Hello and What tools can you NOT live without.

[Guest rich mc]

i have only one matarelli rotating whip finisher i dont know what i would do if i lost it. theother finishers i have trouble with i can hand whip finish but i was so impressed with learning to use it i just enjoy it. cant find any anywhere, anyone have one to sell ? rich mc

[Flat Rock native 0]

i have only one matarelli rotating whip finisher i dont know what i would do if i lost it. theother finishers i have trouble with i can hand whip finish but i was so impressed with learning to use it i just enjoy it. cant find any anywhere, anyone have one to sell ? rich mc

 

yes

[flytire 0]

fingers

[Ixoye 0]

My C&F Design rotating Hackle Plier....

[vicente 0]

Honestly other than my scissors and bobbin holder and vise there's really not much I couldn't live without,even doing deer hair I mostly pack with my fingers.

[rstaight 0]

If you had to the only thing you really need is a spool of thread and a hook. The first fly I tied has a kid was done on hook out of my tackle box, some chicken feathers I picked up out of the yard, and I stole a spool of Mom's black thread. Finished the head with a couple of half hitches and Mom's clear nail polish.

 

No vise, scissors or any of the tools we can't live without today.

[bass master 0]

My Music. I have to have my Bluetooth speaker and Pandora playing.

[gunpowderleader 0]

A great pair of scissors and a ball of tying wax Everything else is truly a commodity to make tying easier. Vises were a Japanese invention to make commercial tying faster, before that even the salmon flies were tied in hand

[rstaight 0]

All of the Rangley Flies Carrie Stevens tied were tied in hand. She would do them in stages. Then when each side was complete she would apply them to the hook.

[Bruce Norikane 0]

My big magnet! Sticks to the leg of my tying table, ready to suck up hooks off the floor.

 

When I sweep over the carpet with the magnet, I often pick up more hooks than I dropped.

[Crackaig 0]

This is a sign that I'm getting older. I really can't do without my tying glasses. Though they are the same power as my reading glasses they are not reading glasses. Some people use reading glasses, I can not. It is not unusual for me to spend 4 hours at a session at the vice. Sometimes two such sessions a day. Tying takes place at a different distance than I would hold a book to read. My tying glasses are set to that focal distance. In my case this is about 50% different. If I wore reading glasses I would have to lean forward while tying to bring the fly into focus, That in turn sets up other stresses that would, fairly quickly, curtail my tying. As I want to fish more this year I need to buy a new vehicle, That means tying more, not less. Tying glasses are essential, if I am to do that.

 

Cheers,

C.

[Saltybum 0]

My super glue. All my saltwater flies get made using it so if it's missing I go get some, even if not's really a tool.

[flyty1 0]

As you can see from all of the different answers, there seem to be as many thoughts on the subject

as there are fly patterns. I think many of us are collectors at heart - starting with materials and possible

substitution items (which can be from all kinds of sources, not just the old fly shop). Tools seem to also be

the kind of thing that some of us really enjoy collecting and using. But the very basic items are really few

in number and don't necessarily need to be terribly expensive (good vise, bobbin, good scissors, a hackle

plier to your liking). Heck, if you want to be a minimalist, you probably only need a pair of scissors - all the

rest really can be done with your hands or common items that are far more accessible that those sold through

a fly tying retailer (i.e. get a box of toothpicks instead of a bodkin). Each person will eventually gravitate to their

favorite tools/materials/hooks as they progress in the art.

[notenuftoys 0]

This is a sign that I'm getting older. I really can't do without my tying glasses. Though they are the same power as my reading glasses they are not reading glasses. Some people use reading glasses, I can not. It is not unusual for me to spend 4 hours at a session at the vice. Sometimes two such sessions a day. Tying takes place at a different distance than I would hold a book to read. My tying glasses are set to that focal distance. In my case this is about 50% different. If I wore reading glasses I would have to lean forward while tying to bring the fly into focus, That in turn sets up other stresses that would, fairly quickly, curtail my tying. As I want to fish more this year I need to buy a new vehicle, That means tying more, not less. Tying glasses are essential, if I am to do that.

 

Cheers,

C.

 

Yea, I'd have to get in the car and make a run to Target or Walgreens for some glasses. All other tools are useless if I can't see what I'm doing.

 

Getting old sucks.

[DrVette 0]

All of them...I am kinda a tool hoarder...with others.

 

But the tool i miss the miss the most??? Toss up between my sight and my right shoulder. The sight, i learned to get past...mostly. The shoulder controls the arm that controls the hand i need to to do most things. That one makes me slow and mad.