Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Cabelas dives in the pool

I received a catalog today and see Cabelas has jumped into the overpriced hunting duds market. Apparently their new "Instinct" line offers another venue to sink $1000 bucks in a fashionable and technologically advanced hunting outfit. They also jumped into the expensive pack and tent market wjth their "Instinct" line.

Okay, I'm being a little facetious. I have some expensive duds myself and I'm sure some of this is "the stuff". I'd be curious how these new packs stack up.

At the end of the day, I'm sure more animals will die this season as a result of more high-tech camo choices.

Cabelas has been a leader in overpriced crap for years!

(And I still shop there)

Ha, so do I !

Actually, I've never really been disappointed in much of anything I've bought from there.

But I doubt I'll buy any of their high dollar clothes. If they weren't in all camo maybe.

I've always been happy with Cabelas. It's served me well.

You're at least a year behind. Much of the Instinct line was out last year.

Now if they'd just make microtex clothing in solid colors...

I bought some microtex pants and every seed/burr that I come into contact with sticks to them which drives me crazy.

Humm...I either overlooked this or else, didn't receive the catalog showcasing this line. And here I was thinking I was a premium customer with prestige.

+1 on the microtex clothing in solids. My biggest gripe with camo clothing is that it is camo.

No, Pointer is correct.

The "roll-out" was last summer 2014, and while marketed in the ads and on-line, it wasn't as intensive as this years campaign has been.

I think the line blended in (pun) with the rest of the "new" patterns last year, and frankly, they weren't flying off of the shelves from what I saw.

I buy most of my hunting gear 2nd hand from the local "pros" who are upgrading to the new fancier stuff....

I can't imagine anyone paying retail for Cabelas branded clothing, but I have gotten some decent stuff of theirs at a deep discount.

Do they offer an affordable lightweight 2 man tent?

Cabelas best seems to be the XPG Ultralite 2-man tent at 3# 12oz. The Big Agnes Copper Spur UL-2 weighs 2# 13oz.

KC

^^^This^^^ Wait until they mark it down & move to their Bargain Cave. I've bought some SMOKIN deals online from the Bargain Cave!

Sound advice.

They also seem to carry a ton of Meindl boots. Mostly everything I've read on the campfire is that they leave a lot to be desired as far as durability is concerned, so who is buying them if they're crappy, folks back east that don't have to really hump the mountains? Just wondering!

I stopped in one of the Nebraska stores on the way to WY last year and tried several of the instinct items on. Every one went back on the shelf even though I was ready to buy. I really don't know how you can screw up clothing that bad. LOUD material and goofy patterns. Look at the crooked zipper on that 1/4 zip shirt for example. WTH were they thinking? I do really like the ZONZ backcountry pattern, though the ZONZ western is just [bleep]. The woodlands is pretty decent. Overall, the idea that a Chinese-made polyester t-shirt is worth $80-$90, or even $50 for that matter, just pisses me off.

Me. Just got a new pair a couple weeks ago.

Me also. Last pair of Meindl Perfects held up perfectly. Never leaked. The
heals finally wore down until I am thru the outer covering and into the internals. The support is finally starting to weaken. Somewhere around 4 years old and more than a few miles. Have other boots that caved in with much less use.

It looks like a pair of Alaskan hunters are going to do as well as the Perfects.

I'll buy another pair as soon as I'm down their way.

They are the only Meindl distributor in the US. The boots are made to their specs by Meindl. I'm happy with the pair I have, but it's not the same as the Island Pro's had.

"Look at the crooked zipper on that 1/4 zip shirt for example. WTH were they thinking?"

The thinking behind the offset zipper is to prevent it from rubbing on your adam's apple when fully zipped and/or wearing layers and having two or more zipper pulls there. I'm not saying it's good/bad or anything else just the reason it's made that way. I do think that is the most "offset" I've seen on any top though.

Sitka and Scent Blocker have been adding offset zippers in their outer layers for a couple of years, some of it works, some are worse with the stiff collar blocking your movement more than the zipper would.

I didn't have issues with Cabelas stuff until about two years ago. Since then I have returned quite a few items. I noticed the quality go down about the time I saw China as being the source. One camping chair lasted about two minutes. I suppose the quality issue is the same in most retailers that use that source for their goods.

I've been pretty happy with some Cabelas clothes, microtex pants, fleece jacket, puffy type jacket and just got an Alaskan guide jacket.

I'm with some on here wishing that there were more non camo options.

I watched for sales on most of them and did pretty well I think.

I like the Cabelas 3D sleeping bag too, also bought with a very good discount.

The bargain cave is the only place i shop cabelas.

+1. I have a pair of zip-off hiking pants I bought years ago that's still going strong. I have some camo stuff I used for turkey hunting that I bought in 2001, still in good shape save for some fading(obviously). Have an insulated jacket and overalls I've used for tree stand hunts in cold weather I bought about 2010. All in good shape. I haven't bought much from them lately and I've gravitated away from camo...just don't like it and feel it's unnecessary, at least for my hunting.
I've also gravitated toward wool, specifically merino. So I hunt in some LL Bean wool pants on cold days and a Woolrich wool shirt.

But yeah, I may try some different options if non-camo were in those options.

Much of my older Cabela's stuff was "made in USA" but have not had that tag on much lately, save for some of their socks.

This. I've bought a Cabela's jacket, on sale, and new Cabela's waders, deeply discounted from a private seller (eBay).

Add me to that list as well. And, I'm still waiting for a big sale if I am to procure it. *grins*

The best hunting clothes are made by tree hugging hiker hippies, but I won't bitch about $119 for a pair of Meindl Denalis out of the cave..

The tree huggers don't make everything camo.

Camo schmamo. First Lite seems to get it. Kuiu would be nice if size Large didnt mean Chinese X-Small and they could keep their crap in stock. Under Armour might be onto something. Best pants I've ever used are Mountain Hardware Piero's.

But each to his own.....

Exactly.......


Casey

Uhhh....I've been buying overpriced hunting duds from Cabela's for 30 years.........I fail to see what's new here.

I shouldn't be too harsh, my serious coldish weather "Whitetail" series Gore-Tex/polar fleece jacket is 25 years old and still going strong.......

Casey

Am I the only one that spent his teen years in cotton long johns, coveralls, 2 pairs of athletic socks (for warmth, of course) dads work boots and a gas station orange hat that itched like hell?

Those were the days, holy schit.....

Nope! Spent more than a few days in 2X4 stands dressed like that half frozen.

My comfort in cold weather increased dramatically years ago when a local store had milsurp wool pants for $7. I bought 2 pair. Later Cabelas had the same pants for $10 and I bought 3 more. I have enough to last me the rest of my life.