With all the fly fishing gadgets that I have, or once owned, I’ve never used a tippet despencer.
They always seemed to me to be not worth the price. Of course w/o one you have a pocket full of loose spools and worse,loose tippet.
I’ve tried o-rings and other methods to control the loose ends, but this year I may break down and get a tippet dispencer.
Any favorites, anyone make their own?
Rio tippet comes with an elastic band with a smooth metal grommet going through it going around the spool. The bands are marked with tippet size, diameter, and breaking strength. Tippet goes out through the grommet, and will stay in place quite well. The Rio spools are also designed to clip together. When I go fishing I usually bring as many spools as I need (normally 2) and put them in a shirt pocket.
I like to use those elastic hair gathers that women & girls use to collect the hair into a pony tail. I tie a piece of yarn on it to use as a handle. Works well as a line keeper for spare spools as well.
A free gift waits for those who ask.
Lotech Joe
To any of you self employed inventors on here, I have one thing to say: dental floss dispensors! I took a dispensor apart and filled it with 6x tippet, and it worked well. THe dispensor has a cutter/retainer built in, and protects the tippet from damage in the vest. There is only one problem, the spool is too small in diameter, and you have to straighten the tippet. Rubber bands work on regular tippet spools, but they seem to degrade after a year and need to be replaced.
Have fun, Jeff
Tis my time on the water, in the mountains, and in my driftboat where I can see things as they really are.
I have used various tippet dispensers over the years. They all leave something to be desired. The best thing for me is to use the tippet spool pockets that are on the inside of my vest. One spool in each pocket keeps everything simple. You really don’t need to carry that many different sizes either.
[This message has been edited by gadabout (edited 15 February 2005).]
i use a fishpond waist pack, unsure of the model. it has several tags hanging off of either side, one of which i fasten a lanyard-like device to. this device holds as many spools of tippet as i need, usually only four at any one time, and is pretty convenient. i keep my nippers clipped on a separate zinger next to the tippet spools, so everything is together.
like someone else mentioned above, i use the spools of rio tippet that come with the elastic/grommet apparatus to keep the tippet from unraveling. it’s pretty handy, once i learned to not cut the tippet too close to the elastic band, making it difficult to access in the future.
my $0.02
chris
I got a C&F tippet dispencer for a fraction of it’s price over Christmas. I’ve always liked the idea of condensing that stuff. I have used it a few times and it’s pretty cool. Loading it takes a while, but once you get the tippet in there it stays good with the provided elastic bands. I like that it has a built in grommet type slot that I used to permanently attach it to the inside pocket of my vest with a little backing. Now I will never loose 5 spools of tippet again, that in itself is reason enough and if it only prevents one loss (I usually loose all my spools a few times a year) I’ll be way ahead. The built in tippet cutter is also nice and I’ve been using it. I also like that I can buy mega spools of tippet for my boat, and wind what I need onto the gadget which is only for me to use. It’s also more compact which is nice because I usually carry Rio spools which lock together nice but are bulky.
I think this product was discontinued which is why I got it so cheap, but maybe it is still around.
I use a little gadget I have seen in a few local shops. I made my own, or should I say a friend made both of ours and I still need to make a thread dispenser but that?s a whole other subject.
Anyway take a piece of 1/8? rope about 10-12? long, fold it in half tie together in a knot the two loose ends. Take a wooden bead (about 1? dia found at a craft store with hole already in it, place it over the lop end and slide down to the knot. Take a big swivel (salt water type works well) and attach it to the loop end (this gives you a way to fasten it to your vest and the tippet spools should pass over it to load. And that?s it cost maybe a buck or two to make.
As someone said Rio has a good band on their spools already, as do many manufactures and the spools clip together giving you a nice system. If I can find my camera I will snap a pic and post it. Good luck!
Eric.
After years of fighting the mess of “loose ends”, I have had great success with the soft plastic spools that fold over. (difficult to explain) The Feather Craft catalog has a “Chenille Center”. The spools are pictured and can be bought separately. They can be spooled with whatever your tippet choices are, and humg from your vest/shirt/pack via a loop of bead chain. Simple and no loose ends.
lmao nothing worse than trying to fish out a lighter leader and pulling out a balled up birdsnest of tippet material .I was recently introduced to the Rio spool system … never have that problem again .
Orvis makes a great F.C. filled tippet dispenser and now their FC reels are 40 meters for the same price. Plus the quality of that FC material is really good.
Miguel Reznicek