Fly tying kit?

[Marco]

Gentlemen ( et al):
I have finally decided after almost 35years of flyfishing to "tie my own". The problem is that in all those years I have NEVER sat behind a vise and tied a fly. I have ,however,been accused of tying one on a few times in those years. My dilemna is a follows: I ordered and received an Orvis Premium fly tying kit at $249.00 and am very dissapointed at the quality of the contents. There are things in there that I will probably never use. The vise is of very poor quality.I am sending the entire parcel back to Orvis. I have a degree in " ain't no free lunch" and I didn't expect much for this price but I now think I should have perhaps opted for a non kit option. My question to you flytyers is: Are there "better" kits out there or should I depend on individual components and good advice to build and supply my tying bench?
Thanks in advance

[stonefly71]

I'd find a fly shop close if ther isn't one then head online. Hook and hackle Janns Net Craft,Someplace like this. Before I found this home I bought a tying kit from Galyns which is now dicks I paied 99 bucks for a kit put out by Universal Vise company. It had good stuff but there are a few things I still have after 6 yrs at tying. I keep them just in case. But I up graded vises to a Griffen vise mine is the spider it cost 68 bucks at Janns. And have bought many differnt tools over the years but they have tool kits you can get to get you started and when you get use to everything you could move up to better tools. Most would say start with Al's Beginners section on here. Or get a good book and jump in. And as for materail buy as you go cause you will be spending tons on everything you will need. On way I cut down on prices is I tie with dry fly hooks and streamer hooks for 95% of all my flies and have never had a problem. As I can't see spending a bunh of money on 30 differnt types of hooks when a few will do. I buy regular aberrden hooks to tie blue gill and bass flies with and you can get them from walmart or Meijers. Just buy a little at a time and don't beafraid to ask questions if you need any help e-mail me and I'll try and point you in the right direction. Later Matt

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To each there own !

[phatkid248]

definitely go with individual materials and good tools and a decent vice- a danvise is a good option. work on one or two flies at a time to get the basics down, then work on more complex flies. only buy for the flies that you will tie, then as you tie more flies, you will have most of the materials.

Well, my opinion (I'm no expert) is this. Get a vice you like, play with a few and see what trips your trigger. Then get a quality set of tools. Dr Slick makes a nice set for around $40. It's going to be much more cost effective to get a few things to tie a pattern or 2 and progress from there. The problem with most of those tying kits are the materials, for one, are subpar and alot of that stuff will never get used. It's not just the Orvis kit, I think all the starter kits are like that.

For that kind of money, you should be able to get a decent rotary vise like a Danvise, Anvil Apex or Tierra Del Fuego. A set of tools and still have a hundred dollars or so left for some various materials. Definitely enough to get you going.

[Marco]

Gentlemen:
I just knew I'd get some answers here and I assure you they are very much appreciated. I attended the Midwest Fly Fishing show here in my area last weekend and saw a vise ( Nor-Vise) that looked like it can do everything. Has anybody here ever heard of this product?
Thanks in advance.

PS. Hey JC, it's amazing to me that you can recall articles on varied subjects ( such as mine) so frequently. So what's your secret?

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I'd rather be in Wyoming!

They are nice for some things... They seem to be more at home for speed, almost more of a production vise. I know a few people that tie on them and really like them. I've tried a little bit but they almost seem cumbersome to me. The jaws are big and flat on the end,and it just seems weird to me. The people that tie on them swear by them though.

[Harold Hattaway]

Marco;

Ronn Lucas is a source for the NOR-VISE and a sponsor on this website. And one of the people that helped me get started. Ronn has a wealth of knowledge and wants you to be happy. While I did not buy the vise he sells, I have bought things from him. His service is second to none.
Contact him below.

Ronn Lucas Sr.
13535 SE Beech
Milwaukie, OR 97267
USA
Phone: 503-654-0466
Email: rlucas@cybcon.com

Good luck in your search, I Would build my own like the articles JC offered. But choose your vise after you have set in front of it.... I have 4 vises because I did not have a place near me to do that.

Harold
I would also read all the fly tying tips before i went out and bought materials. You will be surprised what you can get for next to nothing.... Check out sponsor pages, I buy as much as I can from them...

I think one of the best fly tying vises for the money is the Danvise (available from BT's Fly Fishing Products [url=http://flyanglersonline.com/about/bts/:5a525]http://flyanglersonline.com/about/bts/[/url:5a525] ), sponsor on FAOL.

Al & Gretchen carry most of the stuff you need to get started, and give great service. You will get the most value for the money spent if you use them.

~Parnelli

[Soup]

I caught the bug by using a kit from Cabella's several years ago. This was one of their traveler kits, tools and vice anly in a small folding wood box. Cost about $35.00. I then picke out a few easy patterns that all required similar materials. After I deciced that it was a hobby that i thought I would be interested in, I made the larger commitment to some better equipment. I think that this was the best approach for me. I had time to get as much info on vices, techniques, and maerials from the shop and still enjoy the hobby as I discovered it.

p.s. Best of all, I gave the kit to a friend of mine who was interested in learning how to tie, and his 13 year old son has since commandeered it from him.

[REW]

For a fly tying kit, I started with a kit came from Caballe's for about $60. The vise was not a rotary but was adequate for basic fly tying. The tools I still use since they where of a higher quality. I used this vise for about two years and found out that I really enjoy tying flies as well as fishing them. After a couple fish-in's that I went too and watched what other people used for vises to learn their pros and cons of the vises. I settle for Ron Lucas Nor-vise and been very happy with it. Along with it I did get the retractable bobbins. There was a good learning curve on how to use the Nor-vise, and once I got over that, my fly quality and quanity went up exponentally. There is alot of vises out there to try, join a local fly fishing club and watch different people tie and ask questions. You will be more satisfied with the outcome.
Good luck;
REW

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