hackle guard

I seem to have trouble trapping hackle fibers when i'm tying off the head of my flies, anyone have suggestions to prevent this(frustrating:-x) i can't find any hackle guards anywhere and dont know if they are even worth it. any help is appreciated, Daniel
thanks guys, appreciate all the help

In my early days I too had this problem until I increased the space for whip finshing from the hook eye. While holding the hackle firmly, all you need is one to two thread windings. An inexpensive hackle guard is the end of a ball pint pen. Best wishes

a simple mcdonalds fountain straw works great as a hackle guard

the first 2 suggestions are easy and inexpensive and work as well as hackle guards. i have a set of hackle guards i'll send you. i don't use them. if y'all want to try em shoot me a pm with address. fritz' suggestion to increase head space is probably all that's needed.

I usually just push the hackle back with the fingers of one hand while whip fininshing with the other. Another inexpensive choice I have seen is to cut a slot in piece of cardboard and slide it over the hook shank in front of the hackle.

+1 to Normand's

For smaller hooks, use the stirrer straws

For all straws, cut a slit in the ring to make them easier to slide onto the thread.

if you keep the straw on the bobbin holder tube theres no need for the slit. just slide it up over the hackle, whip finish and slide it back onto the bobbin holder tube

another item that can be used is a slightly oversized o-ring using the same principle as the straw

i agree with wes--send me a PM and i will send you the hackle guards I bought years ago

great advice people< thanks to all of you for your suggestions, i will try them, Daniel

Another suggestion requiring a bit more work is to cut out some circles from the stiff plastic used in alot of packaging (the kind that's booger to get open and will cut you if you manage to tear it and aren't careful), and then use a small hole punch to make a hole in the middle and cut a slit from the center to the edge of the circle. You can make different sizes quite easily both for different sized hackles as well as different hook diameters.

I also use these for separating deer hair colors to make stripes on bass bugs. Since I have multiple guards I can just leave one (or more, I've used 4 on one bass bug before) in place on the fly until I am all finished, then just bend it slightly at the slit and slide it off the hook. :-)

Since I am right handed, I simply lick the thumb, fore finger, and middle finger of my left hand and stroke the hackle back and hold it. Once the head is built, the hackle stays out of the way for whip finishing. I have a set of hackle guards but they take more time than the other way.