hi folks, yesterday, I drove 80 miles RT to my closest Orvis store in hopes of seeing, holding and possibly purchasing my first furled leader. It did not happen. As I understand f leaders, the advantages of using one are for strength, the ability to reuse the leader portion and the ability to change tippets easily. I fish primarily for trout, bass and panfish when we go to our cabin in WVa. However, when at our home outside of D.C. I fish for stripers and plan to fish for snakeheads in the POTOMAC. (We even have a tournament to catch snakeheads! Another story for that one....last week a fellow angler caught one that was 36in long and very hefty.) Any way, it is for heavy duty fishing that I am considering a furled leader for my 7-8 wt rod. I am assuming that such a leader would most likely have a small metal ring to attach the tippet...a long piece of 10-12 pound mono. Is this correct???? My sales person didn't know what a furled leader is and said that a metal ring would deter the fish. I asked if their braided leaders were somewhat similar except that one is braided and the other furled. He didn't know that either. Neither did he know what cree hackle is either.I gave up and came home. Therefore, KI am at the mercy of my fellow faolers to teach me about furled leaders. Be patient ! Gerri