Going to step on a lot of toes here but I think that those expensive little spools of tippet are a total rip off!! Yeah sure you get these neat little spools of tippet you can hang around your neck to look cool or stuff in your vest with those little holes to tail it out of! A 110 yard filler spool of 2# test (7X) flourocarbon costs about 1/2 of a 30 yard spool of Tippet! I pre make my tippets and pack them in little baggies in my vest, 4-6’ with a double surgeons loop. A 1/2 dozen pre made tippets take up about as much room as that over priced “Tippet” spool! And, they are a lot quicker to change!
Yes, I know I have strayed from the path of truth and may the gods forgive me.
Jack: I use the 110 yard filler spools also. I prefer regular Stren mono.
Tim
panman;
Thank you for your support! We may both be in the hot seat now!
I want to look cool, So I buy the tippet specially for us fly guys and snap em all together and put em in my chest pack. I want everyone to see I fish with Rio tippets! :o I think it’s better quality stuff.
For saltwater and most heavy freshwater fishing I use Stren or Berkeley (Trilene, Big Game) products. For tippets 4x and smaller for dry fly fishing for trout I use purpose made tippet material which I have found more supple than bulk spinning or casting mono, at least those that I have compared against.
I’m a fan of the Berkley clear mono…but am now adding tippet of transition to all my leaders…With one Slight exception…I will not use anything but Maxima on the Blowline setup…Not the regular leader stuff…But the bulk spools sold for spin fishing…Same stuff…just cheaper this way!.
I’ve owned 3 tapered leaders thus far…and they all came with combo outfits bought from Cabela’s…Those are a waste of good money too…Your better off picking a reel of your own chooseing… :shock:
And here I thought I was the only one in this world to pre-make their tippits and place them in small plastic bags, only I use a perfection loop and the one end.
Scott
Yea but what is the diameter of that 2lb filler flouro? Is it .004"?
I have checked mono or fluoro fishing line and have yet to find a brand of fishing line that has the same strength/diameter ratio as fly fishing tippet material. For me diameter is the critical issue, not test. While I’m sure it doesn’t matter a whole lot when you get to heavier tippets; it is critical when fishing the light stuff.
A 30 meter spool of fluoro is about $15. I use a tippet of about .75 a meter; that’s about $.38 a tippet. Depending on how often I change flies; that may work out to $1 a fishing trip. I don’t know about the rest of you but there are a whole lot of other consumables I use on a fishing trip that cost a lot more.
How many lost flies equal $.38?
While I don’t like spending $60 when I need to buy 4 spools of tippet; I’m not buying it every week or even every month; more like once a year in certain sizes. When I look at it this way; it doesn?t hurt as bad.
Yea but what is the diameter of that 2lb filler flouro? Is it .004"?
Berkley vanish 2 poumd is .004 diameter.
250 yard spool is about 10 bucks.
Mikie:
Unless the specs I see on several websites are wrong; the STATED specs for Berkley Vanish in 2-8lb test are:[ul]
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2lb - .006 (5X)
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4lb - .007 (4X)
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6lb - .009 (2X)[/ul]
Compare that by DIAMETER to the Seaguar Grand Max specs:[ul]
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.006 (5X) - 4.8lb
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.007 (4X) - 7.0lb
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.009 (2X) - 12.5lb[/ul]
Unless I’m missing something; there is no comparison between fly fishing tippet and fishing line when you compare strength to diameter.
I have 2,4,6 and 8 pound Vanish at home. I will check when I get there. Maybe my memory is crapping out.
Does it make it Tippet if you wind the line off the big spool onto the smaller spools the tippet comes on as they are easier to carry in the fly vest?
Rick
I use tippet material in 6X & 7X occasionally. Other than that, I go with filler spools 4lb test & heavier in either Stren Clear Blue or fluorocarbon, depending on whether fishing top or “down”. It definitely is cost effective, & as Jack said, pre-rigging is a lot easier when it’s time to change tippet.
Mike
While I have only ever used fly fishing specific tippets, I think I may now change. With a lot of the fishing I do being throwing big/heavy flies into thick cover for warm water species, I believe that I may just start following along here and using some of the cheaper bulk spools. I love the idea of having them pre-made. That is just ingenius to me. Thanks guys!
I use Frog Hair tippet. I buy it in 100meter spools. I compared it to spinning line and it’s twice as strong for the same diameter in the size i use most of the time (5x).
Since it’s in my vest with nothing sticking out. Nobody knows how cool I am. I’m alone on the stream 99% of the time anyway. 
I do know I have the best mono for the job though. 
Jack, every time I go tie on a new 2-3ft section of tippet (Rio for me, usually 6X) I truly marvel at the thin-ness of the diameter for the strength of the stuff. And what really tweaks me is how SUPPLE the material is.
Unless you simply fish fer sunnies and not trout, you can’t do w/o it.
Jeremy.
Put me down in the Bamboozle camp…Except where Bam you said…“For me diameter is the critical issue, not test.”…as follow-up replies indicated they are interrelated …Bam,I think you would agree 
Of course we can get into situations where the fish aren’t leader shy then it won’t matter.
Oh, and here’s a list I compiled for furled leader material…you can see the Berkley Vanish Transition is listed there…thus keeping this reply from being a hi-jack
Power Pro
Phantom Red 8#=1#dia. … .005" 0.10mm
Berkley Vanish
Transition 4#… .007"
Tectan 9.2#… .0079"
Yo-Zuri Hybrid 2#… .008"
Stren ? 4#… .008"
Yo-Zuri Hybrid 4#… .009"
Rough strengths of leaders:
Nylon Thread.005=5#
Vanish Fluoro .006 2# =10#
Vanish Transition Fluoro .007 4#=13#
Mono pink…Ande 4#=20#
P-Line
2# .004" .12mm
4# .007 .18mm
6# .008" .21mm
Duck:
I definitely understand the interrelation between tippet diameter and test but what I mean is; when I choose a tippet size; is based purely on its diameter based on the fly size; the size of the leader material I am tying it to and the fishing situation at hand. I really don’t care about how strong it is…
…until I hook a fish ;).
What I spend in a year for tippet spools ia a lot less than I spend in a week for gasoline for the 2 vehicles. It is less than what it costs for my wife and I to go out for a good meal. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. I will keep buying spools of tippet material.