the dying breed of US made rods

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ShimanoFan
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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by ShimanoFan » Sat Dec 22, 2018 5:20 pm

hoohoorjoo wrote: I wasnt aware. That's disappointing, since thy are reintroducing the Expert series this year.


I just checked the Falcon website. If you click on the link for a Cara rod you can clearly see the made in USA round blue sticker or badge they use to advertise it being made in America.

I do not see this on the page for the Expert rod. Not one mention of made in USA there.

What Falcon has been doing is switching a series of rods formerly made in USA over to a made in China rod, and then telling us Americans the new rods will be discounted slightly cheaper than the previous made in USA rod.

They are counting on their tiny drop in price to be an incentive for all of us to keep buying our favorite Falcon rods and to never mind and not even think about the new made in China quality or increased profit margin the executives of Falcon are now patting themselves on the backs for while their labor force is getting cut like all others are doing.

How is it a good thing to put us American workers out of jobs, and then count on us to keep paying artificially inflated prices for a cheaper product is beyond me!
Why is there a concerted effort of hate? And why is it allowed?

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by falcon » Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:51 pm

Falcon expert has a big made in China sticker on it. Also they got rid of alconite guides for fazlite guides. Bad business move if you ask me.
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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:57 pm

falcon wrote:Falcon expert has a big made in China sticker on it. Also they got rid of alconite guides for fazlite guides. Bad business move if you ask me.
I suspected as much, since the original Experts were flagship rods, above the Cara line in quality, performance and price. AT $200, the new Expert rods are actually lower-priced than the current Cara lineup. A sad day, indeed. Falcon was one of the few rod companies whose products I would actually still own that have cork grips, and I dont even care for cork.
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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by Hogsticker2 » Sat Dec 22, 2018 7:38 pm

Doesn't Hammer rods roll their own blanks and assemble them here? Aside from the components which most aren't manufactured in the States. This is why I asked what constitutes an American made rod. Does just being assembled here count, because chances are, something on that rod was made elsewhere. I won't dive into this topic too much further. I, as everyone else has our opinions. Fish what elevates your passion and enjoyment. For me, that's Point Blank. I could care less where it's manufactured, as with most other material goods. Not much of a choice anymore really. I believe ALX may be another 100% made and built rod company, but I could be wrong.

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by Heddonfrog » Sun Dec 23, 2018 9:18 am

pharmboy2010 wrote:
easybassin wrote:American made products built with quality and precision, by the hands of many skilled craftsmen and quality checked by the eyes of experience. Products that were and still are coveted by many anglers outsourced by mass manufacturing in china and the ever so popular and right fully so JDM market.
I still love american made. St Croix, dobyns and a few others that still build beautifully made rods that are a dying breed. I wonder if the anglers in japan like American made as much as we like japan made? The popularity of the quality made products in the USDM, are they any match for JDM? How much longer can great company's in the US survive in an ever growing competive market.I still love American made I believe them to be the best when it comes to rod building. Now reels that's a different story the engineering Japan is far superior. As for the Rods I continue to buy and love, it will still be USDM for me, at least...
Just a friendly heads up, Dobyns rods are made in Korea.
My Xtasy came with a sticker on the handle “made with pride in China by Johnny Chan” jk but it is made in China not Korea.

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by poisonokie » Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:10 pm

For BFS, there's no USDM alternative. They don't sell the reels here, so why make the rods? I do really like St. Croix, even though I don't own any of their bass rods. I will before long. There's a Legend Tournament or two calling my name. IF I don't get another MS-X before they disappear...
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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by Johnny A » Mon Dec 24, 2018 7:45 am

hoohoorjoo wrote:Falcon is another one that comes to mind. With the exception of their entry level rods, they are built here in the States. Their blanks are rolled in Oklahoma (by CUI Composites, iirc). But then you get into Fuji reel seats and guides, which are obviously made elsewhere, much the same as with St. Croix and G. Loomis. No one actually makes those components here anymore. Batson is a US-based rod components company, but even their parts are made offshore, mostly in China and Korea.
I still have the invoice from my first Megabass rod, without going through my files, it was 2004 or 2005. I bought a Falcon at the same time. Received the MB about 2 days before the Falcon. I gave the Falcon the once over and returned it, keeping the MB.
I would purchase Falcon rods or St. Croix once in a while until MB designed and released rod addressing the tactic I needed. I don't buy Falcons anymore.

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by Johnny A » Mon Dec 24, 2018 7:46 am

Johnny A wrote:
hoohoorjoo wrote:Falcon is another one that comes to mind. With the exception of their entry level rods, they are built here in the States. Their blanks are rolled in Oklahoma (by CUI Composites, iirc). But then you get into Fuji reel seats and guides, which are obviously made elsewhere, much the same as with St. Croix and G. Loomis. No one actually makes those components here anymore. Batson is a US-based rod components company, but even their parts are made offshore, mostly in China and Korea.
I still have the invoice from my first Megabass rod, without going through my files, it was 2004 or 2005. ...

Looked through my files, it was 2002.

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by Tokugawa » Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:37 pm

hoohoorjoo wrote:Lamiglas is still rolling most of their blanks in Washington, which is why I own 4 Lamiglas customs. Their Infinity blanks are on par with anything out there imho, and the XP Bass blank is an excellent series, as well. The sensitivity on the Infinity blanks is amazing to me; every blade of grass, every pebble, every bottom composition change is very noticeable. I don't care for their factory-built rods, but the blanks are excellent.
I am with you on this. I have several Lami XMG50 customs that are my favorites. Didn't fish the Infinity blanks. I wish they were more active in the bass market with competitive factory rods.

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by jmd_143 » Wed Jan 02, 2019 6:16 am

I love my old Falcon Cara's... I really hope they do not outsouce these like the Expert and Lowrider series..

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by Montanaro » Sat Jan 05, 2019 8:18 am

ALX

Dont have any but wish to transition over to in future

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by nd1225 » Mon Jan 14, 2019 9:24 am

Kistler is 100% made in the USA, one of the reasons I use them.

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by slipperybob » Wed Jan 16, 2019 3:17 pm

Hobie-Wan Kenobi wrote:Many of us on TackleTour look for performance and also the mystique of products. Most US advertising for products talk about how much lone the reel holds or how a rod is unbreakable. Nothing truly about performance.

I used to work at Gander Mountain a few years ago. This guy asked me about a walleye jig rod. The Gen1 Omen rods were on clearance for a really nice price (like 70% off). As I was discussing the rod and how it is a steal at that price, he turns toward the Ugly Stix and gave it a wiggle. He tries to convince me it would be a better jig rod. Both rods were at the same price, the Omen may have been slightly cheaper. I went through the whole customer service process and kept professional, discussing the pros and cons of each rod. He then asked me if I get a commission off selling certain rods. I told him "I get paid the same whether I sell whole store or nothing." When he told me he has been fishing longer than Ive been alive and I dont know...stuff. I kindly asked him if he plays any sports. He proudly stated he played basketball and has been for 35 years. I told him he must he bettee than LeBron James then. A light went off in his head and he looked at the Omen one last time.

He went with the Ugly Stix saying "my friend has some and he loves them". I then asked him if his friend also plays basketball.

Customers like this drive the US market. Im not saying St Croix or other companies are defined by the above or arent quality. Companies including Daiwa and Shimano are going to advertise to the people of a specific market. Just saying a far larger percentage of US anglers arent as educated about tackle than other markets like Japan. Those of us that are, look to Japan for a lot of info about products.
I was having this open discussion about ice fishing rods, more so about the new St Croix Customs Ice rods. Of course one competitor blogged about tubular rods are bad and will break, no matter what material. As the discussion I pointed out, Ugly Sticks are tubular, made with glass and graphite, they don't break. Carbon arrow shafts are tubular, they don't break. Whatever the conversation went, somehow I'm suddenly the bad guy for being ill informed. Somehow said blog was to be taken at full face value, even though it was all marketing sell point with very little fact to support with current technology. That is what the market is driven by these consumers who have tunnel vision in purchases and marketing is targeted towards them.

So anyway St. Croix Custom Ice rods...majority don't come with reel seats nor in any baitcasting versions...again consumer marketing. Your target customer is too narrow...
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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by WannaGoFishing » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:36 pm

Some of it has to do with a choice that US companies make by manufacturing overseas to reduce cost and increase profits. I understand when it comes to lower priced rods where the margins are smaller. But take the new Dobyns Xtasy as an example. Charge $549 and it’s made in China or Korea??

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Re: the dying breed of US made rods

Post by 78Staff » Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:36 pm

WannaGoFishing wrote:Some of it has to do with a choice that US companies make by manufacturing overseas to reduce cost and increase profits. I understand when it comes to lower priced rods where the margins are smaller. But take the new Dobyns Xtasy as an example. Charge $549 and it’s made in China or Korea??
Actually, this is the trigger that made me finally jump from Dobyns to NRX. I just could not wrap my head around spending that kind of money for a offshore rod. I'm sure it's a fine rod, it's getting good reviews, but last year I decided it was time to make a change. I sold off all my Dobyns Extremes and XPs (I did keep a few Champion XP Crankbait rods however). Have replaced them across the board pretty much with the NRX line. The NRX are easily more sensitive than the Extremes, but the Dobyns balance better, for sure. Cork on the NRX is nicer, sometimes Dobyns even the Extremes did have some iffy cork, for the price. I also prefer the NRX reel seat, but that is subjective I suppose. I know early on the NRX's got dinged for detail issues like thread and epoxy and stuff, but I inspected each of mine and haven't really seen any issues - so maybe that is all in the past.

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