Cabela's Deluxe Gear Bag - On Sale

[David Karp]

Hi all.

I just noticed that Cabela's is having a sale. Their Deluxe Gear Bag, normally $39.99, is on sale for $19.99. Very low price for a nice bag that will hold a 4x5, holders, some lenses, etc. I bought one after reading Ted's article in VC Mag. It worked nicely to lug my 4x5 kit to Alaska. I was able to carry it on with no complaints from any of the airline personnel whether in L.A., S.F., Anchorage, or Kenai.

[Matt Miller]

I use one for my Crown kit. Quickload & Polaroid boxes & holders fit inside perfectly, with the camera. The two outside pockets hold a lens and a spot meter. I like the fact that it doesn't scream expensive camera kit.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

At that price I might have to get one and see if my old Conley 5X7 would fit. I need a bag for that.

[Ted Harris]

Eric, my Canham T57 doesn't fit if that is any help.

[Bruce Barlow]

The Cabelas bag is nice, and at $20 unbeatable. Watch also for the Orvis bag to go on sale. It has zippers that are absolutely sensual, and has just a bit more elegance (for considerably more money, even when on sale). I own, and use, both.

[Kirk Gittings]

zippers that are absolutely sensual

OH baby!

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Thanks Ted.

[Dave Wooten]

Does Bass Pro have these products?

[bsimison]

Does anyone have photos of the interior of this bag, arrayed with a pantsload of gear? Hard to question a $20 bag, but my wife will undoubtedly give me "The Look" if I buy *yet another* gear bag without good reason.

[J_Tardiff]

Does anyone have photos of the interior of this bag, arrayed with a pantsload of gear? Hard to question a $20 bag, but my wife will undoubtedly give me "The Look" if I buy *yet another* gear bag without good reason.

Hah- maybe our spouses are related. My husband cannot fathom my gear/camera bag fetish, is usually the first to point out that I don't even carry a purse normally.

As a mater of fact, whenever I mention that I might want to purchase a new piece of gear his first question is whether I've picked out the 5 bags I need to go with it :mad: .

That Cabelas bag looks just right for my 4x5 kit. Hmmmm. But I've been thinking about an Orvis reel bag for my lenses. Both? ;)

JT

[Ted Harris]

Jill,

Go for the Orvis reel bag for sure. I now have three of them. The Cabelas bag i sa steal at 20, it was a great buy at 40. I had only two objections to the Cabelas bag: 1) the zippers weren't the best ... like Bruce says they aren't sensual like they are on the Orvis bags and 2) it has no padding at all. I don't recall which issue of the magazine ran my Bags, bags, bags article but you will see pictures there of the various bags. Don't recall if there is a picture of the Cabelas bag filled but it is about the same size as the Orivs bag which you will see filled. I tested all the bags with the same outfit. A Toyo AII, a couple of lenses, Quickload or Polaroid holder, light meter, film and misc. stuff. The Orivs bag still goes everywhere with me and if I really stuff it I can carry the 4x5 gear plus a Fuji Finepix S5 with one lens mounted and a second lens.

BTW, I will be doing another bags article this summer.

[David Karp]

Going from memory, the Cabela's bag has no dividers on the inside compartment. My Walker Titan SF fits there (it is a pretty big 4x5 folder). I also keep my lenses, Pentax digital spotmeter, and darkcloth in there. There are two side pockets large enough to hold film holders, quick/readyload holder, etc. There is a front pouch for storing accessories. I think the top cover has a zipper and can also store some stuff.

[Michael Graves]

You guys keep mentioning the Orvis bag. But when I go onto Orvis's site and do a search for "the orvis bag", it doesn't bring up anything. Is there a specific model I should be lookign for?

[Ted Harris]

Michael,

It's the Orvis Safe Passage Gear Bag ....

[Michael Graves]

Thank you, Ted. Now I know what web page to leave open for my wife to find.

[J_Tardiff]

Thanks Ted!

The Orvis bag is a beaut -- looks like I have a nice excuse to wander by the Orvis store in Manhattan. The NYC store is *nothing* like the one in your neck of the woods from what I hear, though.

And I've been chuckling over the "sensuous zipper" comment all afternoon!

Looking forward to the next installment of Bags, bags, bags!

JT

[Bruce Barlow]

Thanks Ted!

The Orvis bag is a beaut -- looks like I have a nice excuse to wander by the Orvis store in Manhattan. The NYC store is *nothing* like the one in your neck of the woods from what I hear, though.

And I've been chuckling over the "sensuous zipper" comment all afternoon!

Looking forward to the next installment of Bags, bags, bags!

JT

My wife gave me the Orvis bag for Christmas last year, sensuous zippers and all (soooo smooth!). I actually use the Orvis and Cabelas bags to carry my video cameras and their miscellaneous gear. They work wonderfully well.

When we tested the Orvis bag for Ted's article, I had Baby Wista, two lenses, and about 15 holders in the undivided main compartment. It all fit so snugly that nothing bashed around into anything else (lenses live in a plastic freezer container sized to fit them both), I still had all the outside pockets for all the other stuff: notebooks, lens tissues, garbage bags, etc. Very nice. It was as good as my old Zone VI bag, but I put Baby Wista back in the Zone VI so I could use the Orvis bag for my Sony PD-170 video camera. The Cabelas bag is slightly larger, so it holds my Panasonic video camera, which is...slightly larger.

I may get another Cabelas bag at $20 just to have as a spare for all those bits we seem to accumulate.

[venchka]

Is this the Orvis bag y'all are talking about?

http://images3.orvis.com/orvis_assets//prodimg/88C3F7HH_lg.jpg

http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice.asp?pf_id=88C3&dir_id=1089&group_id=14017&cat_id=14026&subcat_id=14027&adv=12082&cm_mmc=Froogle*Prod_feeds*Prod_feeds*12082&bhcp=1

Offcially titled: Safe Passage Shooters Gear Bag and on sale for $80. The online catalog says it's "NEW". Pehaps the bag mentioned above is a different bag? Need to know for Christmas Wish List purposes.

[J_Tardiff]

Sigh, I may be dweeb of the week as I'm answering this from the 5th Ave Orvis store.

Neat place- hopefully I can extricate my husband from the fly fishing gear.

I see 2 bags - one is the 80.00 bag Wayne shows- called the shooters gear bag and a smaller, more suitcase 59.00 bag called the Reel bag - the latter seems too small to carry a 4x5.

So, is the $80 (down from 98) bag the one?

The salesman just commented that the names are confusing..

JT

[venchka]

JT,

That is so cool! Going right to the source! All we need now is confirmation.

[David Karp]

The big case shown is the nicer analog to the Cabela's bag. The reel case is used by many to hold lenses. I bought the older version of the reel bag to hold lenses, but it ended up holding my Mamiya 645 and its lenses and accessories nicely, so that is its main use now.

[J_Tardiff]

OK, a bit more follow up and (I think) a bit of clarity.

I think part of the problem in figuring which Orvis *gear* bag is being discussed is that I think they replaced the original one that Ted and others were describing with one that is a bit more expensive :( .

I think this is the current *gear* bag:

Gear/Kit bag (http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice.asp?pf_id=96X0&dir_id=758&group_id=12295&cat_id=12296&subcat_id=12297)

This bag that Wayne mentioned is has significantly less center bag space (it is significantly longer because of the end pockets) and I think that one might be hard pressed to get much more than a 4x5 camera in the main compartment. But the rubber bottom and compact size are very nice.

Shooter's Bag (http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice.asp?pf_id=88C3&dir_id=1089&group_id=11640&cat_id=14094&subcat_id=14095&feature_id=17)

And this is the reel case, that is still the same config. It seems that it could carry a small 4x5 + a few lenses.

Current Reel Bag (http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice.asp?pf_id=96GT&dir_id=758&group_id=12295&cat_id=12296&subcat_id=12297)

I had another look at them at a local Orvis store over the weekend and they are all very nice-- I just wish their was something between the Kit and Shooter's Bag.

The Fishpond Reel case is very nice as well, but it is not clear whether the longitudinal divider is removable.

Fishpond Reel Case (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0036690318971a&type=product&cmCat=Search_Results_NYR&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=fishpond&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=fishpond&noImage=0)

Decisions, decisions...

JT

[lloyd]

The reel bag (10x14x6 inches) is a winner-well made and holds quite a bit of gear--mine holds 6 lenses on 4x4 boards (several are small wa dagors, fujinon 450, etc.), 6-7 5x7 film holders, lens hood and filters, meter, darkcloth and misc.(loupe,etc.) Not the camera tho.

lloyd

[venchka]

Thanks for your hard work, JT! I know that speding time in an Orvis shop is a real chore! Grinning.

I have marked all of your links for future Christmas list use!

[Kevin Crisp]

I ordered the Cabela bag on sale as mentioned at the beginning of this thread. I was hoping it would be a handy bag for a 4X10, and it is. The camera and some film holders fit in the main compartment quite well. There is an acceptable level of padding on all sides but the top.

[JasonC]

How about this one?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0051639122668a&type=product&cmCat=Search_Results_NYR&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=reel+bag&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=reel+bag&noImage=0

[Dave Langendonk]

Hi all.

I just noticed that Cabela's is having a sale. Their Deluxe Gear Bag, normally $39.99, is on sale for $19.99. Very low price for a nice bag that will hold a 4x5, holders, some lenses, etc. I bought one after reading Ted's article in VC Mag. It worked nicely to lug my 4x5 kit to Alaska. I was able to carry it on with no complaints from any of the airline personnel whether in L.A., S.F., Anchorage, or Kenai.

Back to the origin of this thread, the Cabela's bag is also the perfect size for carrying 8x10 film holders. I have several and they work great.