Vice??

Good morning TFF!!!

To all my facetious fly fishing friends out there, I have a question. (Yes you can run and duck for cover now... LOL)

I am new to fly tying. However, due to my historical reenactment background in the fur trade era, I have all sorts of goodies. Deer, elk, black bear, fox, badger, and cow hair. All sorts of feathers and I have chickens and ducks on my property.

Yes, I realize I am going to have to purchase some craft items. But I do have a nice starting platform.

With the help of Mr Jerry from the Cabela’s in Allen, (awesome gent BTW,) I picked up a Gunnison tool kit and a Cabela’s ceramic bobbin. I also picked up a bottle of glue and a couple bobbins of thread. What I don’t have is a vice for tying flies. (For those who are paying attention, yes, I have lots of hooks...)

I was pondering the Super vice II at Cabela’s. Thoughts, comments, squirrels. LOL.


Tight lines.

Duane.

(Useless information. A group of squirrels is called a dray.)

Wow Duane, you've learned quickly which fly fishing related questions will generate a lot of differing opinions.

Generally, this question generates a lot of passionate responses. The most common answer to which vise to get is usually whatever vise the person responding currently owns. People tend to be very proud of their favorite brand.

Here's my take, it is very common for new fly tyer's to either upgrade their vise or decide they don't like tying and to sell everything within a year of starting. My vote would be to start with a lower cost vise such as the one you are looking at. After you have tied for a little bit, you'll be able to make a better decision on which vise style best fits your style of tying. I'm sure you will receive differing opinions about doing it this way.

Scan past postings and you'll find a lot of vise discussions.

Hey, YES!!! you can use all of the fur that you mentioned including the squirrel tails.

Good luck!

I have experience with 3 vises. The first one I tied on was one that came with an Orvis fly tying kit from the 1970's. Several years ago, I bought a HMH Spartan. Then a year or so ago, a Renzetti Traveler. The Renzetti is my favorite by a wide margin. All I want a vise to do is securely hold a variety of hooks. The Renzetti does this very well and it is very quick and easy to secure a hook. I tie flies mainly on hooks size 10-1/0, but have tied on size 16 hooks. On my saltwater patterns and spun deer hair patterns, I really put significant pressure on the thread wraps and the Renzetti holds the hook well even then.

Some people love the HMH, some love Regal, some love Peak, etc.

It's frustrating tying and to have the hook work loose again and again. Some people love the rotary function of various vises. I don't care about the rotary function. Hold a variety of hooks well with a minimal amount of adjustment makes for a winning vise for me. Renzetti fits that for me.

My experience is much the same as karstopo. Rather than plug one particular brand, I'll just say that there is a world of difference in the "store brand" vice you can buy for under $50, and the "good" brands that are usually over $100. Not suggesting you should go all in on a top of the line type model, but it is definitely worth the money to invest at the $100 to 150 level.

You have no idea how much I have deliberated working on my Blue Buffalo #3 vice. I have it mounted on a tractor rim about 42in off the ground. I could easily pick it up with my two wheeled dolly and move it into the living room. However, I don’t thing that would go over very well with the Mrs. LOL

Honestly, I am probably going to start off with the $20 vice and see how much I want to invest or upgrade. Worst case scenario, I buy a new vice later and one of my three boys gets a starter vice.

Thank you for the comments!!!


Duane

Peak Fly tying vice and be done with it. I started with a rotary vice, and haven't looked elsewhere. lots of good vices out there.

I own several vises; some purchased and some were gifts. There are a lot of great vises out there, and some are very expensive while some are not. My suggestion would be to get a rotary vise; they are much more versatile. But they are not mandatory; you can tie equal flies on an inexpensive "rookie" vise. I have a Danvise my daughter and wife gave me years ago for my birthday. At the time the $80 they spent for it was a big chunk of change here at the Ford Foundation. It is my primary vise, and one of three set up on my bench. I love it. A few years ago I bought a Renzetti Traveler to keep with some tying supplies in the RV. This vise is WAAAAAY sexier than the Danvise, and twice the price, and I am very proud to own it. But it won't do anything the Danvise won't do, other than ooze snob appeal. And there are even sexier (and much more expensive) vises out there. Figure out what range of hook sizes you will be tying on, and make sure your vise (and its jaws, if there are options) will accommodate them. Any of the name brand vises (Dan, Regal, Dyna King, Renzetti, HMH, Griffin, Peak, and several others) will provide great service. All will have their adherents, and all will do the job. Just be forewarned; tying is addictive, and you will find yourself at the bench whenever you get bored. Have fun!

Renzetti Traveler vises are worth the investment. One and done, you won't need to buy a vise ever again.

I have had several over the past 40 years now. Some cheap ones that I don’t even remember the brand. putting those aside I have had a old regal standard vise that I traded to Pearow, because I also had a Peak Rotary. A Renzetii Traveler, Atlas anvil, Peak nonrotary. All are good strong vises and hold hooks very well. I have since paired my collection down and now only have my Peak Rotary, with standard and midge jaws. It’s mounted to a custom base that a friend made for me out of 1/2” thick plate steel and weighs a good 20 lbs. I also upgraded to the brass thumb screws and the handle for the rotary function. I love it, with my two sets of jaws, I can tie anywhere from size 32-1/0 with out any problems, however I do most of my tying in the size 20-6 range.

When you get into the vises in the $150+ range (Peak, Renzetti, Regal, etc...) it seems to be a Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge type situation. For the most part all of the vises in this range are quality made and will last a lifetime, but most tyers favor one over the others just like we do with trucks. I personally use a Peak (and have always driven Chevys) because I feel it fits me the best (have tied size 20 to 5/0 flies on it using the standard jaws), but I am sure the other vises would work just as well.

Agree with McKinneyLonghorn... also, liking the Peak. Been using it to tie a number of patterns; collated them into a Peak Tying Vise YouTube Playlist.

I know this topic is a little out of date but one thing to think about is what are your plans for the vice. Will it be a fixed station at home or will it part of a travel kit. I have had a Dyna-King Kingfisher for 16 years and love it. It was the first real vice I got and I haven’t really ever wanted another. I did recently pick up a Renzetti Traveler as part of a lot of fly tying tools and material someone was selling. My Kingfisher has served me well as both a home and travel vice. However I plan on setting up the Traveler as my home station and using the Kingfisher as my travel vice. The Kingfisher is a little more compact than the Traveler.

Good point. If you are going to be traveling a lot with your vise, I can't recommend a Peak pedestal vise no matter how much I love mine. I tie 99 percent of my flies on my Peak, which is built like a tank with a very heavy pedestal base. When I tie on a Traveler it feels like I am tying on a toy because it is so small and light (I am in no way saying the Renzetti is poorly made or delicate, just that it is tiny compared to the Peak). If I traveled a lot I would pick up something quite a bit lighter, but since I almost never take my vise out of the house the Peak is perfect for me.

I have a Peak and its great. Can't imagine a need to change or upgrade for anything more expensive. I started out with a store-brand vice that came in one of those starter fly tying its. After upgrading to the Peak I realized my first one was a complete piece of junk. I'd be wary of the store brand ones and generally cautious about one that's less than $100.

No one has mentioned Griffin Vise. My first vise was a Griffin, and I bought it when I was a total novice to fly fishing and fly tying. The story behind it is that there were parts missing, and I bought it at a fly shop that was going out of business. I contacted Griffin, and they sent me the parts that were missing... FREE of charge & NO shipping! I have tied hundreds, if not a thousand flies on it. Never had a minute’s problems.

Fast forward several years, and I bought a Renzetti Presentation rotary vise. Again, I have tied hundreds of flies on it... BUT... The jaws chipped. I was tying a size 18 soft hackles, and one of the jaws chipped. I researched some on the internet, and come to find out, this is not an uncommon problem. Called them up, and they would be HAPPY to send me a new set of jaws ... for the sweet price of $104.00!!!

JR

I've owned a number of vises over the two decades I've been tying and sold only one in disgust (a Danvise, whose jaws were just not strong enough for tying big flies that required the pressure needed to spin deer hair). That said, I still have my first vise, a Renzetti Traveler, to which I've added various components and which still accompanies me when I...wait for it...travel! I've added a couple more higher end Renzettis (bought used or on special) and they get used as well. The other brand I have consistently found nearly flawless is Dyna-King. I use the Dyna-King Ultimate Indexer at home and just purchased a Dyna-King Professional as a backup. Follow RexW's advice (always a good idea, I have found), but realize that if you stick with tying, the first thing you will upgrade is your vise. It's the key to good tying.

Still liking the Peak Tying Vise... added another pattern to the playlist - Quick Tie - Simple Midge.