Waterproofing

[maodiver]

Gink and salmon eggs are not petrolium based. Their oils break down in the water.

[Byron haugh]

WD-40 is both a lubricate and a displacer. It is also still very effective for cleaning firearms. The military no longer uses it, and there are "better" cleaners to use these days. But does not harm firearms and is the ONLY lubricant I use on black powder firearms. Its the best thing I've found to clean saltwater reels and rods. Does it leave a slick on the water? Yes. But so does Gink....so what's the point? It would be like the oil from a salmon egg. Hardly a hazard.

There are natural oils and then there are petroleum based oils.......

[NJTroutbum]

Yes there are.....I get that. As there is a lot of oil and then there is a speck in a product the "includes" oil.

And again....how much does it matter? I have more important things to worry about. Like loss of habitat and access to good water. Not too worried whether a literal "drop"... Maybe....is in a product I use. Just being honest.

I dont use it for fishing. But I do use it on my reels. And the get submerged at times. I doubt I'm killing a loon or destroying the ecosystem.

[Ed_D]

Speaking for myself, I'm glad to read that you aren't into killing loons...

Ed

[NJTroutbum]

LOL....I think we are in agreement Ed.

[Royce]

And I didn't even know there were loons in New Jersey. Now, on to something a little more closely related to the original post...

I guess I don't really see the point in using WD-40 as a fly treatment. With so many products on the market that work well for this intended purpose, why bother? Sure, a big can of WD-40 costs less than a small bottle of _______ (insert favorite fly treatment product here) but on a "per fly treated basis" is that really an issue? Also, maybe the WD-40 treatment will last longer than some other product but, again, is drying and re-treating a fly that big of a problem? Using WD-40 as a fly treatment sounds like a solution looking for a problem.

Reminds me of a discussion that comes around every once in a while in the woodworking community, cleaning the gunk off of saw blades, router bits and the like. There are products specifically designed to do this task. Someone is always looking for a "better way". Oven cleaner, various cleaning products like SIMPLE GREEN, etc. Really? A bottle of the actual blade and bit cleaner costs a bit more but for the few pennies more the actual stuff costs, do you really need a better option?

Just my 2 cents worth.

[whatfly]

Whatfly,
I don't follow. Please explain.
Thanks

Refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet).

[sandfly]

Its all a pollutant, I will only use a all natural floatant (Jack's stuff)

[jszymczyk]

"leaves an oil slick" Yeah, about a thousandth of what you put into the environment driving to the fishing site.

I don't use it, so I don't really care... but it is funny to watch some jacka$$ drive up to the stream in a 3/4 ton truck which is spewing filth and contaminants into the world, only to suit up and be concerned about one drop of floatant on a fly.

[Byron haugh]

Wouldn't be me. Never had a truck.

Personally, I'm concerned about all types of pollution on the environment. This thread, however, is about a petroleum based water displaced/lubricant.

Interestingly, the early version of WD-40 was fish oil based.......