I read here in FAOL that a piece of drinking straw makes an effective hackle guard. Some say to slit the straw, but I think it's easier to slide it from bobbin to fly. I tried it & it's not only MORE effective than those metal hackle guards I've previously purchased, it's versatile. Obviously, it works well on hackle, but that's not all. When I tie foam spiders, I tie the head down & those floppy legs drove me nuts, until I used these. I cut my body strips 1/4" wide out of 3mm foam & the straw slips from the bobbin tube over the foam & traps the legs very well, allowing for easy head attaching, finishing & cementing. I've attached 3 pics. Note the straw (1/4"-3/8" long) on the bobbin in pic 1, the straw "at work" in pic 2, & my ugly, yet effective finished spider in pic 3.







I hope this helps at least ONE fly tyer. If so, the post was well worth it. Just thinking SLIGHTLY "out of the box" gets it done. BTW, the head on this one was a little sloppy, but still productive for BIG 'gills.
Mike