Lono, I dunno why your Cabelas store would not have Lodge in stock. Cabelas has been carrying the Lodge product line non-stop for years. If the local store had any problems with quality, they could ship every one of the Lodge pots back to them and they would replace it if need be. I had a 16" lodge camp oven that had a cracked lid. It took almost 4 months of use before the crack was found, but it had been there since I first bought it. I told Lodge, shipped them the lid, and they replaced it for free (I only payed the cost to ship it to them, they paid the return shipping costs).

Lodge cast iron isn't cheaply made, but they have streamlined the production process to reduce the costs as much as possible. I believe the correct term is efficiently made. Here's a video of how they do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgTKTh1UfiU

You will still pay for quality, so don't expect to find new Lodge cast iron cookware for sale at a huge discount.

There's other really good product out there at competitive prices and I own a fair share of it. Camp Chef, Maca, and a few others make pretty good pots and pans at pretty reasonable prices. There's also a fair amount of junk out there, and you gotta check for yourself with that for lid fit, warp, uneven thickness, pits, and cracks. Some of my best pots are from 2nd rate mfrs. I just happen to know what to look for and pick what I know will work.