I’ve been wondering when buying dubbing do you find it more practical, or economical, in the long run, to buy the dubbing dispensers or the individual package? I’ve bought many of the dispensers over time but they don’t seem to have as much per color as you would get in the individual pack. Now that I make allot of my own dubbing I don’t buy as much dubbing but do buy some for blending, i.e. Ice Dub., Hare’s Ear Plus … etc.,
What do most of you do when buying commercial dubbing?
Thanks,
Mike
I have just two dubbing dispensers one of beaver and the other of ice dub. I find that most dispensers have stuff I’ll never use. In the last few years I have been tying with natural fur from the skins I blend what I need from there.
“What do most of you do when buying commercial dubbing?”
Packets.
However, if you want to add some enjoyment to your tying ‘hobby’ (obsession is a better word), buy some skins or parts, i.e. rabbit, beaver, muskrat, mink, fox, squirrel and begin to blend your own. Keep rough records or labels of the ingredients on packs you maske so you can duplicate when needed. Also, the next step involves bleaching and dyeing. Like I said, this can become an obsession, lol.
Allan
You can make your own dispensers from craft-store boxes and a 1/4" drill bit and fill it with dubbing you know you’ll use.
Regards,
Scott
I buy packets and skins and blend the dubbing as needed.
Thanks guys you all pretty much confirmed my thoughts on this.
Over the last year or so I have accumulated over 5 large baskets of natural furs, hairs & tanned skins, either bought online, or from our local taxidermist.
I too find using natural materials allot better then the “store bought” and making your own dubbing is allot more fun. I tried my hand at dying but that didn’t work too well. Especially living in an apartment not much room. So I do buy packets now for blending purposes or use craft yarns for blending for wet flies. I do use allot of Possum, Woodchuck, Muskrat and Beaver in most of my tying now a days.
Mike
I must be a dubbing junky. I have untold packs in different colors , textures and types. I like to mix different ones , add sparkle like ice dub just to find what I’m looking for. Just part of the fun of tying I guess.
I buy individual packets. Most dubbing dispensers I have seen contain two colors I will use, one I might, and nine I won’t. After all these years I know what dubbing I need and want, and anything else is just money gone. I don’t blend and I don’t dye, got enough things to occupy my time.
Sandfly, where do you buy that??
Colorblindness, well more accurately “colordumbness” as my eye doc puts it, prevents me from doing my own dubbing blending. it looks like it would be fun. I have a grinder to do some minor blending like saving the trimmings from zonker strips, but to try to blend colors would end in a horrific disaster.
I have to buy mine and make sure all the packets are clearly marked as to what color it is. When using dispensers I put a 3x5 recipe card inside the lid and write the colors in a grid to match the compartments.
Unless you are a commericial tyer, I don’t think it is worth the effort to get tied up in economics when it comes to dubbing. I’ve been tying for over 32 years and I’ve never run out of dubbing. A packet of dubbing really goes a long way and is probably one of the least expensive of fly tying materials. You’ll probably spend more money trying to save money. Once I’ve bought a packet of dubbing, I don’t really expect to use it up within my lifetime. I’ve got dozens of packets in different colors, types, etc. to cover all the bases, but I’ve never used one up.
I’m just about to finish the package of black superfine I apparently bought for $1.50 (at least) thirteen years ago, and had to go out and buy another one this past weekend. But I used to own a lot of dubbing that I never used at all, and never will. Bucks is bucks in this day and age.
The only dubbing I use up “fast” is for October Caddis, because of the size. Hard to burn a lot tying #18 ants. Then again, muskrat seems to vanish fast when the smaller gray caddis appear, too.
My Doc refers to it as “color vision deficiency”. I find that I can tell colors pretty well if I am in direct sunlight, but not otherwise. Too bad, because the wife wants me to relocate my tying to the basement (from our computer desk.:D)
Why, from Jack, of course.
That would be Jack Mickievicz. Jack DOES make the best dubbing! Bob and Jack are old friends, and his shop is the best place to find Jack’s products. Hint - he makes more than dubbing…
I have bought dubbing boxes and created my own. The ones I created have exactly the colors I want. I dont use about half of the store bought ones. What I do like about the boxes is they are easy to throw into my travel tying kit when I head north fishing. I dont have to grab several different packages of dubbing I just grab a couple boxes and I am all set.
