Fly Tying Kits - Recommendations?

[Noahguide 0]

Cody,

I recommend the Orvis Premium Fly-Tying Kit. It's what I started with. I found that the kit was well organized, the materials for each of the 16 patterns were clearly marked so that I could see what I would need. The videos are made by Tightlines (afterward I learned they were mostly all on-line). I found that it taught solid tying fundamentals, terminology, and techniques. All the materials were included and like you, I have some still left over (flash, chenile, etc). While its not cheap at around $190, I tied 160 flies out of the kit. It also helped me to make sense of that big wall of sparklies at the local Bass Pro. Yes, the tools are basic, I bought a rotary some 4 months after the kit, but I sort of knew what and why I wanted a different vise. The other still gets used (rarely) and makes a nice trunk vise for trying something new on the water.

[Guest]

http://www.wapsifly.net/wapsi-deluxe-fly-tying-kit/

[rstaight 0]

There have been a lot of reccomenditions here. Cabela's, Bass Pro, Orvis, they all sell kits.

 

When I started tying I bought a tying kit at Meijers. Yes, like some will argue, the tools and materials was of poor quality but at the time they did the job.

 

I have heard some folks say don't buy the kits because every thing is junk. They tell people go out and buy that $200 dollar vise and $30 scissor and so on. Then pick a fly and buy all the material and tie it. then buy the material for the second.

 

My response to them is it is stupid to spend all of that money on something and find out it's not for you. Buy the kit, spend a lot less money and if this is something you like you can slowly upgrade when you actually have an idea of what is going on.

 

I guess my long winded response is everyone's kit may be a little different. But the reality is any of them will be fine. I would look at the vise pick the better.

[mikechell 0]

My response to them is it is stupid to spend all of that money on something and find out it's not for you.

This is exactly the recommendation I make to all starting tiers and fly anglers. Expensive equipment is not for the starting hobbyist. Many argue that inexpensive equipment can keep some people from enjoying tying. I disagree. A new tier won't be able to appreciate the difference. If you can't tie a fly on cheap equipment ... you can't tie a fly on expensive equipment, either.

 

It's only after you realize, "hey, I like this!" do you then start to appreciate better equipment and materials.

[Cody Coyote 0]

Noahguide, rstaight, and mikechell - Although I'm helping a friend and wanted to get others opinion on the subject, personally I'm a kit guy. I started with an Orvis kit in the early 1970's. I had no experience and didn't know a good vice from a bad one. Hell, I barely knew what a vice was! By the way, that vice was a Thompson A model and it actually served me for over thirty years until it literally fell apart. I tied from 2/0 down to #22 with it and while it didn't handle the extremes particularly well, it worked. I started in the era before the Internet and You Tube and learned from books and a couple of close friends. Over the intervening decades I've spent thousands on better tools, better materials. I have more stuff than I'll be able to use up in my lifetime and I'm still buying more. That's what we do with any hobby we're serious about isn't it? But that kit got me pointed in the right direction. It gave me a solid foundation to build on. I still have the powder blue maribou that came with it. Never found a use for it but I won't part with it either as it's a symbol of my tying roots. To some extent I equate fly tying with fly fishing. I wouldn't tell someone wanting to take up the sport to go out and buy a top quality rod and reel. That'd be a waste of serious money if they didn't enjoy it. I'd point them toward one of the reasonably priced combo sets and let them get the experience of fly fishing. Once they're hooked, they'll have the experience and knowledge to make more informed (and costlier) choices.

 

I suspected my initial post might generate some interesting and, at times, passionate responses. Thanks to all who have chimed in.

[tjm 0]

 

My response to them is it is stupid to spend all of that money on something and find out it's not for you.

This is exactly the recommendation I make to all starting tiers and fly anglers. Expensive equipment is not for the starting hobbyist. Many argue that inexpensive equipment can keep some people from enjoying tying. I disagree. A new tier won't be able to appreciate the difference. If you can't tie a fly on cheap equipment ... you can't tie a fly on expensive equipment, either.

 

It's only after you realize, "hey, I like this!" do you then start to appreciate better equipment and materials.

 

That covers it well.

Same advice no matter what new hobby, get a few economy tools and then when you decide you don't really like it you aren't stuck with hundreds of dollars worth of stuff that really has no resale value. You have your whole life ahead to examine the various "good" stuff and make a more educated choice. I still tie on a Model A vise and probably always will, it works well for what I do.

[Gene L 0]

I got a kit a long time ago, it had a Thompson A, but that was before India started making vises which is now what you get. It had a lot of material that was useless, and a few tools that were not. You can find a used Thompson Model A vise on Ebay for $35 or so, if you look, and they're servicable vises, no nonsense and billions of flies have been tied on them. You can thend spend the rest of the cost of a kit on stuff you can use. Of all the tools I got with my kit, which was a fairly expensive one at the time, I still have the scissors (I think), and a half-hitch tool. Got an Indian neck with it, which I still have but have never used.

 

If I'd known then what I'd know now I'd get a good (but not so expensive) vise, and a few tools like scissors and a hair stacker and tailor my tying to three or four types of flies of use in my area. Still, fly tying is not the cheapest hobby, even for the frugal. Cheap equipment in my experience makes tying flies a lot more difficult than it has to be.