Hello,
I like this reel because it has a disc drag, But I am not sure to buy it… I have spoken with orvis.com and they tell me that “the reel is made using English components but built in the Far East”.
How the construction, quality, is ?this reel?
Thanks
I use to love the Orvis reels. Since they started making them in Asia, i’ve sworn off them. I’ve heard from a few people that have had problems with the reels warping. There’s a lot of other, quality made reels out there, in the same price range.
Buy the reel!!
I have a Mid-Arbor that’s made in their Asian plant and it’s nothing short of fantastic. The CFO made in Asia is made with the same materials that it was made with in England.
I bought/own one of the CFO’s just before they moved the operations. The “metal button” that covers the arbor on the back side fell off and I had to epoxy it back on…no big deal, so the fact that their made in Asia makes them inferior…I don’t buy it. I can believe that there probably were some quality issue’s in the beginning. But as I said at the start, my Mid-Arbor looks and fishes great.
pspaint- I’d like to see what those people are doing to those reels to make them warp. :shock:
Rich
quillg…nothing, the tolerences were way off. Orvis took care of the problem, but I hate the idea of them moving production to Asia. I know they weren’t made here (except the Vortex), but with all the outsourcing to the Asian countries, It was nice to have products that were’nt Asian made. I’ll take a US made reel, or British, Swedish, German etc., over anything made in China.
Orvis use to be one of my favorites.
This is starting to sound like a “sound-off” post. I’ll stop ranting now. lol.
alexcamp, i wouldn’t hesitate to buy the new cfo. like quillg, i have the made in asia mid-arbor and it is a peach of a reel. plus, orvis customer service is outstanding and if you did have problems, they’d take care of them. if you’re dead set on an english made cfo, i have a III spooled with 5wt. wonderline that i could be talked out of. let me know if you’re interested.
I don’t know about the specific reel that you are buying; however, I bought two of the Battenkill Midarbor type reels. They weren’t very much (about 125) and so far have worked out fine. When fishing with a friend who was using the pfleuger Trion reel -(about $90)- we opened them up and they are identical on the inside – so the moral to this story is that I could have saved about $30 on each reel and bought the Pfleugar instead – or some other type of reel.
I have several Large Arbors (I, II, & III) and several CFO spring /pawl (love that Hardy sound) all made in England. Recently I had a break in and lost my favorite rod, plus a couple of reels. I have replaced the LA’s and the only difference I can see right off the bat is that the BLACK is shinier (m/s)
and no made in England on the foot, but they are smooth. I also ordered a CFO II cause of the bronze finish. I think it will look fantastic on my boo and my glass, performance I have no worries…IT’S ORVIS.
Thanks Dpenrod, I will bear it in mind.
I’m just curious…since they started getting made in China, how much of a price drop have they extended to us…that is the usual reason to make things overseas right? To cut costs? I bet they must donate it, because they wouldn’t be lining their pockets. :roll:
-Pemi
I have a CFO III paired with my Winston 5wt and its a dream. I got the last one in the store that was made in England. But I also bought an Asian made Battenkill Mid-arbor for my 8wt and it has performed flawlessly. If you like the “feel” of an old time reel, you will love the CFO. It will go great with a Bamboo rod.
They use to be in the $200+ range now they are around $190. They droped around 20to30 dollars.
With the decline of the dollar against the Euro and the resulting price increase on everything imported here, the nominal price decrease may be a few bucks on the Asian model, but the effective cut may be be bigger. In other words, the difference in present cost and the the cost that Orvis would charge on an English model if it continued production and raised prices may be significant.
China is capable of making lotsa junk, but it is also capable of fine metalworking, and getting better. I have a client here in Atlanta who used to have its large metal products made exclusively in the US. There were tons of problems in production-timeliness, quality, costs, etc. Now the product is made in Shanghai and they pay an appreciable amount to ship it and deal with the working capital issues of product on the water for 40 days after completion and everything that goes with production in China, but the quality and timeliness of their manufacturer is far better than anything they had in the US. The owner of the Chinese factory is a American of Chinese ancestry with an American upbringing, American engineering degree, and an understanding of American business. He will be very wealthy someday.
Actually, the 2006 CFO prices dropped considerably from 2005.
[ul]CFO I $235 (2005) $179 (2006)
CFO II $245 (2005) $189 (2006)
CFO III $255 (2005) $198 (2006)[/ul]
My understanding is the reels are made on the same equipment with the same quality materials that they were in England. In that case, I’d say the price reduction was more than fair on the part of Orvis.
But is the final quality of the reel the same one? Is the same pleasant sound in the old pattern and in the new one? Has some of you proven the old Orvis CFO III and the new one, seeing the possible differences?
Thanks again.
I’ll let you know my takes Wed. cause that is when I will get the new one. Like I said mine are all the SPRING/PAWL which is a beautiful clicking sound, but the new ones are the gear and I am not sure they ever did make a sound other that the usual gear sound.
Alas the SPRING/PAWL is no more (by Orvis anyway)
GO HARDY!
How can I know if a Orvis CFO III that I have seen in the store is made in England or in China? It says “Made in England”, the crank of the spool is made of plastic and the color is green. In the box it says Orvis CFO Disc Fly Reels.
It also has a lot of powder and dirty. Is it built by Hardy?
Thanks
For a brief time (years ago), Orvis sold the CFO in a “spruce” color, and this would be one of them.
It was made in England by BFR.
Actually the green color is only a couple of years old also. The Green was just the disc drag color for the reels that were made in England and that was it. Now the gray ones “SPRING/PAWL” long, long ago were started by Hardy, back when Hardy was just another reel maker. The reels that we all see made in England were made buy BFR (British Fly Reels).
Chances of the reel being made by Hardy I would say 0% because it is a disc drag. Plus as I said, Hardy made them for a short time.
The Intro to the Asian made was when that green one disapeared along with the Spring/Pawl and the new disc took the bronze anodize.
Thanks.
But… I?m not sure. Excuse me.
How is the quality of the reel manufactured by BFR for Orvis?
Which reel does it have bigger quality the one manufactured in China or the one manufactured by BFR for Orvis???
I can to buy this green reel of Orvis made in Englando or to wait some weeks for to arrive to the store new reel CFO manufactured in China in color brass (broncce), new model.
I dont know that to do.
Thanks
Sorry I keep catching up to you, but I answered in more detail on the other place of meeting.
In other words, I would go with the new if you can live with out the made in England on the reel foot.