So WHY Sally Hanson

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Halfie... when I started tying in the mid seventies, Hard as Nails was pretty much all that was available locally in south Florida. Over the years as various products, catalogues, suppliers, etc. came and went (can't remember how many suppliers have disappeared over the years...) that particular brand of clear nail polish was always easily available. As a result lots and lots of folks use it. When I did night fly tying classes through my local community college in the early eighties my students would just wipe out the local stores that carried it as well. My only current use for the stuff is when tying up bonefish bugs for local shops. For that purpose it's great, reasonably quick drying, nice shine (I always use it in conjunction with Krazy Glue -super glued first then finished with Hard as Nails for a really durable head finish).

 

tight lines

Bob LeMay

[JSzymczyk 0]

Part of the reason I think is because the standard nylon enhanced formula stays somewhat flexible after it has fully dried. It doesn't chip or flake off. I've used other nail polishes on flies which were not as durable, and some even got soft or cloudy in the water after they had been fully dried for many days or even longer. It penetrates thread wraps well. I started using it sometime in the early 80's shortly after I started tying. I have no memory of who or what recommended it to me. It's cheap, easily available, a bottle lasts a long time, and it works really good so IMO there is no reason to change.

 

I get it in the round cylindrical bottles with the short cap. I leave the brush bristles the full length, but cut out about 2/3 of them to make a much smaller brush.

 

So, because the Dos XX folks used me as inspiration, I say "I don't always use head cement, but when I do, it's Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails."

[Owl Jones 0]

It works and it's cheap - why get your feathers ruffled about how or why it started? It's the only "head cement" I've ever used (since 1989 or so)! Plus, they have really good customer service. (you can ask, but I wont' tell! LOL )

[SilverCreek 0]

Two size 16 dry fly hooks, identical wire gauge, identical gap, different shank lengths. They need different hackle lengths.

 

[oldtrout58 0]

Two size 16 dry fly hooks, identical wire gauge, identical gap, different shank lengths. They need different hackle lengths.

 

 

Excellent!

 

Wrong topic though...lol

[feathers5 0]

In the beginning Sally Hansen's was used to illustrate that you don't need to pay for over priced head cements and that there are alternatives. I don't think it was meant that only Sally Hansen's would work. Like the guys said, any brand will do the trick. We use a product, like the way it works, get comfortable using it, and so we're confident when we recommend it. It gains a rep and here we are today discussing its merits.

[Rocco 0]

Sally Hanson's placed an ad in the first edition of "The Compleat Angler" and she was sleeping with the author.

 

Rocco

[Peterjay 0]

Rocco, do you think Sally got to call him "Ike?" Seriously, I thought I was the one who discovered Sally Hansen about 22 years ago when I lived in Idaho. I was out of cement, and rather than drive all the way across town to the fly shop, I went down the street to the drug store and bought a bottle of Sally's. It was the name that attracted me. "Hard as Nails With Nylon" sounds like really tough stuff. (which of course, it is) Once the Internet was born, it became obvious that everybody else had made the same discovery. I still think it's the name. I've got a bottle of some other nail polish I bought at the local closeout store that is every bit as good as Sally's. If you use multiple coats, I doubt it matters which brand you use.

[saltydancindave 0]

Sally Hansens' Advanced Hard As Nails with Nylon + Retinol is better than regular Sally Hansens' Hard as Nails; at least in clear because it has the nylon in it which supposedly bonds better & stronger for saltwater fly tying; or so I heard thru the fly tiers grapevine........

[Panama Red 0]

I use it because y'all said it works I used hard as hull once and coulden't tell the difference, besides they sell it just about everywhere.

[flytire 0]

i really dont care who was the first to discover that sally was good for flytying but thanks to whoever you are.

[perchjerker 0]

Hmmmm! So SH is cheap! Let's see; at $2.98 a bottle, and only 0.45 oz per bottle, that comes to $5.96 per 0.9 oz. With 16 oz in a quart, a quart equates to 17.777 bottles of SH. At these figures, I get a price of $52.98 per quart for SH. For $12.00, I can get a quart of DEFT Clear Gloss Wood Finish (a lacquer) at any big box store, or wherever paints are sold. A gallon of Lacquer Thinner adds another $8-10.00 to my cash out lay. To be fair, let's round my outlay for head cement and thinner up to $25.00. For the $52.98, I can get a half-gallon of the lacquer, and two gallons of thinner. About five life-times, or more in my case, worth of head cement and thinner. Lacquer dries clear, stays clear, wears forever, and is deep penetrating into the thread. (Oh, and the extra $2.98 will cover over half of 'the Governor's share'; for me at least.)

 

Lacquer's durability can best be attested to by it's persistence on Oriental wooden ware, as A.K. Best so admirably pointed out. Given the nature of the solvent, which evaporates VERY rapidly, There is no 'stickiness' or 'tackiness' associated with it.

 

I personally see whether or not head cement yellows with age as being a 'strawman', as the heads are tied with colored thread, and a fish DOES NOT have time to discern whether or not the head cement has yellowed before it makes that nano-second decision relative to whether or not to take the fly (yes, I know about anthropomorphisms).

 

Will someone please explain to what I am missing when it comes to SH being cheap, as claimed?

 

By the way, I can pour it up into any size and shape bottle I want for daily use.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

One last tip about Hard as Nails from me.... When the bottle is less than half full and the stuff is getting too thick to use properly... I don't toss it. I take the new bottle, carefully decant 1/3 to 1/2 of it into the old bottle, then quickly re-cap that new bottle. All it takes is a bit of shaking and the old bottle is back into usable condition (and will last quite a while). The half empty brand new stuff will be added when the old bottle is low enough. That way you greatly lengthen the usable life of that particular item.

 

Unlike freshwater tiers I may go months without using any Hard as Nails since if it's finish I'm using FlexCoat, otherwise I do without any finish at all, preferring to just use a tiny drop of super glue in situations where the fly is going to get quickly shredded or there's very little "head" to finish at all. A fair number of daily "guide's flies" that I use are rated only by how many bites the fly will survive before it needs to be replaced...

 

Tight Lines

Bob LeMay

[Crotalus 0]

Hmmmm! So SH is cheap! Let's see; at $2.98 a bottle, and only 0.45 oz per bottle, that comes to $5.96 per 0.9 oz. With 16 oz in a quart, a quart equates to 17.777 bottles of SH. At these figures, I get a price of $52.98 per quart for SH. For $12.00, I can get a quart of DEFT Clear Gloss Wood Finish (a lacquer) at any big box store, or wherever paints are sold. A gallon of Lacquer Thinner adds another $8-10.00 to my cash out lay. To be fair, let's round my outlay for head cement and thinner up to $25.00. For the $52.98, I can get a half-gallon of the lacquer, and two gallons of thinner. About five life-times, or more in my case, worth of head cement and thinner. Lacquer dries clear, stays clear, wears forever, and is deep penetrating into the thread. (Oh, and the extra $2.98 will cover over half of 'the Governor's share'; for me at least.)

 

Lacquer's durability can best be attested to by it's persistence on Oriental wooden ware, as A.K. Best so admirably pointed out. Given the nature of the solvent, which evaporates VERY rapidly, There is no 'stickiness' or 'tackiness' associated with it.

 

I personally see whether or not head cement yellows with age as being a 'strawman', as the heads are tied with colored thread, and a fish DOES NOT have time to discern whether or not the head cement has yellowed before it makes that nano-second decision relative to whether or not to take the fly (yes, I know about anthropomorphisms).

 

Will someone please explain to what I am missing when it comes to SH being cheap, as claimed?

 

By the way, I can pour it up into any size and shape bottle I want for daily use.

 

I wont be here five lifetimes, so $25/5 = $5 per lifetime, so right off the bat I have wasted 4 lifetimes or $20. But even to be generous and say that I tie a lot and use 2 lifetime's worth I will still waste $15. I doubt many people would honestly use 4 bottles of HAN, not counting spilled bottles and lost bottles and bottles that dry out when the cap is left off.

 

To that we have to add the cost of the damage caused to the kitchen floor or living room floor when we are trying to pour the lacquer from the half gallon can into those little head cement bottles. Now I am $$$$ ahead. There is also the possibility that the spill could cause extensive damage to a family heirloom from you wife's ancestors, now you need a divorce lawyer and child support.

 

 

The assertion that Hard as Nails is cheap is in comparison to the cements that are marketed to fly tiers as "head cement" not to all other cements, adhesives or coatings on the open market.

[Halfie 0]

Well, folks, thanks for the responses.

 

I suppose I'll never really know how Sally became so

fashionable in fly tying.

 

But I imagine that won't keep me up late tonight.

 

-Halfie