I am in a unique position in the fly fishing world. I do get to know some of the internal workings of more than one company. The information becomes either private, proprietary, or just no ones darn business. My point is that I get to know stuff you don't. The good news is that it is almost always good. Very good actually. I know the struggles and hard business decisions that some companies make and live with every day. Quality rules self-imposed guidelines. They are not 'inspecting quality' in; they are 'building quality' in.

I will tell you this! You can be proud, very darn proud of them. They have a reputation to uphold, a name to protect and a family of workers to support over the long pull. Whether some use some off-shore or globally secured components or not, I stand by my statement. These companies are doing a darn good job;, the very best they can.