I got caught up in the hype around Fishpond nets due to their glowing reviews, especially about being lightweight. My current net has a fine mesh that often snags hooks, so I needed a replacement.
I chose the $200 River Armor Mid Length net with a carbon fiber/kevlar body and a rubber net. It weighs 453 grams, and while it’s sturdy enough to use as a wading staff, my immediate impression was that it felt heavier than expected.
So I compared it to my cheaper, made-in-Chyna telescopic folding net, it's the one that's sold by hundreds of different brands but they're probably all made in the same factory.
I never knew the weight of this but I double checked with my kitchen scale, it came out to 419 grams. That's lighter than the Fishpond one.
And it's also 15 centimeters longer and telescoping so it's easier to pack. Another difference is that the cheap net uses a rubber coated net instead of pure rubber. And it's obviously not as sturdy as the Fishpond either, but it’s been used to catch at least 200-300 trout and still going as strong as the day i bought it.
I don't know what else to say, I will keep the Fishpond net, I do like it, and I really like the wide diameter mesh which isn't going to get tangled as easily on my hooks. But in terms of the actual performance for catching trout? The cheap one is lighter and just as good, if not even better because it's 15 centimeters longer.
So the only real improvement is the basket itself.