The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Troutnut,

Great response, I asked the question and you provided some great examples.
As always, it "pays" to be an informed consumer. Thanks for shedding some light on the subject for me.
I have not yet immersed myself into the Fly tying aspect of the sport soI have no frame of reference.
You are absolutely right with the private lable aspect. And clothes, well yes, the profit margin is huge depending on where you have these manufactured. When I was in Sri Lanka a few years back I was able to buy fishing shirts (sell here for upwards of $70+) for just $3.50 USD. Bought all I could to give to friends and family.

Anyway, Orivs has earned their business good or bad at this point.
I own an Orvis rod and have to say that when I broke it Orvis honored their warranty and replaced the rod with the current version.

I own a pair of Orvis light weight (Freestone) waders. They were defective (leaking stockingfoot) and I returned them with no problems or issues..

These items were reasonably (even competitively) priced items and I think the service was good when I needed it. Of course these two data points are not a rousing endorsement. I just wanted to point these out as a counterpoint even though I tend to agree with your points without being as critical (almost sounded like you have an axe to grind with Orvis.) as your post was.

Anyway, Tightlines to you,

Fred