Buying tying materials

Would you class buying materials an obsession or a necessity. I think I have an obsession with buying materials, I either buy too much of something or stuff I’d hardly ever use. What is your thought on this? Am I alone or do I have a problem?

I like to think we’re thinking about the future, we will be tying for the next deckades :wink:

But on the other hand I have not been tying so much for the last months, I like to think it’s because I don’t need to go to the store and buy materials.
When you go to the store you get “pumped” up and go into the right gear for tying.

I’ll admit, it is a sickness with me. When I find a great deal on materials I usually buy a life time supply of it. Even a little extra for the kids. My opinion is the price is only going to go up, might as well buy it now and save money. Good luck treating the sickness.

Go catch a fish,

Gary

Hey Crash13, I can’t help but notice posts from large numbers of folks in Hermitage, TN (bascially NE Nashville, for the rest of the world) on this and other boards, and wondering if it hasn’t become the population center of the web-surfing fly fisher population for the state. Good luck on the Caney and anywhere else you wet a line.

Ed

BTW, my “travel kit” is bigger than my wardrobe…

Daz,

No, you are not alone.

Yes, you do have a problem.

It will not likely get better, so just learn to live with it. Remember, after the Spouse finally gets fed up and leaves, you can fill HER space with tying stuff too…bight side to everything.

Buddy Sanders

(ps., until you start buying foam sheets by the gross, or getting pheasant tail pairs in case lots, you are probably still relatively ‘okay’…)BS.

I think you will all agree that Buddy summed it nicely. :lol:

YES it is both:-P

As a 12 year old kid, many years ago, I use to stand in front of the fly-tying materials board at my local sporting goods store every Saturday and puzzle over the best way to spend my $2.00 allowance. I was keenly aware that my fishing career for the rest of my life depended on making correct choices and getting the most bang for my bucks. I also knew the Herter’s catalog by heart from cover to cover. I would often sit in school and from memory make up a list of fly tying material to purchase if I somehow obtained $5, $10, and even the impossible sum of $20. To me, buying fly tying material is like breathing. 8T :wink:

No you are NOT alone…

It’s called the 50 year plan. I buy enough of each material to last me 50 years just in case they stop making something I really like or it becomes endangered.

So far I have only had a few items I’ve stocked up on, fall into that category but I’m sure there are many more to follow.

Now of course if I don’t last 50 years all of that good stuff will end up on eBay replenishing the market!

You guys have it bad. I have no such problem, really I have no problems, I have no problems, …

I just keep trying to say that too myself as I browse the web for the next thing that I will absolutely need to have to make my fly tying a success.[SIZE=7]:stuck_out_tongue:
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8T -

I think your signature says it all.

John

Thank you for noticing, John. I try to live by that signature and I seem to be highly successful at it. 8T :slight_smile:

It is not a diease. there is a neccesity to have material to tie any flies you need. Buddy would 28 pheasant tails be to many?

Rick

Probably an obsession. I have FAR more than I need and am always looking to acquire…Part of the fun of the hobby part of our sport.:smiley:

Been tying for 2 years (big whoop) but i will tell ya’…haven’t run out of ONE single thing…if your buying multiples, your buying too much…reallly

I go through at least 300 flies a year…mostly donated to trees and such.

Sorry I can’t join in on this, you see I decided years ago I already have several life-times of materials.
I go through a lot of saddle hackle and bucktail so I have to keep stocked up on those, but otherwise I give away more than I acquire.
Any ‘new’ materials I get comes from club raffles, but I donate to those as well.
If I need something for some ‘new’ fly that I don’t have, I know I probably have something suitable that I can substitute.
Either that or I’ll just tie something else…

There are far worse addictions than a compulsive need for tying materials. I like to tell friends that I’m “investing” in high price chicken feathers and other materials as a hedge against the seemingly bottom less spiral my 401K and other investment accounts seem to be in.

As long as you’re putting food on the family table, shoes on the kids and keeping the lights and heat, on go for it. Life’s to short not to have at least one junglecock neck in a box in the basement!

Sooooooooooooooo … do you call that your “hedge fun” ??

I think you have summed up the situation perfectly. There are far worse addictions! Well said! 8T :slight_smile:

Rick,

28 Pheasant tails? It really depends. Did you actually ‘buy’ them, or were they acquired from bird hunting friends?

I just ordered 50 ‘pheasant tail pairs’ in black (had to have them. They are an important part of TWO different flies that I actually tie AND fish with…). I don’t like to dye my own materials anymore, so I bought the black ones. I have 100 or so ‘natural’ ones in the shed…all ‘gifts’ from hunting friends…

I just checked and I have sixteen ‘144 piece assorted 2mm foam sheets’ still unopened in the package…they were on sale so I figured, why run out…takes up a lot of space…maybe need to add on to the back of the shop…another 600 square feet of storage would do nicely…I could take advantage of MORE sales!!!

For those that don’t know it yet, you can get a great deal if you buy fly tying hooks by the thousands…rabbit skins in gross case lots…

Can’t use all of it, but I saved a LOT buying in bulk…

Buddy