I’m looking to upgrade my vise and am so far leaning toward the Peak Rotary vise. Simple , made in the U.S.A. , looks like a lot of vise for the money. Any Peak user’s out there and what are the advantages of the bolt upgrades?
texfly,
I have the Peak pedastal vise and feel it is a lot of vise for the money. I consider it well made and made from quality material. As far as the accessories: I have ordered the brass turn “bolts” you mentioned, but, I am not ordering them because I think they would improve on the function of the vise. I am ordering them because I think they just look better than the black nylon headed brass bolts that come with the vise. The pedastal base weighs in at 7 pounds and makes for a very solid working platform. I would also recommend the material clip for holding back material as you are tying. The base has an additional hole for another shorter stem that I think would be a good purchase because this would give you a place to attach other accessories such as a tying light or the trash collection bag. I also have and use the bobbin rest which I have attached on the extra stem. The extra stem/rod allows your main vise stem/rod to be free of any attachments.
I like using this vise and feel confident that it will last many years of use and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to upgrade.
The Alaska Fly Fishers just bought 10 for our tying clinics (One starts in about 2 hours, come on over and try them 
) and so far they look pretty good. The metal polishing is not as good as more expensive vises, but not an issue.
I have to laugh at the sincere folks amazed by the base and how solid it is… It is EXTREME overkill! But that is not a bad thing, I guess. They do a great job of holding the hooks and operate smoothly… What else would you need?
Oh, specifically, the base is larger and heavier than any other brand I have seen. Since the posted is centered, stage right, for right-handed tyers the post is slightly farther back from the edge of the base. It is not a big deal, except when shipping or moving them around.
art
Here’s a review by one of our own on this vise; might help in your decision: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/prorevw/peakvise.php
Good luck in your decision, I’ve been looking at this one myself.
kelly.
Short background - bought a DanVise, nice product (for the price - still wanted something nicer). Bought a Peak. Love the made in USA, great product service, nice responsive people. Bought the brass screws (for looks on my end) and a material clip. My material clip moves too much for me and is never in the right spot. The base is wonderful especially if you want to spin hair or tying larger flies. My biggest concern is the way it holds a hook. The hooks slip too much for me, wish the jaws were textured more.
Finally bought a Dynaking Barracuda. It holds a hook like I expect a vice to hold a hook. The Trekker or the Jr looks to be a nice option as well.
How long have you been tying? The reason I ask is that many old salty dogs that have already been tying for a long time that have rotary vices just plain don’t use the true rotary functions. A HMH Spartan holds a hook and will rotate but is not a true rotary.
I still own the Peak and the Danvise for that matter but like the DK jaws much better.
DynaKing Supreme is my favorite
clay:
If you contact the folks at PEAK (Al Ritt) they will fix the issue eith the “hook hold.” I had that problem and sent it to him and had it fixed in no time flat.
Just a suggestion. I am not affiliated with PEAK in any way, just a satisfied customer.
Roy
I’ve been eyeballing the Peak and have had a chance to tie on one a little bit. I like it a lot! Seems to be very well built and a great vise. Especially when you factor in that it costs less than a Renzetti Traveller and the like. A lot of bang for your buck! I will be ordering one after the holidays, tough to beat the features on a $150 vise.
Oh, you guys that have one or have extensive experience with them, how do you find the hook clearance on small hooks? The standard jaws seem to be fairly bulky. Could be in my head as I haven’t tied anything smaller than a 10 on the peak
I bought an Apex Anvil and i love it. Its built like a tank and you cant budge hooks one locked down. I have tied #14 up to 4/0 on it so far and it worked GREAT!! Also made in the USA!
Note, that I said in my first post: “great product service, nice responsive people” that’s because I called them - more than once about the issue. They sent me another set of jaws at no charge which made it better. The first set of jaws had a burr that was not allowing the jaw to be closed properly. The second set of jaws still allowed the hook to slip more than what I like. One Peak rep even told me to burry the heal of the hook in the jaws deeper than I was use to with any other vise and it did help, BUT it also left me less access to the back of the hook.
By the way, the Danvise doesn’t hold as hook as well as I prefer either.
My DK the hook will bend before it slips and I like this feature. If you tie many smaller trout flies it isn’t an issue, but if you like to put a little pressure on the thread, this is what a vise should do for you. 6/0 and 8/0 thread should break before the hook slips I’m not referring to GSP 200.
Bluntly this is probably a personal belief or requirement on my part. Many people are very happy with Peak. Again, LOVE the Made in America and not just assembled here. Made in USA with USA materials is a big plus for me. Customer service is great. If I hated the vise, I would have sold it. My wife ties on it. I just like the DK MUCH BETTER.
My issue was the shape of the locking clamp, not the jaws. When the clamp would go into the locking position, the jaws opened up a few thousandth.
Peak put on another clamp and it holds really well now.
Roy
Thanks for the good info Roy.
I like my Peak and have only one criticism. There is no way to adjust the location of the jaw tips to get the shanks of smaller hooks to line up with the rotation axis. It’s at its best with larger flies where the heavier base is a big plus.
In an earler post on this thread I asked the originator of the thread to think about what or how he will really use the vise in relationship to using it as a full rotary because most guys don’t. I have a nice Al Beatty DVD, and his book on rotary tying and I try to adapt many of the techniques but bluntly it is just faster for me to use straight forward stationary tying techniques many times vs rotary. I am not a production fly tier.
I never found the slight wobble on trout size flies to be a concern while doing rotary techniques on the peak. 16 and smaller is where I also noticed the larger wobble and I am going to guess with a true center on axis rotation would probably be a size 8 hook not an 18. Did you find the same thing.
Again, for $150 I really don’t think there is much to compare with at that price point. If a little more can be squeezed out the Trekker is a great value at $219, not sure if Hook and Hackle 10% off sale applies to vises but they are a sponsor here and I would ask the question: http://www.hookhack.com/vises.html
The base on the trekker is big, the jaws hold a hook, the vise adjusts for true center rotation and they are made here in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Life is good. Or you could do like I did to save money and buy one vise that I wasn’t totally happy with, then another then finally bought the third vise, which was the one that I should have bought the first time around. 
I bought a Peak from “Esquire92” last summer as I am afflicted with"Small Fly Syndrome" I have an Anvil Atlas for 18 and Larger(hardly use it anymore) and with the Micro jaw’s the Peak gives even my “Sausage” fingers plenty of room. the only accesory I don’t have is the Extre post.
I really like it:D
I’ve owned and used a Peak vise for almost 4 years.
I’ve used it mostly for stream trout flies ranging in size from #4 to #24 and have found that it meets all my needs. The extra heavy white enameled base and the hook recess in the base are nice features that differentiate it a bit from other vises.
The vise is very durable and I have had no problems with my vise in almost 4 years of fairly heavy use.
IMO, its the best value in a quality vise and I would recommend it.
Thanks for the feed back folk’s. Sound’s like a picked a winner. I tie mostly trout flies from #10 down to #20 , would it be worth adding the midge jaw’s or do the standard jaw’s provide plenty of working room?
I have tied wet flies and scuds down to #16’s and I have not had any problems tying them with the standard jaws that came with the vise. I cannot give you any feedback on hooks smaller than #16’s. Sorry…
Probably depends on your tying style and preference, but I tie down to #20 with the standard jaws. I’d suggest you stat with the standard jaws. Yo9u can always add the midge jaws later.