"news.cup.hp.com" wrote in
:
This past year, all my Weinbrenner wading boots (with and without
studs) finally gave out, so I've been looking for new boots. Problem
is, I'm hearing from fly shop owners and others that many of the boot
brands are now made over-seas, and the quality has dropped.
In the bigger scheme of things, it seems that more and more fly
fishing items have been caught up in the whole out-sourcing over-seas
make-it-cheap craze. Even warranty policies are being weakened to
compensate for the increasing number of defects and returns in fly
fishing products.
What the heck is happening? Are fly fishers representative of and
encouraging the out-sourcing make-it-cheap craze, or are fly fishers
in a position to push back.
At this point, I'm placing an online order for some US Made
Weinbrenner's:
http://www.wadingshoes.com/introduction/index.html
Thomas Gilg
There are still plenty of quality producers of fly fishing gear. I think
the problem with boots is that they're big and bulky and expensive to
stock and inventory, so fly shops pick their two or three favorite
brands, and stick with them. Most shops I've dealt with seem to stock
Simms. I don't know what country they are made in, but I haven't heard
of any quality complaints about Simms boots.
For boots, though, I'm pretty fussy, so I like dealing with LL Bean. You
don't like it, you send it back, even after using it a few times, no
questions. I haven't taken them up on that policy, but I have sent back
boots when I didn't like the fit.
Scott