Buying store brand camping/fishing gear??

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

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Dec 25, 2001
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I have a small wishlist of camping and fishing gear that I want to buy once my rebate check arrives. Stuff like sleeping bags, a new rod/reel and some misc. camping items.

I've bought store brand stuff from both Cabelas and BassPro. I prefer Cabelas, but I had seen that BP has store brand sleeping bags at a good price, too.

I've bought both Cabelas and BP reels and rods with mixed success. Its only brand name reels from here on, but the rods can be store brand.

Have you any opinion on this?

Thanks!!

steve
 
I usually try to do some digging and find out who's making it for them. (Say "x" is making a riflescope for "y") Then compare x and y. Sometimes you find that two certain models are the exact same thing with different stickers.


Usually if I can't discover who they've outsourced to I either keep shopping or keep saving to get a name brand.



Archery and Musical instruments are good examples of this. Alvarez and Yairi guitars, Fender and Squire, Martin and Oscar Schmidt, Bowtech and Diamond, Mathews and Mission. Granted, a lot of "connections" aren't as well known as those. What's more, I couldn't tell the difference between 07 Diamonds and 06 Bowtechs, top-end Alvarez and basic Yairi....but the best Squires I've played still don't equal the entry-level Fenders.
 
Well, as far as fishing reels go... Quantum make a lot for BassPro and Daiwa makes a lot for cabelas.

You're right... the store brand stuff is outsourced. Cabelas doesn't have a secret factory tucked away in the mountains just to make rods, reels, sleeping bags, etc.

steve
 
Even after you figure out who made it you still have to compare to "the same thing" with the maker's name on it. It often isn't the same thing. The differences may or may not be important to you....

See, the way big chain stores work is they tell the shotgun manufacturers for instance, if you can produce a pump shotgun for $xx.xx we'll take 100,000 of them. Then it's up to the manufacturer to find a way to make it that will allow them a profit at that price. Cheaper wood, plastic trigger guard instead of steel, rougher finish on the metal, whatever it takes. That's been going on since the 19th century, by the way -- there's nothing new about it. A gun that says Sears & Roebuck on it may have been made by Winchester, but it is not the same as a gun that says Winchester on it.
 
Buy once, cry once.

Buy yourself a Lamiglas rod (they have cheaper rods than you think) and a good Shimano reel. You'll never, ever, need a new one unless you stuff it up the backside of an alligator or drop it in the ocean. Come to think of it, I know a few people who've been fishing for halibut and "caught" a good rod and reel from the bottom that was better than they had in the first place, and fish with it till this day. Don't know about the alligators though.
 
i have found the cabelas "brand" items to be of the same quality as the manufacturer marked items.

i have cabelas (danner) boots, and look and feel identical to the regular danners. i bought them because of the price and color, not because i was looking for a cabelas brand boot. i own several other pairs of danners, and cant tell the difference.
 
All I can add, is that REI house brand stuff is pretty decent. That wasn't asked, though.
 
House brand stuff is mainly a reflection of the company that sells it. Cabela's, Basspro, REI are going to brand a product of much better quality than Walmart's "Ozark Trail".
 
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