Stream Side Kit?

[dickey]

If you are going on a trip (lets say eastern U.S.) and wanted to take a tying kit with you what would make sure to pack in it?

[Big Bad Wulff]

The vise............

Really. Can't tell you how many times I've packed up stuff for a trip and at the last second grabbed the vise clamped to the table.

[kbproctor]

My original tying outfit was a kit in a cordura zip up case. I reload that and do a little research on bugs before hand so I know what materials I might need.

[JeffHamm]

If this was for a reduced kit, then a vice, a bobbin holder, and scissors for tools. Materials would be black thread, yellow floss, burnt orange floss, red floss, copper wire, pheasant tail feather, hare's mask, brown, ginger, and grizzle hackles, peacock herl, partrige feathers (soft hackles), starling skin, pair of white duck quills, and a pair of hen pheasant or woodcock quills, and some grey and fox squirrel tails. I think that would cover most wet flies and nymphs. If you had some dry fly hackles, then furnace and grizzle.

For real minimal kit, same tools, but just the copper wire, hares mask, peacock herl, black thread, grizzle, furnance, and ginger hackles. You can always use the hackle fibres for wings and wing cases.

- Jeff

[Steven McGarthwaite]

I am keep my fly tying kit, pretty simple, all contained in a wood box that is
8" x 14" x 18".

Wood Box, with snap locks, and rope handle. Got the box with 3 bottles of wine one Christmas, drank the wine, kept the box. Here is what I put inside the box....

1. Vise with tools, in a nice 2" x 7" x 12" box, with latches. Found it in a Fly Tying Material Swap Box, that was run on FAOL, many years ago. The vise sets up inside the box, and the vise head holds the hooks very securely.

2. Four spools, of Waspi 140 denier thread; black, brown, olive, white.

3. Eight pack on Mini-Sharpie Pens. Great for changing the thread color for the building the head, or using with the white thread when you need another color.

4. Three Rooster Capes; Brown, Grizzly, Medium Dun.

5. Various fly packets; for dry, wet/nymph, sizes "#!0-16.

6. Couple of Peacock herl feathers, and couple of packets of marabou; found these at JoAnn Fabrics.

7. One match set of Turkey feathers.

8. Bottle of clear nail polish.

9. Couple of packets of scud backs for scuds, and nymph wing-cases.

10. Set of Drug Store glasses, for magnification. Also have a LCD pen flashlight with snake attachment to hang around my neck for lighting, found at the dollar store for $1.00.

Total weight of loading Fly Tying Kit, 7 pounds!

~Parnelli

[coughlin]

Steve,
Nice selection. Is there room left for a travelling bottle?
Coughlin

[kglissmeyer]

I like Jeff's list. Can't say how many times the wife has given me that look when I loaded up the rolling duffle for a short, two-day trip to Yellowstone country, but it seems I just couldn't pare it down. I'll have to bite the bullet and see if I can't get it down to Jeff's recommendations. As far as streamside, when I was much younger I thought that was what I needed to do, but I already packed the world on my shoulders anywhere I went to fish. I learned quick that it wasn't necessary. I don't tie streamside, and probably never will again. For some it's part of the experience, but for me I'd rather be fishing. With my years on the water I'm reasonably assured that I will have something in my fly boxes that is a close enough imitation of whatever the fish may be on that day, if not, I'll tie some that evening before going out the next day.

Kelly.