It’s time for Outdoorswithdon’s Outhouse Awards — exposing the 10 worst outdoor products from 2007

As always, all of the products mentioned were purchased at full retail price, used in the field under real outdoor sports conditions, and are in no particular order.

    1. Ameristep ground blind gillie system: This accessory is a series of leaf-covered strings that are supposed to be attached to a blind for better concealment. Even after one hour of mandatory untangling, it is nearly impossible to figure out how to attach the thing to the blind. The instructions are terrible, and if you attach it ahead of time, it won’t fit in most ground blinds’ original carrying cases.

    2. Clam 6800 ice fishing shelter: It is hard to believe this product was ever field-tested. The plastic-hinged floor is too flimsy to withstand dragging and fishing over uneven ice. The tabs sewn around the base to hold the tent down are barely tacked on, and only one door on this model is intended to hold four fishermen. The concept is good, but for the price, this shelter is too junky to endure more than a season or two on the ice.

    3. Strikemaster Polar Vision hand-held sonar: This unit looks like a flashlight and is supposed to read water depths through the ice or bottom of a boat. It does neither. After trying two different units and having the same frustrating results, I finally threw mine away, and returned to using my portable LCR to check depths before drilling a hole. This product got the North American Fishing Club’s “Seal of Approval,” which should tell you something about them.

    4. Giant Whitetails television show: In a crowded line-up of horrible outdoor television shows, this one is the worst. Like most, it is a very thinly veiled infomercial for their products. But unlike some, it portrays hunting in a very unsporting light. The shooters (don’t call them hunters) in this show routinely hunt over huge feeders and kill animals that appear semi-tame. This show contains the kind of footage that led to a deer farmer in Indiana being arrested and thrown in the klink.

    5. GMPCS Satellite phone rentals: Satellite phones are as much a part of wilderness hunts these days as are weapons and optics. This company rents reliable units, but has the worst customer service of any company I have ever dealt with.

    Their multi-paged, small print forms are full of caveats and traps. The first time I used them, they refused to send me a bill for overages, but contacted a collection agency when I didn’t pay.

    The next and last time I tried them, they admitted the wrong address was on their document, but tried to stick me with the cost of a phone when I returned it to the address on the form. Once my attorney (wife) got involved, GMPCS went away.

    6. Northwest Airlines: According to Fox News, 1 million bags were lost or damaged last summer by U.S. airlines. Is anyone surprised? My friends and I flew six different airlines to distant hunting locations in 2007, and we all unanimously agreed that Northwest was the worst.  

    They lost all my bags, including my rifle case on the trip home from Alaska, and then informed me they had no way of even tracking my stuff. Even worse, Northwest lost all of two of my friends’ gear en route to a hunting trip to Alaska.  My friends had to buy all new gear once they arrived in Fairbanks.

    7. Double Bull ground blind: Can someone explain why these ground blinds are so expensive? They are heavy, use an outdated camouflage pattern, and hold water more than ground blinds made of lighter, synthetic material. There are a bunch of other 360-degree, shoot-through-the-mesh blinds available that cost a fraction of what Double Bull blinds cost.

    8. Cabela’s wheeled duffel bag: The wheels and housings on these bags are plastic junk. Mine didn’t make it through the first round of airline baggage handlers on a trip to British Columbia before they broke into pieces. The good news is that Cabela’s has the best return policy in the world, and I was able to get my money back.

    9. SKB rectangle bow case: SKB advertises this high-end case as capable of holding the new parallel limb bows. My new Mathews Drenalin fits, but only after I remove the stabilizer and cut out most of the padding along the walls of the case. The arrow holder is also very cheap and poorly constructed in this model. As a final insult, my case warped after one season of use.  

    10. Rivers West rainwear: This is 2007‘s trendy and overpriced hunting rainwear. Field and Stream Magazine even awarded them their “Best of the Best” award. Did they even test this stuff?  

    I tested it on a do-it-yourself Alaska moose hunt this year. If I hadn’t taken additional rainwear, it would have been a miserable trip. The exterior material on this gear holds water like a sponge.  And unlike other waterproof, breathable rainwear, Rivers West gear does not dry very well, even when hung for days.

Other stinky products

    United Airlines: They routinely change flight times, but charge the ticketholder if he or she wants to do the same.

    Timex outdoor watches: The compass on my third (and last) watch in three years only worked for about a month.

    Cotton turkey vests: It rains in the spring, and these hold water.  

    Midland Walkie Talkies: The power button is too exposed and easy to engage. As a result, these units turn on accidentally all the time, constantly leaving the unit with dead batteries.

    Gerber Blood Tracking Light: Don’t fall for this gimmick. They just don’t work.