Zach Matthews
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Guys –
I appreciate the intelligent discourse and the fact that no one has gotten offended, however, this thread just skirts too close to the political for this board.
Hey Chicky –
First of all, please have a look at the names policy on this board.
Now to your question. I have seen the rod breaking facility at Orvis and we did snap a rod. They do a variety of tests, including a lift-break test and a whipping-back-and-forth break test. Most of the latter apparently break when the ferrule unseats, so there’s something to ponder when stringing up.
It would be theoretically possible to make a rod that would not break under any form of normal use; in fact, it’s been done. The old Shakespeare Wonderrod was a fiberglass mid-1950s model that was advertised with a strongman bending it literally into a circle, tip touching butt. The problem with this design, and you can get a lot more info on this by listening to Jerry Siem’s podcast, is that the materials we use to make fly rods (fiberglass, graphite, and boron, as well as resins, in different proportions), get more brittle as they get faster.
David –
That was a Marshall Cutchin pick, I’m afraid, and he’s the one with the review copy. I only recall the product very vaguely, although I believe there’s a picture on the site. Generally speaking, LL Bean products are very high quality for their relative prices, because they do not attempt to support a dealer/fly shop network.
This is how most outdoor gear is priced. You can reverse engineer costs this way, too. Say a product is $100. Retail markup in high end outdoor product sales is usually between 40% and 60%. In fly fishing it’s often about 40%. So, the fly shop paid $60 for that $100 product. (The markup, while high, has obviously barely been enough to keep the shops in business). Now, if the “wholesale” on that product was $60, then that figure reflects the manufacturer’s profit as well. There’s a lot of variation in what profit the manufacturer makes, depending on the complexity of the product and the cost of manufacture, but let’s assume it’s again about 40% (that would be healthy but not exorbitant). Thus, the original equipment manufacturer’s price on that $100 product is about $36 (very loosely).
L.L. Bean uses the same quality controls on bags as everyone else (meaning, like almost everything else, most products are manufactured abroad to tight specs, but designed here in the states.
I use a physical filing cabinet, and can’t imagine having enough tying stuff to need a computer program to track it.
That is certainly an interesting tactic, Dan, and I imagine it has a good chance of being successful, especially in West Virginia.
Zach,
Interesting that you are looking too. I have been checking out the Big Agnes bags, specifically the ones with more room since I like to roll around at night (Lost Ranger, Encampment) but have not pulled the trigger yet. Anyone have any experience with these?
You should also keep an eye on Steep and Cheap http://www.steepandcheap.com/ there are often some great deals on bags.