MAINE - Life in the Slow Lane
i have been using a 15 $ cheapest thing i could find to hold a hook vise.... Lol i may up grade if i decide to go further in my tying. i may just pick 4 or 5 of my favorite easy to tie patterns and buy the rest of the ones i use that are more difficult and require more materials. i often look for used equipment in the classifieds and craigs list so when the chance arises to pick up something decent for short money thats when i would consider upgrading . i will have some time over the winter to tie but may just stick to the flies i am good at .. lots of icefishing to be done .... along with snowshoeing and other outdoor winter activities 
I got here because this is what came in the kit i purchased from cabelas ......
Thomson A vise to start, gave it to a guy who was starting to tie. Then Renzetti traveler and now I use a Regal. Don't see changing again, very happy with this one. I kept the Renzetti for a couple of years as a back up and to take on trips for tying at the end of the day.
I to started out very cheap . I believe a starter kit from LL-Bean. Then my up grade well I have no idea what it is . I paid about 90 bucks for it. it does what I need and then some. I was thinking about getting a rotary a few years back but never took the leap. I have always wanted a Regal but I think I will wait for my retirement when i have a ton of time to sit down and tie . all day. I use my LL-Bean vise for trips and I like it because it packs up so nice. Dave V
Quote by: caddisfly4........... and now I use a Regal. Don't see changing again, very happy with this one. .......
Charlie Poole used one of those Regals and he could tie about any fly known to mankind on it. The one he had was an older one but these days you can even get them in a rotary version. Charlie tied flies for a living and the fact he used a Regal says a lot for that vise.
Dave
Let me be the first one to lead you into temptation 
Don't wait! When I started tieing I could do a #28 dry fly because I could see it. These days I'm done after a #18, about as blind as a bat!
I like the rotary because I'm one of those nuts that likes a well shaped head on a fly. Even go as far as to put the Loon sauce to them to shine them up. Then you let the goop sag until it's just right and then roll it over.
Ok, so I am touched, but the trout don't care 
Quote by: KodaDave
Let me be the first one to lead you into temptation
I like the rotary because I'm one of those nuts that likes a well shaped head on a fly. Even go as far as to put the Loon sauce to them to shine them up. Then you let the goop sag until it's just right and then roll it over.
Ok, so I am touched, but the trout don't care
I know what your saying about being blind can't even read the news paper anymore without my specs. #28 midge egg pattern I guess. I thought I was doing good on #26 Keep pushing I might get one of them Regals Koda
I have three very unimpressive old used and abused vices that I got in a massive purchase of an old gent's collection. They are rusty on the jaws which can fray the thread, and they don't always work well. I think I want a rotary vice at soem point inthe future, but that could surely be a long ways off. They have and will work for the meantime however.
I am very hopeful that a new ceramic bobbin is in my near future. I could really use a few of those.
Theron
Quote by: T_Bone22581I have three very unimpressive old used and abused vices that I got in a massive purchase of an old gent's collection. They are rusty on the jaws which can fray the thread, and they don't always work well. I think I want a rotary vice at some point in the future, but that could surely be a long ways off. They have and will work for the meantime however.
I am very hopeful that a new ceramic bobbin is in my near future. I could really use a few of those.
Theron
Them ceramic's are nice for sure
Hi All
My first vise came in a tying kit. Nice little chrome jobbie with a thumb screw.
Still a great little travelling vice for trout flies.. My next vise was a Thompson Model A.
I then purchased a Veniard "Salar".vise that I used for years..Grandson uses it now...
I then invested in a Regal and have never looked back. It is my go to vise now...
If I dig into the fly tying draweres I could likely come up with a couple of Thompsons
and a couple of Sunrise vises (Thompson knock-offs from india)
I'd like to have a true Rotary vise but my tying volume is not great now-a-days
and alas, the grandson broke my ceramic bobbin and I have not replaced it yet...
T_bone...Send me a pic of the old vises...I am an invertabrate collector of old junk.
.
Stephen
I started out many a year ago with a HMH vise and tied thousands, maybe millions of flies on that vise. It served me well and I was happy with it. Until, Charlie Poole down at the local fly shop gave me a smokin deal on a Renzetti Traveler for $100. At first I didn't like it because, it was different.
One Winter I pulled it out and started playing around with it and fell in love. Of course human nature always is looking for something even better so after a few years with the Renzetti I was Hell bent on getting a Nor Vise. Norm made spinning bodies look so easy, and where I do a lot of nymphs I just had to have one.
The Nor is different, but once you get on to it it's all that and a bag of chips. Well for a lot of flies. The waterloo for it was when I started tieing Polish woven nymphs. You ain't doing that on a Nor. So it was back to the Renzetti.
One of my dealers ties over 750,000 flies a year and he ties them all on those plastic Dan vises and loves them. They're short money and with a recommendation from Jamie I just may get around to playing with one some day.
So what are you folks using and how did you get there?
"Life is a journey, not a destination. Take the time to enjoy the gifts of the Great Spirit along the way." Coug2wolfs ~ Dances With Bears
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