Drake.....

[lanyard]

....So, me being critical of Drake would be like biatching about Nickleback..... but when I opened a review of blind bags in the recent Outdoor Life I saw the Drake bag came in last.... and that the critique was by far the best description I have seen and fits my experience to a "T" with their equipment. It starts:

"The waterproof bottom is a welcome feature, but this bag is over-accessorized without enough attention devoted to the basics......"

Their whiz-bang gadgetry is way more Inspector Gadget than James Bond or Batman. It tends not to be unique but actual operations inept when it comes to basic performance.

Okay, back to Nickleback bashing.....

[Nershi]

Drake is garbage. I got one of their blind bags as a Christmas gift. It started falling apart on the first outing. I tried emailing and calling them on multiple occasions and never received a response. That was my first and last experience with Drake products.

[Quack]

I love my drake quarter zip with the nylon upper & fleece lower. And I love vertically opening chest pockets. Their side opening floating gun case is also a great idea.

However I've read enough reviews to believe the rest of their stuff is pretty cheesy.

[cstemig]

I've owned a pair of Drake MST wader pants for several years and so far, no problems. This year I'm trying a Drake LST parka (Got it cheap at Game Fair), hopefully I will have good luck with that too.

Is there a single brand name of waterfowl clothing/gear that doesn't have problems

[emptymag]

I've had a ton of drake stuff over the years and the pullovers are the only thing that have lasted over 2 years. Boots, bibs, gun case and blind bags all had the stitching come out.

[lanyard]

You know Chuck, it really seems they stopped making things that don't fall apart.

Distribution and retail are too much of a challenge for companies that want to do it right. I think G&H still does it right in decoys but when was the last time you saw them in retail, and Big Foot had to take B2s to China to compete.

Anymore it's all private equity and TOO much of the SRP is paid back to the retailer to advertise/display the product to you.

Make things chitty, charge the same, pay spiffs back to the retailer, shorten the sales cycle because you needed new waders every two years, repeat. Haber Mountain didn't stay in business because of their quality, service, or pricing. They stay in business because they own real estate and brand are willing to pay for it.

Good chit keeps costing more and more. Not that it costs that much more to make than it did before, but so much coin needs to be dropped to market/sell/distribute.

[gimpfinger]

I went to krugers after gamefair and got MST pullovers for 25 bucks, lst bibs for 25, mst wader pants for 20 and MST turtleneck sweatshirts for 20. Don't care if they only last the season for them prices.

Team Power Dump

[cstemig]

I went to krugers after gamefair and got MST pullovers for 25 bucks, lst bibs for 25, mst wader pants for 20 and MST turtleneck sweatshirts for 20. Don't care if they only last the season for them prices.

Team Power Dump

Kruger's is where I picked up the Drake LST parka for $80.00.....they sure discounted a lot of the Drake line

This year I'm also trying a pair of Cabela's Northern Flight insulated bibs. I hope that they hold up as well.

[gimpfinger]

[quote="gimpfinger"]I went to krugers after gamefair and got MST pullovers for 25 bucks, lst bibs for 25, mst wader pants for 20 and MST turtleneck sweatshirts for 20. Don't care if they only last the season for them prices.

Team Power Dump

Kruger's is where I picked up the Drake LST parka for $80.00.....they sure discounted a lot of the Drake line

This year I'm also trying a pair of Cabela's Northern Flight insulated bibs. I hope that they hold up as well.[/quote]
They got rid of all their drake gear. Not selling it anymore from what the guy at the store said.

Team Power Dump

[lanyard]

Probably because it sucks....

Thread on another waterfowl website I frequent was started by another guy: disappointed in the Drake waders, and the others are joining in with their own tales of "kind of expected they'd last more than a year....."

Drake seems to be "all hat, no cattle". I think the clearance prices you got their products at are likely about the right price. I own a lot of crappy stuff, but I expect sub par performance from $1 ratchets. It's the crap ratchet I paid $10 that pisses me off, doesn't meet the value expectation it promised to deliver.