New products 2020/21

Hardwater season is right around the corner and new products are coming out! Post below anything new for this season, or new for you! 

Thanks for the lead on that Ace rod bag, been modifying backpacks trying to get them to work on the long walk in trips on the Mississippi. That should work perfect!

Comparing the Eagle claw cases to the top of the line hard sided cases is like comparing Ford to Tesla, IMO. Sure the Eagle Claw cases will get you by and are far better than a soft sided case, but if you've have ever handled the ice advantage cases or even the new scheels cases from last year, the quality isn't comparable. Everything from the latches to the plastic to the hinges. When you accumulate over a grand in rod combos over the years, $200 to protect that doesn't seem that terrible. Especially after going through the agony of breaking a rod tip on your favorite rod.

Their price point is right around other companies as well, maybe an extra $25 for the brand name and customer services. My gripe is that they can't design a hard sided case that will hold 10+ rods in the same price range. Seems silly to have one case for panfish rods and a second case for game fish.

100% agree with you though about the industry though, Awichman, seems like the new releases are less and less exciting each year and they want to over charge for the "new version" with only minor tweaks being made. 

Big Musky - are there any other small companies making cases like that besides the ice advantage case? I can't think of any off hand but would be interested in checking them out, I'd rather support small business than Otter. The guys for the ice advantage cases rubbed me the wrong way at the St paul ice show a few years back so I won't buy their case either. Ace custom rods makes a nice case, but it's more the backpack style.

I'll stick with my Eagle Claw rod case. Got it on sale for 20 bucks on Black Friday and couldn't be happier. As far as the Otter stuff, it seems to be much ado about nothing. Slight modification to the hub and a beacon that costs 40 bucks extra. 

I think we may have reached the point in the industry that every industry hits. They have gone as far as possible with the technology available and can only tweak and modify it to repackage it to make it seem like something new. This industry went through a boom in tech the last couple years and may be leveling off now. Look no further then flashers, for a few years there Marcum was adding or revamping things all together. Now, you can get a lithium shuttle(whooptie do) or a reworked RT-9V2.0. Nothing earth shattering. Garmin's Panoptix kind of pushed the limits for now. 

And WAY more expensive than the Eagle Claw.

Otter released an article yesterday on their instagram page about a new hard sided rod case and a new line of hub shacks. Rod case has me interested. Can't seem to find anything online for it yet. 

EDIT: some links

Vortex hub shacks

Protech rod cases