Hands on Tool's !!!???

[BucktailJiger]

O.M.Gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just got back from my adventure BAD/GOOD mistake , someone call 9** !!! Anyway got to look at a lot of trying tools and get the hands on feel . Vise - Peak rotary,wow! Anvil Apex , Metz , HMH . Had a D H Thompson Model "A" not for sale . REALLY liked the Peak ! Bobbin's up the wazooo ! Had a couple Wasatch S&M w/ceramic in/out wood knob reel comfortable to hold ! Bobbins with Derlin feet and brass feet , had some bullet style no inserts liked them to . ASG Omega w/ceramic tube real comfy also Griffin nice to & Dr.Slick . Terra rotary whip w/alumn handle , like it ! Lot's of scissors . Really like the Peak vise . So now I'm past the pre-addiction stages , I'm ADDICTED ,and haven't even tied a jig . I didn't spend any money , THAT WAS HARD !!!!!! The gentleman that was helping me was very professional , knowledgeable , not pushy or insistant I buy RIGHT NOW , that was nice ! Did say that the quality of some tools can make or break a tyer , and did see some cheesy stuff even he said it himself . So now just got to figure out what to get , still gonna call Robert . Would appreciate some coments from ya all on my adventure . Thanks

 

[Jig Man]

I started with stuff from Crazy... Good quality stuff. I didn't want to drop a bunch of cash and then decide I didn't want to tye anymore. I've been jig fishing about 45 years, but tying less than one. Even though I haven't been tying that long it's a deal I'm gonna do as long as I can. I don't regret waiting, but I am going to up grade a few things??? A new vise will be here Wednesday!!! But still going to use the other stuff I bought from Robert. The whip finisher was the hardest thing for me to learn, and now I do most of the jigs I fish with buy hand... I still have a bunch more to learn and this is a great place to learn it. Don't know who dreamed up the idea on how to thread a bobbin, but it works and saved me a few bucks. Hope this helps.

 

[blt]

I love my whip finisher, and have never even done one by hand lol. I know, that's sad but....
I'd like to get a true rotary when the funds allow for it for doing these small jigs. I'll check out the forum sponsors first. I have the Anvil Apex, and it's had thousands of hooks from size 7 to 8/0 jammed into it, still going strong.


Another great tool if you do a lot of knots is called a "Fast tie". Little hand held device for tying knots. I use it for snells and nail knots.

 

[CrappieHappy]

Quint, I started with and tied on a $15.00 vise from Cabelas for 10months. With some coupons and points from Cabelas I bought a peak vise a few months ago for right at 100 bucks. Check eBay, and craigslist you might find a deal. I have no complaints on the peak vise. I did ask RonDon some ?'s about peak before I made the plunge as I noticed he was tying on one...

As others have stated I started off with an inexpensive vise to make sure I would be tying for awhile.

Best of luck on your decision...

Mel, I see you made a decision, let us know how you like it....

 

[Fatman]

Enjoy it I've heard nothing but good things about it.

 

[Shoemoo]

One thing about tools is you'll quickly find that slapping a fly fishing company logo on any given item makes the price go up by about about ten times. Case in point, those little combs fly shops sell for combing out hackle and trapped fibers. They cost anywhere from ten to twenty bucks, but you can buy the exact same type of comb in the cosmetics asle at Target for about two dollars, just packaged for combing eyebrows instead of flies.

IMHO, the price on a lot of tying tools (including vises) borders on highway robbery.

 

[toadfrog]

I use a louse comb . Didn't even know what I was using until a doctor friend of mine started giggling when he saw me using it . He explained that the deer must have lead an unusual life style if I needed to use a louse comb on the hair .

 

[redman]

Shoemoo You hit the nail on the head with that one. You don't need a ton of things to start off with. Make your Dollars count and you will have fun and catch fish. See Rads thread here http://www.jigcraft.com/jigcraft/showthread.php?tid=2364 classic old time patterns that are simple and easy to tie. They will catch fish anywhere. For around $20 you can get enough material for about 250 jigs. Four packs of Hackle 10 packs of chenille throw in a spool or two of thread. your good to go.If you want to powder paint the heads then add a extra $7 three jars of paint. for less than $50 you have a lot of tying fun.

Got to remember some of us old guys have been buying and stock piling for years. Some of the newer tiers are as good as some that have been tying for years. Its not how much you have or how good your equipment is. It's how you use what you have. Remember some of the best of the old flies a hundred years old or better that you see were made with out vice or bobbin.

Just a observation from a old Geezer.

Redman

 

[BucktailJiger]

Trying to buy a Herters #9 vise .

 

[LedHed]

Cj - Try not to go more than $20 with shipping. With Thompson you have a better chance of getting a newer vise. Herter's stopped selling in the early 70's. Thompson has been around for a long time and they are still in business.

To Shoemoo's point "IMHO, the price on a lot of tying tools (including vises) borders on highway robbery." - this is very true. Try to buy used - but not abused.

And to redman's; "Its not how much you have or how good your equipment is. It's how you use what you have." This is very sage advice. Buy what you use and use what you buy.

 

[Fatman]

On the herters make sure to get really good picts of the collet where the handle is - both sides and from behind it. They are a nice vice and I have one but the collet is missing a big chunk but I've managed to make it work. As Led said if you can get a Thompson at least you can get replacement parts for it.