Orvis Rods

[Kinghookjaw]

Heard from a good friend and flyfishing author, Dave Wolf, that Orvis is apparently going to stop manufacturing fly rods in the near future, due to lack of sales. I trust his info, but was curious if any of you guys had heard anything bout this, and if so, could shed some light on it. I hope to get some more info from him in a couple days, so I will let ya guys know. Just figured I would pass along the heads-up incase some of you wanted to make the most of some warranties.... i know i need to get my broken rod shipped out soon.

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[Willy]

No way. That is a bunch of bull. I worked at Orvis Corporate Headquarters this summer, they were ramping up production of the Zero G's and they put a lot of money into them. There are always rumors of Orvis being sold and other things like this, not happening.

[fish-off]

For whatever its worth, I recently heard that they are soon to move their manufacturing operation to China.:(

[Willy]

The truth is that some stuff has moved to China, some hasn't. It's a questionable move, given Orvis' reputation for both quality American and English made products. I know all of the top and middle line rods are made in the US at the rod shop in Vermont. I'm not sure on all of the other stuff, but everything goes through Quality Assurance before it ships to customers. Working there really opened up my eyes to a lot of things, it was cool to see how the business is run. It's a very difficult industry, and the fact that Orvis is surviving is a succes in itself. It's a big gamble to make changes, and it will be interesting to see how customers react. As far as I'm concerned, if they keep putting out quality products I'll buy and use them. But if that changes, then my money will go elsewhere.

[Grizzly Chicken]

I was very surprized when I bought the Mid-Arbor reel this spring to see,
"Made in Korea" printed on it. :eek: Heard rumor from my local fly shop
that Orvis has shut down all reel making from England and moved it to
Korea. Can anyone confirm this rumor? :confused:

[gebbyfish]

When I fished with George O'Brien this salmon seasons, he told me he would be fishing Billy Pate reels in the future, because the Orvis Battenkill Large Arbor production was moving to China in the future. Up to that point I had planned on that reel being my next purchase. Instead, I bought the Bauer M4 Superlite and love it. Made in America to boot. Matched it with a Lefty Kreh, TFO rod, and while I love that as well, when it came saw the Made in Korea mark, and was a little disappointed that I hadn't done a little more research on that purchase. Anyone know and can post a list of "American Made" rods and reels? After making a conscious effort not to buy made in china, I feel like a bit of a hypocrite with the rod.

[Anglers' Den]

There is no truth in the rumor that Orvis will stop producing rods all together. Most Orvis rods are made in the USA with the exception of the Frequent Flyer series, Streamline and Clearwater series. All of Orvis reels with the exception of the Vortex(USA) are made in Korea. The reels were produced in England by British fly reels. Orvis first and foremost is a clothing company and there fly fishing products are secondary. All of Orvis waders are made in asia as well including everybody else including Simms who claims they are still made in the USA,,they used to not any more.
The fly fishing industry is going through growing pains with an alarming amount of flyshops closing or selling their business. Orvis has lost between 60-70 flyshops within the last year and more are still going out. Big box stores, internet, weather, economy and a older generation of customers are why the industry is shrinking.
Support your local fly shop or tackle shop, you will not get the service or knowledge from the big box stores (Gander Mountain, Cabelas, Bass Pro, Orvis Corporate stores etc.) for the most part you will find that the guy behind the counter is a bass master, bowhunter, etc. and does not have the knowledge of the local fishery in the area, can't cast, knows two knots, what is a floating line? ETC.
With saying that there are a few exceptions to everything and that is not the case for all big box stores. Look how many business are closing or are for sale in pulaski and altmar,, do you think this is because of the fishing or the amount of big box stores in the area?
Buy USA more and more rod companies are outsourcing and that is also hurting the economy and you as the consumer. I beleive the only rod companies that are still made 100% in the USA are Scott, Sage, G Loomis and Thomas & Thomas. Thomas & Thomas and Abel were just bought by Sharpes Of Aberdeen of the UK. Sharpes is notorious for outsourcing products and appealing to a low to mid income demographic, How long before they outsource Abel and T&T.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHOPS OR SOON THEY WILL BE GONE

[Anglers' Den]

Here is some reel MFG. made in the USA. Ross, Tibor, Abel, Bauer, Galvan, Gilmor.. There are more but these are the important ones.

[Ditchrat]

For whatever its worth, I recently heard that they are soon to move their manufacturing operation to China.:(

Thats right, half their rods are cheap, imported crap, build a rod and pay somebody 15 cents and hour what do you expect. The other half cost twice what they are worth, and fish half as good as they should. Soon 100% of the rods will be imports


SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHOPS OR SOON THEY WILL BE GONE

Thats fine by me, but on the flip side of it. And premptivitly I saying this is not derected to Anglers Den, because I have never had any dealings with them. Fly shops need to stop selling people those piece of garbage rods and reels, that we all know cast great in the parking lot, but fish like sh1t. The customer service suck from most large companies, which means the local shops cant give you any better service then the dealers give to them, but cabelas goes out of their way to accomadate the customer. Until small shops ramp up their customer service, I'll stick to buying all my large ticket items from them, and save the little odds and ends to the local shops

[Bunker Breath]

Thats fine by me, but on the flip side of it. And premptivitly I saying this is not derected to Anglers Den, because I have never had and dealings with them. Fly shops need to stop selling people those piece of garbage rods and reels, that we all know cast great in the parking lot, but fish like sh1t. The customer service suck from most large companies, which means the local shops cant give you any better service then the dealers give to them, but cabelas goes out of their way to accomadate the customer. Until small shops ramp up their customer service, I'll stick to buying all my large ticket items from them, and save the little odds and ends to the local shops

I have had simillar situations where a local shop wouldn't handle the warranty issues for me and I had to do it with the manufactuer all on my own. Conversly, I've had some local shops go beyond the warranty to help me. I think it is merely a matter of finding a quality shop that cares about repeat business and deal with them. Sure I paid a little more for a Penn International 50W through the smaller shop but when they handled my "out of warranty" problems free of charge it saved me both the headache and money in the end. The shops that don't pull their own weight won't be around too long anyway. Find a good shop with in house experts and make some friends there:)

[ecsteelheader]

Orvis should stop making rods...[B]SAGE RULES!!!, I switched from Orvis to Sage 5 years ago and what a difference. Orvis products are very overated and over priced..Just my opinion and a few of my buddies>))>

[envoy]

I live in Montreal and the orvis shop in Montreal is top notch.I had problems with my waders last year,they lend me a pair till i got mine back.When i broke my rod 3 years ago, they lend me a rod.No one can get a better servive from the local fly shops and the orvis warranty is the one of the best around,just my opinion.

[gman2153]

It's a very difficult industry, and the fact that Orvis is surviving is a succes in itself. It's a big gamble to make changes, and it will be interesting to see how customers react. As far as I'm concerned, if they keep putting out quality products I'll buy and use them. But if that changes, then my money will go elsewhere.

Unfortunately, companies today are being forced to outsource production offshore in order to stay competitive...

for example, St Croix has moved some of their rod production overseas - some of their lower and mid-range priced series of products. Their Avid series continues to be produced in Wisconsin.

Like Willy stated, it is cold reality in today's global economy and as long as quality is kept up, there should be no problem...

If we, the customers, were willing to pay premium prices to support American made products on US soil, things would be different. Don't blame the company for trying to survive in a cut-throat pricing environment in which they operate today.

[Stonefly]

I heard a rumor during the summer that Orvis was going to start selling Simms waders along with there own in 2006.. Lets see if thats true.

[Anglers' Den]

Orvis corporate stores have been selling Simms waders since the fall 0f 2004.