[Capn' Jack Sparrow]

Hello again !!!!

Since this happened and after doing a little research I have discovered that the Orvis reels are made in the same plant as the Pflueger and some of the Reddington reels. The mid arbor Battenkill is the same as the Pflueger Trion. The Battenkill large arbor is the same as the Pflueger President and I'm not sure of the models of Reddington. I have verified this three times. I was in Sportsmans warehouse yesterday and mentioned it to the reel guy and he pulled out the Trion and a Reddington and they were the almost the exact same except for the holes machined out to lighten the reels the drags are the exact same thing. The reel guy said he had the mid arbor battenkill and it was the same as the Plueger and Reddington. I then went to another dealer and they said the exact same thing. I have been thinking about contacting another manager at Orvis, but have been put off on them bigtime.
I'll let you know if I do.

Later
Capn' Jack Sparrow

[Colorado Cajun]

Originally Posted by Capn' Jack Sparrow

Hello again !!!!

Since this happened and after doing a little research I have discovered that the Orvis reels are made in the same plant as the Pflueger and some of the Reddington reels. The mid arbor Battenkill is the same as the Pflueger Trion. The Battenkill large arbor is the same as the Pflueger President and I'm not sure of the models of Reddington. I have verified this three times. I was in Sportsmans warehouse yesterday and mentioned it to the reel guy and he pulled out the Trion and a Reddington and they were the almost the exact same except for the holes machined out to lighten the reels the drags are the exact same thing. The reel guy said he had the mid arbor battenkill and it was the same as the Plueger and Reddington. I then went to another dealer and they said the exact same thing. I have been thinking about contacting another manager at Orvis, but have been put off on them bigtime.
I'll let you know if I do.



Later
Capn' Jack Sparrow

I have a Mid arbor battenkill and I also have a Trion. They are definitly not the same real. You can flip through cabela's catalog and tell which ones are made by the same company because they look the same.

[troutbum]

I used to be a die hard Orvis customer,the unconditional warranty and their nicely priced silver label line sold me on them,then when I started trying to order directly from them,the run around was the worst I had ever seen,I have now sold all my Orvis gear (including T-shirts)lol.I have had my hopes dashed at least 5 times in the last 10 years due to "glitches"and "typo's" from them.I have also had simular bad experiences LL Bean and of course sage.My advise is to move on to T&T or Winston or St.croix.
Just my 2 cent's
Aaron

[onthefly]

I know this has nothing to do with orvis, but I ordered a new CabelaS SLA reel and when it came in I realized it looked almost exacly the same as a reel I already own, a Gander Mountain Cutthroat reel. The Spools are cut a little differently but everything else is the same, all the way down to the parts list. The biggest difference I found was the price, the SLA sells for $175 and the Cutthroat sells for $100. So if your interested in the SLA its worth taking a look at Gander first.

[Joni]

Originally Posted by Colorado Cajun

I have a Mid arbor battenkill and I also have a Trion. They are definitly not the same real. You can flip through cabela's catalog and tell which ones are made by the same company because they look the same.

While Orvis use to own Reddington, I can understand if those reels are very similar, however, I do deal with Orvis on a regular bases, I can say, Pflueger does not nor have they ever built Orvis reels. I had people bring the Pfluegers into the store to spool them and they were not the same.
Just my two cents worth.

[Joni]

Correction, Pflueger made ONE inexpensive reel several years ago for Orvis. Sorry, for got about that one.

[Capn' Jack Sparrow]

Hey !!!

Nope Pflueger does not make Orvis, I was told that Orvis, Reddington and Pflueger are made by the same foreign contractor. The ones I have seem are all cut differently but in the few minutes I looked at them the drags looked awful similar. But I am going off of what four dealers and two guides have shown and told me. This is also on several other forums right now. But I personally am going to try the Pfluegers.

Later maties!!!!

Capn' Jack Sparrow

[BigCliff]

One more interesting tidbit: Bass Pro Shops owns Pfleuger, as well as Sportsman's Warehouse. When I was working for Bass Pro I noticed that the Bass Pro branded reels looked an AWFUL lot like the Pfleuger stuff. The few times I've been in a Sportsman's Warehouse I've noticed they don't have any Bass Pro branded gear, but have plenty of Pflueger stuff. It's entirely possible that all of their reels are made in the same factory in China as Orvis, Leeda, Okuma, and many others are.

When I had a phone interview with Bass Pro right before graduating college, I was told that if they have a store built for them, it will be generally be called a Bass Pro Outdoor World store. If they're taking over an existing building, it will become a Sportsman's Warehouse.

If ya don't like the fact that a few companies dominate the tackle industry, buy stuff from somebody else.

[Colorado Cajun]

Sportsman's Ware house needs to work on their customer service. I had bought a cooking thermometer from them and burnt 2 gallons of peanut out because it was defected. They wouldn't even exchange it because I didn't have the recipt. The manager looked at me funny when I told him they just lost a customer over a $10.00 thermometer and walked out. I'll sometimes buy tieing material there because they are cheap and have some cool stuff but I don't buy anything else from them. I'll spend 30 - 40% more and order it from Cabelas because I know Cabelas honors what they sell and provide good customer service.

[Joni]

Hey, well speaking of Orvis. We had a customer come in from Montana complaining his patio furniture was falling apart. Corp. told us to refund, so the gentleman brought the furniture in the store. This was WOOD furniture and the man said he left it outside all year....MONTANA! DUH!
We honored him and refunded.
Another customer brought in a denim wool lined shirt that the button holes wear all stretched out and there was even a hole in the front. Orvis replaced it, no charge.
So, if they screw up once in a while, just remember how far they will go to make the customer happy.