Orvis Frequent Flyer vs Cabela's Stowaway

I would like to purchase a good 5wt backpackable rod and have been looking
at the Orvis Frequent Flyer and the Cabela Stowaway. Can anyone give me any
recommendation as to which is the best and also are there anyother small
packable rods that I should be considering.

"Tom" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I would like to purchase a good 5wt backpackable rod and have been looking
at the Orvis Frequent Flyer and the Cabela Stowaway. Can anyone give me
any
recommendation as to which is the best and also are there anyother small
packable rods that I should be considering.

Tom, this type question comes up all too often on this and other fly fishing
mediums. The Cabelas rod has come up frequently, some of us (myself
included) think they are crap, many more seem to love them and a few others
are ambivalent. I have never tried the Orvis Frequent Flyer so I can not
comment directly. For my tastes, and style the best rods to me are the long
discontinued T&T heritage series followed the Winston IM6/WT, while someone
else might pick a Sage/Loomis/Scott/Temple Fork series of rod.

There is no "best", the choice will depend upon your casting likes/dislikes,
wallet, and other subjective/objective factors. Only you can answer what is
best for you, and you can only do that by trying them out. There are a large
number of rods in all price ranges, the problem with Cabelas for most of the
US is you have to order them blind, even though you can return it almost no
questions asked, there is a hassle factor involved.

But since you asked, and if money is not an object, I like the Sage SLT
series of 5 piece rods.

"Wayne Knight" wrote in message ...
"Tom" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I would like to purchase a good 5wt backpackable rod and have been looking
at the Orvis Frequent Flyer and the Cabela Stowaway. Can anyone give me
any
recommendation as to which is the best and also are there anyother small
packable rods that I should be considering.

Tom, this type question comes up all too often on this and other fly fishing
mediums. The Cabelas rod has come up frequently, some of us (myself
included) think they are crap, many more seem to love them and a few others
are ambivalent. I have never tried the Orvis Frequent Flyer so I can not
comment directly. For my tastes, and style the best rods to me are the long
discontinued T&T heritage series followed the Winston IM6/WT, while someone
else might pick a Sage/Loomis/Scott/Temple Fork series of rod.

There is no "best", the choice will depend upon your casting likes/dislikes,
wallet, and other subjective/objective factors. Only you can answer what is
best for you, and you can only do that by trying them out. There are a large
number of rods in all price ranges, the problem with Cabelas for most of the
US is you have to order them blind, even though you can return it almost no
questions asked, there is a hassle factor involved.

But since you asked, and if money is not an object, I like the Sage SLT
series of 5 piece rods.


Don't know anything about the Orvis b ut as far as the Stowaways go,
I've owned a 5 pce. and a 7 pce. The Seven is a much better rod. I
never got over the chintzy feel of the 5 pce. The Seven is a serious
rod, spigot ferrules, cloth tube -- it's a good deal.

A few months back, one of the fly fishing magazines did a comparison on 5 wt
travel rods. The Cabelas stowaway won out as the best of the bunch. I have
several of them and they are nice casting rods, but not much on the fit and
finish. For me, they are my backup rods, but I do admit I enjoy them and
they cast very well for me anyway.

Chris

PS I am VERY impressed with the temple fork rods, nice fit and finish too
(IMHO).


Don't know anything about the Orvis b ut as far as the Stowaways go,
I've owned a 5 pce. and a 7 pce. The Seven is a much better rod. I
never got over the chintzy feel of the 5 pce. The Seven is a serious
rod, spigot ferrules, cloth tube -- it's a good deal.

"Padishar Creel" wrote in message
...
A few months back, one of the fly fishing magazines did a comparison on 5
wt
travel rods. The Cabelas stowaway won out as the best of the bunch. I
have
several of them and they are nice casting rods, but not much on the fit
and
finish. For me, they are my backup rods, but I do admit I enjoy them and
they cast very well for me anyway.

Chris

PS I am VERY impressed with the temple fork rods, nice fit and finish too
(IMHO).


5 wt seems a bit like an ugly stepsister sort of size for a backpack rod,
though... I figure if I'm packing it in, I'll probably encounter more tiny
streams, so I have a 5 piece 4 wt as my portable rod. Also, it looks to me
like multi-size reels tend to be split between 2-3-4 and 5-6-7 weights, so
if you carry a 5 wt rod, you're carrying a heavier/larger reel, weightier
line, larger flies, etc. I find my 4 wt is like a large 2-3 wt (duh) whereas
a 5 wt is more like a lighter 6-7 wt.

Does this make any sense?

--riverman

"Tom" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I would like to purchase a good 5wt backpackable rod and have been looking
at the Orvis Frequent Flyer and the Cabela Stowaway."

While I have no experience with the Orvis FF, I do own several 4pc. Orvis
rods. Excellent product, fairly priced when compared with the alternatives
(Silver Lable rods are about $325 average - mid priced) and they offer
outstanding customer service support. The one caveat is that turn-around on
rod repairs tends to run 6 or 7 weeks, so plan on owning a back up!

I own a Cabela's Stow-away 4wt. 7 foot rod. For under $100 it is really
quite a nice rod. Soft and slow, it won't win you any casting prizes. I
have found it is best for inside of 40 feet and small flies. I also like to
use a "pocket water" line with it - the quick taper tends to highlight the
loading of the rod at the close ranges I fish it. The Stow-away isn't the
prettiest rod out there, and many derate them as a KPOS. Be that as it may,
it is a functional fishing tool at a price point where there aren't many
other valid choices. If you can spend two or three times the price of the
Cabela's, you can easily get two or three times the quality. The question
is "will that help you catch two or three times the fish?"

My $0.02

Joe C.

Tom

I have a Cabelas 5 piece Stowaway in 6 weight and it's well worth the
price but then it didn't cost much.


Lou
"Tom" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I would like to purchase a good 5wt backpackable rod and have been looking
at the Orvis Frequent Flyer and the Cabela Stowaway. Can anyone give me
any
recommendation as to which is the best and also are there anyother small
packable rods that I should be considering.