fly tieing question

[Heidi]

I am adding a new hobby to my already crowded list.

I purchased basic material to tie my own flies, but I

need to purchase a good inexpensive tie holder.

I see prices from $8 to $150. I have never tied a fly

before so I don't know what features to look for.

Thanks for your advice. Walking out of the store, I was

kicking myself for not throwing away the fox I shot a few

months ago.

[DEADhead]

Quote:

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I need to purchase a good inexpensive tie holder.

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I assume you are talking about a vise? I would reccomend staying away from the cheap vises, as they will not hold up to the rigors of tying after awhile. Not every tyer needs a $300-400+ Renzetti or Dyna-King vise, even ones that have been tying for awhile. Will you mainly be tying trout flies? You may not need a rotary vice then. Something simple like a Griffin Superior 2A or Oddysey model, or an HMH Silhouette will fit the bill nicely, and you can get both for under $100. I personally have an HMH vise and have been very pleased with it. You probably wont need a profile plate, bobbin rest, or thread keeper to start with, so save the money and buy a vise without these extra features. Besides, most of those options you can add on to your vice later if you wish.

Good luck tying!

[turiprap]

Welcome, Heidi. My opinion is that Griffin makes a nice vise at the inexpensive end of the scale. Their Superior 1A vise lists for $47. It will grip most sizes of hooks well and won't do anything perfidious. Good luck.

[bigfish21]

I used a griffin vise for a long time and you can do pretty much anything with it as long as your creative. an excellent vise to begin with. i have since switched to a renzetti vise @$150 that is rotary and it is the best thing i have done since getting started in fly tying

[luckycrank]

great advice everyone, i personally am fond of the renzetti however learning the fundamentals is what is really im portant. and by that i mean getting porportion right for example the thorax and abdomen the right size, the tail the right lenght the wincase right head the proper size ect.

all this can be done a 19.95 el cheapo vise as well as on a $150 renzetti traveler. after a while you can always get a better vise and you will probally appreciate the qaulity better after using an less exspensive model.

if your considering tying trout flies consider the basic simple yet effective hairs ear nymph. your a ways away but heck i probally have a few videos and books i don't use? just a thought.

[turiprap]

I caution people not to get too cheap. There's a certain level below which you can't buy a tool to do the job properly. If the vise won't hold the hook securely, the user will become frustrated and may walk away from what could have been a very rewarding hobby. A beginner probably doesn't need a Renzetti, although it's a great vise and worth the money, but he or she certainly needs some third world built clunker even less.

[DinkADunk]

I like the Griffin 2A as a very good quality, basic vise. We have a few of them around the house, my wife and kids use them for making lures (tying bucktails on treble hooks, etc). They hold hooks very well and can handle a range of hook sizes. The 2A is also a great vice to throw into the portable kit. I use a Griffin Mongoose for tying flies which is more money but then it's similar in quality to the Renzetti Traveler (another very good vice). The Regal vise is another one that is very nice to tie on.

[so haaad]

I have a Griffin Patriot, which is a rotary model. I love it. Griffin makes high quality products at low to mid-level prices.

[Heidi]

Thank you for the replies. The gentleman at Thorn Brothers

set me up with the basic materials to use, but I am lacking

the vice. I will be tieing mostly bass and northern flies, but who knows where it will lead.

[DEADhead]

you might want the intermediate vise then (~$100), especially if you'll be tying hair bugs on large hooks. This is where a cheap vise is really noticeable, large hooks will be more difficult to seat in the jaws. Also, a rotary option would be nice for tying streamer flies like clouser minnows...

[Questor]

I use a Thompson pedestal vise. Hard to beat it! Paid about $45 for it 15 years ago and it's still great. The things I like most about it are good design that allows me to tie flies from big 3/0 pike flies to tiny size 24 trout flies, and it sits on a weighted pedestal that doesn't require clamping to my desk. Metal is of excellent quality too, no cheesy metal deformation as on cheap products.