Small Portable vises?

[BassMouth87 0]

I currently own an Anvil Apex (my first vise) and then later purchased a Mongoose for home tying. Both are labeled as portable vises and to a certain extent yes they are portable, can be taken to shows/shops to tie with, but are still a bit heavy and clunky( and expensive to loose or have stolen). What I am pondering and looking for is something small, portable, cheap and light to be used in my work truck during lunch breaks, downtime waiting for calls, etc. I am sure I could use my atlas with the C clamp on the steering wheel, but it is a bit heavy and the jaws are worn from improper hook placement when I was starting out.

 

The Marco Polo kit is pretty much exactly what I would be looking for minus the $600+ price tag. Curious if anyone knows of any small, light, cheap vises, hand vises, etc that would work for tying in the truck, tying while camping, on the side of the pond, etc. Small kits with cheap tools would also be a plus if its a reasonable price. Yes I do have a problem lol.

[shoebop 0]

I own a Griffen Mongoose as well but I don't think it is clunky. Actually, I like to take mine on the road. But I wouln't like to have someone steal it either.

[Stevester 0]

$600? I don't think so. My first suggestion for a commercial vice would be an HMH Spartan. Don't know what they go for now but you used to be able to get them for $150 or so. Maybe you could find someone selling one used at a better price. The Spartan is nice for most trout and small mouth sized hooks, my experience is that it is not all that good for sizes larger than say a #4. You could always go for one of the cheap Indian vices. For occasional use it would be sufficient.

 

If you don't mind going more primitive or somewhat DIY, why not just use a pair of heavy duty hemostats or small size vice-grip. It lets you get back to how our predecessors did it. For a stream side or carry along kit all you need is a bobbin, whip finisher and some hackle pliers along with your materials. I've been in this sport going on 40 years and I have never seen anyone tying a fly stream side and maybe twice at their car or truck.

 

Steve

[BassMouth87 0]

The vise itself is not clunky, but loading it all into the case, then adding tools and materials is clunky for the kind of tying I am looking to do. Taking the mongoose or anvil to a vise night when I can stuff a tote with what I need and bring it in my car to the shop is one thing, do not think it would work the same for when I am killing downtime and lunch breaks at work. I am forced to take two 30 minute unpaid breaks during a shift (not to mention other downtime and waiting at times) so figure I might as well kill time tying brassies, soft hackles and simpler patterns. That will be its primary function but would also like something I could take out camping and outdoors to enjoy some tying in nature, stream or pond side etc.

 

The tools and vise does not even have to be all that high quality as I have quality tools and vises at home, just something convenient and ultra portable...have been looking around and so far at least this may be an option...although I am not sure how it will feel tying in my lap while sitting in a vehicle.

 

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/28325/cabelas-standard-fly-tying-tool-kit

 

I am hoping others have had similar thoughts and have some ideas or suggestions.

[BassMouth87 0]

$600? I don't think so. My first suggestion for a commercial vice would be an HMH Spartan. Don't know what they go for now but you used to be able to get them for $150 or so. Maybe you could find someone selling one used at a better price. The Spartan is nice for most trout and small mouth sized hooks, my experience is that it is not all that good for sizes larger than say a #4. You could always go for one of the cheap Indian vices. For occasional use it would be sufficient.

 

If you don't mind going more primitive or somewhat DIY, why not just use a pair of heavy duty hemostats or small size vice-grip. It lets you get back to how our predecessors did it. For a stream side or carry along kit all you need is a bobbin, whip finisher and some hackle pliers along with your materials. I've been in this sport going on 40 years and I have never seen anyone tying a fly stream side and maybe twice at their car or truck.

 

Steve

 

Even $150 is a lot more then I am hoping to spend...having around $400 invested in vises at this point I will likely have a hard time convincing my significant other that I need another $150 vise lol. I am curious to hear others opinions on tying in a vehicle or outside randomly...I am less likely to ever want to tie while fishing, but a day of picnicking with my lady out in the wilderness after a hike or walk would be topped nicely with some leisurely fly tying. I know I have a problem lol.

 

I may give the hemostats a go for simpler flies, tenkara style etc, but would likely go mad trying to do soft hackles or P.T's with one hand having to hold my vise steady.

 

Edit: The Marco Polo Kit looks amazing and is such a tight portable setup...but with tools of such high quality and design comes that $600 price tag, I saw one in person once and then almost soiled myself when I saw the price tag.

http://www.flyfishusa.com/fly-tying/c-f-marco-polo.htm

[Gene L 0]

It requires a heavy book to place on the vise to hold it steady...so what you make up for in portability, you lose in having to take a heavy book along with you streamside.

 

The vise doesn't look that impressive to me. And I'm sure you have all the other included tools already. Were it me, I'd clamp the Anvil Apex to my steering wheel with the C Clamp and go with that. It's a very good vise.

[Crackaig 0]

How small do you want to go? The Blue Mountain travel vice will fit into your shirt pocket. If it is still available I don't know. It is a very good vice. Also there alternatives to the C&F kit. Take a look at the bottom of the page here. I have seen this kit available for less. If I can recall where I will post. If you want to weight the base its usually not difficult to find an appropriate stone to do the job. That way you don't have to carry it. However, if you find stones in short supply on your river, put the whole kit in a ZipLok bag. When you want to tie fill the bag with sand or gravel and use that for your weight. Both a lot easier than carrying a large book!

 

If you want to tie on your steering wheel (when you are not driving) then you can make a table / shelf to clamp onto the steering wheel. You will need 2 pieces of wood, one to form the shelf the other the back. The back needs two slots, one at either end through which you put two J shaped bolts to hold it to the steering wheel. The other piece of wood needs to be cut at the same angle as your steering wheel so when attached to the steering wheel it is horizontal. Screw the two together and you have a great little table. Of course you wouldn't want to use it while driving! You can make it much more fancy, Just look at the benches some of the highly skilled members here make.

 

As for the kit, I wouldn't carry head cement. You can do that later at home. Even a small accident with head cement can be expensive. Decide on a few patterns you want to tie on the day and just take stuff for those. Here's my Travelling Fly Tier demo set up. The rule is enough of each material to tie 12 of each fly. Usually around 6 or 8 different patterns. It is small enough that I can fit it in my shirt pocket.

 

You don't have to take it to that extreme. As I mentioned this is a kit for a demonstration, It should be taken to an extreme to show what is possible.

 

Until you get a kit sorted there are various things you can do. Things like, knotting legs in pheasant tail. All you would need is a bulldog clip big enough to fit your steering wheel, A latched hook (knitting machine needle in a handle) and of course a pheasant tail. Use the bulldog clip to hold the pheasant tail to the steering wheel and work down it tying knots in each fibre. You can bead and weight hooks ready to tie later. Any job that you don't use your vice for.

 

Cheers,

C.

[flytire 0]

 

pretty light

 

holds a hook just fine

 

adapts to a pedestal when you need it to

 

inexpensive

 

extremely portable

 

doesnt take much room

 

or

 

magnavise

 

 

griffin 2a

 

 

renzetti traveler

 

renzetti apprentice

 

etc etc etc

[utyer 0]

These are the two that I have, the silver one (pictured with the other kit items,) is the Streamside vise which is still available. The second one is a R Pragliola which was made in Italy, that one is no longer available. The Pragliola vise came with a clamp that will fit on a steering wheel. Both are too small and light for anything but "emergency" tying, but they do fit in my stream and camping kits.

 

For more serious tying on a search on eBay should turn up a few really good OLD Thompson vises. The Griffith entry level vise would be another very good option.

 

The BEST option would be to tie in hand.

[Bugsy 0]

The tools and vise does not even have to be all that high quality as I have quality tools and vises at home, just something convenient and ultra portable...have been looking around and so far at least this may be an option...although I am not sure how it will feel tying in my lap while sitting in a vehicle.

 

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/28325/cabelas-standard-fly-tying-tool-kit

 

I am hoping others have had similar thoughts and have some ideas or suggestions.

Craig Mathews of BRF offered his thoughts on this kit here:

 

[BassMouth87 0]

Gene: I am going to take my vise in just to see the mechanics of it and if it will work out with the C-clamp, might be the easiest and cheapest option.

 

Crackaig: Thank you for the in depth post, you have made some very good suggestions and given me some great ideas. That little blue mountain vise is pretty sweet but I cannot seem to find anyone selling them. I have seen the Belazia vise on ebay for the $90-100 mark (+ shipping and import fees) and while they are great looking little vises perfect for travel they are expensive and all the accessories such as c-clamps, pedestal extension arms are sold out or just as expensive.I like the idea of the bench that attaches to the steering wheel, may have to look further into that if my first attempts are not comfortable or work out. I plan to have little plano boxes with materials for a few flies so I can bring them along when in the mood for soft hackles, nymphs, dries, etc. I figure being able to spend an extra hour or two at the vise on my down time will help me get ahead of my tying for years to come, when I am working I rarely have time to come home and do any tying, the majority of it is done on my days off. Also like the tips on keeping a small kit for tying together, and the thought of doing tasks that do not require a vise to prepare for further tying. Appreciate the information my friend, was truly a help in finding something that will work out.

 

Flytire: Some good looking vises, will have to do some research and see price points and locations that I can purchase them.

 

Utyer: I have seen the Streamside vise around...if I am to understand you wrap it around the finger on your left hand say and the jaws of the vise are adjusted not unlike an x-acto blade handle? I like the idea but having one hand holding the vise makes it harder to wrap hackles and control materials and thread going onto the hook for me. I like the other little vise, seems small light and handy. Will have to look around at some of the old Thompsons and griffiths. As to tying in hand I have a few friends who do amazing intricate classic salmon patterns in hand flawlessly...every time I try to tye in hand I get hand cramps, my thread wraps materials and control are off etc...at this point it does not work for me and the trade off of not having to carry a vise around with me is set back by how my tying suffers.

 

Bugsy: Thanks for the video, in reading hundreds of reviews it seems its a cheap set, which is obvious due to the price, the main concerns being the set screw for the post of the vise being defective or stripping, and then the box itself breaking it seems.

 

Thanks everyone for the input, will be playing with some ideas and pricing options and if I can trying a few different vises out.

[utyer 0]

That is only ONE way the vise can be used. I have a threaded base for mine which allows me to screw it into a piece of wood. I have also seen them with a small pedestal base. Search for images for this and you should find both. The screw in base for mine is shown in the photo. The base is in the lower right hand corner of the box.

[Fishiowa 0]

The J. Stockard practical vise would fit the bill at $7. No frills, think a scaled down made in India Thompson A with a 5/16" shaft and 3/8" collet and light duty c-clamp. Very basic and compact. I tied a couple flies on it and it seemed to provide good hook holding and access, can't speak to longevity but hey, it's $7

[phg 0]

I checked with a truck driver friend, that ties fantastic flies while on the road. He uses a standard Renzetti Traveler. He has a sort of lap desk he sets it on. He just moves over into the passenger seat, sets the board on his lap, and ties away while he waits for his load.

 

Something like this might also fit the bill: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fly-Fishing/Fly-Tying/Tools-Vises|/pc/104793480/c/104721480/sc/104340780/i/103884480/Cabelas-Standard-Fly-Tying-Tool-Kit/732298.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ftools-vises%2F_%2FN-1100441%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_103884480%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104721480%253Bcat104340780&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104721480%3Bcat104340780%3Bcat103884480

 

Sorry about the clumsy looking link. I've always liked these cases, but I can't vouch for the quality of the tools.

[AK Skim 0]

light to be used in my work truck during lunch breaks, downtime waiting for calls, etc. I am sure I could use my atlas with the C clamp on the steering wheel,

 

Jack Gartside

 

 

Home Depot for a small inexpensive tool bag

 

 

 

Small enough not to take up too much space, room to carry your vise, tools and some materials.

 

 

I personally use a Regal which has a short off set shank.