Falconry Vendor Comparison
History
It took me a long time to gather all my fabrication supplies in order to make and create some of the specialized gear that I need to keep the hawk and myself outfitted. I spent a good amount of time making anklets and jesses and in so doing, a few of them were sized a little on the large size for Tahoe’s ankles. I changed her dressings this past weekend for Outdoorama so that she looked nice with studded, clean anklets and jesses for the show. The were nice looking, but they were too big. So, back to the drawing board I went to design proper anklets with a template and some kangaroo leather. Seems that I’m low on brass grommets, so off shopping I went.
A year ago I found some 5/16″ diameter grommets at REI, and they worked really well. When I went back for some more, they were out of them. I then traveled to the Bass-Pro shops, but they don’t carry grommets. Of all the things, you’d think they’d have them for all their tents, camping, and outdoor gear. The nice clerk at Bass-Pro thought I might try The Home Depot. He was right, they carried grommets but not the right size. So it appears that it’s time for me to bite the bullet and go shopping online at one of the Specialty Falconry shops. You don’t find specialty Falconry stores in every suburban town and city, so I spent a little time doing some comparison shopping with three of the leading web-based retailers. I was surprised at what I found.
Comparison
Listed below are three shopping carts from the various vendor sites (names are withheld) that I compared with the products that I needed. I did not include shipping in the cost of the goods, but I did my best to select the same, or similar items as I could given the choices from each particluar vendor. You can see that the total cost of my goods was within about $25 of the other vendors.
Vendor 1 : $116.37
Vendor 2 : $90.70
Vendor 3 : $103.70
My Decision
After careful consideration I ended up going with Vendor #3 for a few reasons. While cost was an interesting measurement for comparison, I found myself choosing the middle because they had the best set of Grommet Pliers, even though they were a little more on the pricey side in comparison to one of the others ($38.00 vs. $29.95). Plus, the pliers have a nicer grip than the others, and with vice-grip type pliers, that’s a good thing when you’ve had experience pinching your fingers in between the handles (yowch!).
Another thing that encouraged my decision for Vendor #3 was the terrific service that was provided to my order. There was a small descrepancy with one the size of one of my items, so the sales representative (site owner) called me to make sure it was correct. This is not the first time he has done this. I truly appreciate the personal service and attention to detail to make sure that I get the right products in the right size. While there are some items that may vary a great deal in the price range, I was willing to take a little extra hit for the good service and premium pliers.
Ok, so why the specialized pliers? Why did I choose the supplies that I chose? Well, while pre-making the anklets with grommets on both ends of the almyri anklets, I want to try crimping them directly to both ends of the anklets while putting them on the hawk. I think they will provide a more sturdy fit for the bird and I like the look of them. As for the French Clips, I’ll be making a few more leashes for some falconry buddies, and I like the design and handle of the french-style clips for use in the field. Tahoe recently lost her bells in the woods and the replacement pair that I had didn’t sound very nice.
Do you have experience with online falconry purchases? Would love to hear about your experience! Please leave a comment!