Montana Mongoose Vise

[Redneck Fly 0]

I'm thinking about buying the Montana Mongoose Vise it's allot of money for me and want to know if any one owns this vise and what they think of it.

 

Thanks :help: :help:

[Redneck Fly 0]

i most come off like a real dick are something nobody realy ever posts on the topics i post :hyst: :dunno:

[Stippled Popper 0]

Sorry. It is only that my entire vise use has been with a Danvise.

[petelangevin 0]

I'm thinking about buying the Montana Mongoose Vise it's allot of money for me and want to know if any one owns this vise and what they think of it.

 

Thanks :help: :help:

 

 

my take is easy if you are going to spend 150$ on a vise. spend an extra 15 and buy the regal vise from orvis. excellent warrantee and it holds hooks solid no adjustments necessary.

[cruzfly89 0]

do you live close to a fly shop? if so you should see if they will let u test out the vises. everybody has different feelings about why they like or dislike a vise. the best route to go is to actually tie on a bunch of different vises before you choose which one you want. i know this really does not answer your question.

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

I've got a Regal and Renzetti Traveler. As for your other posts, I didn't post cause you come off as a real dick.

 

I did some searches for reviews, usually Amazon is good for that but nothing even there. Maybe find out what kind of return policy the seller has. I notice the vise itself has a lifetime warranty but if nothing is wrong with it and you just don't like it, you still want to be able to return it. Not sure if lifetime warranty covers dissatisfaction.

 

Kirk

[petelangevin 0]

That mongoose vise is in another price level. 240 on eBay. There are a lot of choices in this range. It looks solid. But take your time and check out other tyers vises. And try them. Before you spend that much you want to be sure you are going to be truly happy. You never know you might find another vise that really works for you or you might score a deal on a better vise. Best of luck.

 

[Curtis Fry 0]

I've tied on one for a few years, switching to the newer model when it came out a couple of years ago. I used to be a Dyna King guy, went to a Nor-Vise for a titch. Tried a Vosselor (hated it). Ended up ditching my Barracuda for the Mongoose. Kind of a personal preference type of thing, but I'm sticking to it. A lot of my tying buddies are on the Mongoose now too....

[zug buggin 0]

Not familiar with that one, sounds interesting

[Runarsson 0]

There you see what Hans Weilenmann means when he says 'One man's dream is another man's nightmare'. Curtis Fly ditched his Barracuda for the Mongoose... while my Mongoose lies in a drawer and has been replaced by a Barracuda. I strongly advice you to TRY the Mongoose before you buy it. I never did. It can hold a hook, the new Delrin block makes the rotation very smooth... but it has some serious drawbacks.

 

(Obviously these are personal opinions.)

 

Ergonomics:

The combination jaws length/extension depth/cam to jaws distance, turns it into a very uncomfortable vise when tying with it rotated 180 degrees. All three, and especially together, makes it hard to reach the fly up-side-down (and when you have angled your hand so that you can, your fingers will make it harder instead).

 

 

Tying:

I also think they have overdone it with length of the cam. It doesn't really leave much room under the fly (and the distance to the jaws doesn't help much). Having it backwards, it actually slams into the bobbin hanger. I have seen pics of an older one, where the cam is both shorter and closer to the jaws. Why they changed that is beyond me...

 

 

They MIGHT have made the cam a little shorter on the newest (black) design, but I'm not sure. The only pictures I've seen are from a front/side angle. (I'm curious about how it looks on a clean sideshot, with the cam straight forward. Anyone sitting on a picture of his own?) The distance from the cam to the jaws looks the same though.

 

Another thing is that the tips of the jaws are rounded in all directions. They have no real "corners" and since they're rounded on their insides too, they don't close all the way out. Not the ideal jaws for the smallest hooks. (Of course a "need or not"-thing.)

 

At the time the ergonomical drawbacks were the ones annoying me the most. I started to dislike it within a month. As soon as I'd gotten over the excitement over 'best vise so far' state, I started to realize that it also was my most uncomfortable so far. Some like theirs really much... but apparently it was totally wrong for me. I'd say it's a 'love or hate' vise. It has some good things and it has some bad things. At that time I thought 'tying comfortably from all angles' was one of the heaviest inline rotation advantages and this one didn't give me what I wanted there. So, agreeing with 'cruzfly89' and 'petelangevin'. If you aren't sure about how much you require from what, then 'try before buy' (and of course give others a chance to show what they've got).

 

An untried vise is nothing more than an expensive lottery ticket. Noone can tell you what YOU will like or dislike.

 

/Nick

[Redneck Fly 0]

Thanks guys for all the feed back and swedneck thanks man for the great pictures to show what you were saying helped out alote thanks. Guys agine you make this forum the reason why its the best.

 

Thanks again

Redneck Fly