as a travel compromise rod, not something to replace all my dedicated setups at home. For spinning with 10–25 g lures (soft plastics, small spoons, spinners), it performs pretty well. The medium action has enough backbone to set hooks on pike and zander, and the tip is sensitive enough that you can feel basic bottom contact and bites. It’s not ultra-fast, but it’s responsive enough for general lure fishing. Casting distance is decent, especially on the 8' and 9' builds, though not as punchy as a proper 2-piece lure rod.

For float and light feeder fishing, it does the job. I used it with a small waggler for coarse fish and a light feeder for carp up to about 10–12 lb. The rod bends nicely, and I never felt on the edge of breaking it. They say you can fish up to 20 lb / 9 kg fish; I haven’t hooked anything that size on it, but based on the power curve I can believe it, as long as you don’t bully the fish like crazy. The medium action actually helps protect lighter lines, which is handy when travelling with limited gear.

The fly rod mode is honestly more of a backup than a main setup. With a #5 line, you can definitely cast and fish, but it doesn’t feel as clean or smooth as a dedicated 4-piece fly rod. The action is a bit too general-purpose, and you feel the multiple joints. For quick holiday trout or small river sessions, it’s acceptable, but I wouldn’t buy this if my main goal was fly fishing. Think of it as “nice to have” rather than “reason to buy”.

Baitcasting performance is okay but not perfect. The flip handle with micro-trigger works, but the blank still feels more like a spinning rod adapted for baitcasting than the other way around. You can throw medium lures on a low-profile baitcaster, but accuracy and comfort are better in spinning mode. In short: spinning and general coarse work = good, fly and baitcast = workable backups. For a rod that tries to cover 25+ techniques, that’s honestly not bad, but don’t expect it to beat your favourite specialist rod in each category.

The X Ultimate is basically a compact case full of sections that you can assemble into different rods. Officially it’s “1 rod, 7 tips, 3 handles, 25+ techniques”. In the box you get: a camo Cordura-style hard case, a soft rod bag with a printed fish measure, multiple rod sections, several different tips, and a handle system that can be switched and flipped to go from spinning to baitcasting and also used with the fly setup. It’s a bit much at first, but once you understand the logic, it makes sense.

The case itself is roughly 49 cm long, which is short enough to go inside most suitcases or hiking packs. Inside, the sections are about 40.5 cm long. That’s genuinely handy if you travel by plane, motorbike, or don’t want a long rod tube sticking out. The sections are labelled and the joints are hand finished, which you can see: they fit together fairly snugly without too much play. You do need to push and twist them firmly to seat them well, like any multi-piece rod.

The rod can be built at different lengths – around 7'3", 8', and 9' – and with different casting weights, plus a #5 fly rod configuration. That means you can go from lightish spinning for perch and trout to a heavier setup for pike, zander or carp feeder fishing, and then switch again to fly if you want. In practice, you’ll probably end up with 2–3 favourite builds rather than constantly changing everything, but the options are there.

On the downside, because there are so many parts, it’s easier for something to be slightly off. I’ve seen at least one buyer complain about a backward handle and a tip that didn’t fit. My own kit didn’t have that problem, but I can see how quality control could be hit-and-miss with this many components. Still, as a concept, it’s a clever all-in-one travel solution that actually feels thought through rather than random.