I used to buy commercial products like Winston/Loomis/Sage rods and production "high end" reels like Abel, etc. Those were all made in the US, but even if there were some components on them (which I don't believe) or used to construct them from China such as threads, varnishes, etc, I don't think that could ever be considered a partial chinese product.
I now use hand made bamboo rods or bench made reels - which I believe are wholly made by the maker, even the screws - but the bamboo raw material, tonkin, is a chinese product, but I would hardly put this in the same class as the cheap mass produced stuff to which everyone is objecting.
The problem is that the products from say Maxcatch and Alibaba which are so cheap that it doesn't seem feasible to produce them for such low costs and also ship them to you internationally. These are the sorts of products I object to buying, which I assume to be produced in some sweatshop, whether that's true I don't know.
Sometimes intellectual rights are stolen, eg a manufacturer does all the R&D and has it produced in China or other offshore country and it is copied at that factory then produced/sold on at much cheaper prices to the West. Should consumers benefit from this?
Don't forget 50 years ago the goods from Japan had the same connotations and stigma that chinese goods have today, and now they have an enviable reputation for quality and innovation. I'm sure in the future that day will come for Chinese made goods.
If there was a chinese artisan who hand made goods with the quality to match the western makers, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them.
I now use hand made bamboo rods or bench made reels - which I believe are wholly made by the maker, even the screws - but the bamboo raw material, tonkin, is a chinese product, but I would hardly put this in the same class as the cheap mass produced stuff to which everyone is objecting.
The problem is that the products from say Maxcatch and Alibaba which are so cheap that it doesn't seem feasible to produce them for such low costs and also ship them to you internationally. These are the sorts of products I object to buying, which I assume to be produced in some sweatshop, whether that's true I don't know.
Sometimes intellectual rights are stolen, eg a manufacturer does all the R&D and has it produced in China or other offshore country and it is copied at that factory then produced/sold on at much cheaper prices to the West. Should consumers benefit from this?
Don't forget 50 years ago the goods from Japan had the same connotations and stigma that chinese goods have today, and now they have an enviable reputation for quality and innovation. I'm sure in the future that day will come for Chinese made goods.
If there was a chinese artisan who hand made goods with the quality to match the western makers, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them.
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).. not with the rio gold however. It always died mid cast. Always felt like it was a line weight less than the rod (5wt Hardy Zenith). I bought a 5wt maxcatch gold line last season and found it a better line. I can definitely cast it further than the Rio Gold. It lands nice and light and seems to perform well. 
