Debarb Pliers- Can anyone recommend a brand?

[Losthwy 0]

Looking for pliers to debarb hooks. I need one with FLAT working area of jaws not serrated. Narrow enough for flies down to #18. Most I have seen online are pricey.

[Adam Saarinen 0]

Try the hardware store!

[flytire 0]

try the bead aisle in your local big box craft store

 

xuron flat nosed pliers

 

 

 

 

hemostats work great

 

[skeet3t 0]

Dollar General or Harbor Freight to start. Any needlenose pliers will have a flat area. Hemostats work but don't apply the pressure as pliers. I like to flatten the barb before tying the fly. I have had, on rare occasions, had a hook break due to a bad temper. Better to lose a hook than a whole fly.

[Dave G. 0]

I just use my tying vise, first step in building a fly: squash the barb down in the jaws of the vise.

 

Edit: if I'm tying six flies then I pinch all six hooks as the first step.

[mikechell 0]

???

[flytire 0]

never mind

[planettrout 0]

I have had a couple of pairs of these for ten years or so. They were imported by Dr. Slick, at one time. I don't think they are available anymore. The pointed tips and flat surfaces make it very easy to crush really small hook barbs - something I don't always do at the vise:

 

 

 

PT/TB

[vicrider 0]

???

LOL

 

I use these when doing small hooks on the Renetti Traveler with thumbscrew, otherwise just jaws of HMH.

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/js-tools-needle-nose-pliers

[Losthwy 0]

The kind I'm looking for are like the type posted- small flat jaws and long handles for leverage. I have a Hobby Lobby nearby, never even thought they would carry tools, and a Harbor Freight. I'll be going there today.

Thanks

[JSzymczyk 0]

Hemostat handles are too flexible for good control. I'm sure they're awesome for clamping off severed arteries, but for de-barbing hooks use the right tool for the job.

[eastern fly 0]

Walmart , JoAnns or Michael's sell them. I have a pair on my desk.

 

Kevin

[Dave G. 0]

Ya hemostats don't really work all that well, I've tried them stream side and they don't do a good pinch. In fact, depending on the hooks strength you can have them latch down and the barb not be pinched. In our boat we have long handled not so long long nosed pliers, they work pretty well ( although right now they are frozen closed, got to free them up).

 

I've gotten in a habit of mostly doing it at the vise though.

[phg 0]

I have a pair of heavy duty, flat jawed hemostats, that I picked up somewhere several years ago. They work great for those places where I have to pinch the barb streamside (Yellowstone comes to mind.)

 

For use at the vise, I have a pair of flat jawed jewler's pliers that I got at Michael's for less than $10, something like these: http://www.michaels.com/bead-landing-bent-nose-pliers/10334523.html#prefn1=brand&pmpt=qualifying&prefv1=Bead+Landing&start=16

[SilverCreek 0]

When I still worked, I used a disposable 4 stainless steel instrument suture sets from Pakistan that had a curved hemostat, straight hemostat, needle holder, and scissors. The needle holder has a flat surface that will bend down small hook barbs. I sterilized them with a germicidal solution. I gave hundreds of these sets away at our TU events. I give them to new fly fishers I meet. I still have over a thousand of these sets. Maybe you know someone that can get you these sets.

 

Remarkably, it was cheaper to buy these sets by the thousands and throw them away than to buy quality surgical instrument sets, sterilize and document the sterilization of each set so they could be reused.

 

The needle holder is below.