Suggestions for a basic materials kit?

[Dave_L 0]

I am new to the forum. I am looking for a basic materials kit, but one that doesn't come with a vise and tools! I already have a nice rotary vise and a nice tool kit. I want to tie some basic dries (Adams, Mosquito, Blue Wing Olive, Elk Hair Caddis). Is there a basic materials kit or am I better off just buying each component separately (thread, hackle, cement etc). The Adams body calls for "dubbed muskrat belly" but I remember using something else? Anyway, I am looking forward to getting back into this amazing hobby/obsession that we know as tying!

[chugbug27 0]

This will give you what you need for those flies, and will give you a nice foundation for later on.

 

Whiting intro pack (4 half capes) with grizzly, brown, dun and ginger

 

Box of waspi superfine dubbing, also add a muskrat fur patch

 

Light and dark Elk hair

 

Small gold wire

 

Either veevus or bennichi threads in brown, olive, gray, tan, size 12/0

 

Get Umpqua u series dry hooks in sizes 14, 16, 18 & 20

 

Not needed but add Pardo coq de Leon tailing feathers

 

Should run you around $100 or so, mostly on the hackle. Check against what your patterns call for. You could get away with less, buying only what you need for those particular flies, but if you want to go the "kit" route but start with those dries and have some good, useful materials to grow with, you're better off with this list I think.

[vicente 0]

Not in a kit but fly tyers dungeon is having a sale this week, great place to get flash and different dubbings.

[Dave_L 0]

Thank you Chugbug! Is there a one-stop resource where I can order these things? $100 is exactly what I can afford!

[flytire 0]

This list of beginner tying materials is simply a list based on my 30+ years experience in fly tying. The list provided below is for a new tyer who wants to tie trout flies but can spill over to different genres of fly tying. It is a BASIC list. Could other items have appeared on the list? Of course they could but that's somebody elses list. Other tyers will add or subtract materials to their liking. So be it. Remember its a BASIC list of materials. It contains materials the can tie hundreds or even thousands of fly patterns.

This list is in no order of preference. This list is provided for your convenience and in no way requires you to buy all tying materials all at once or any materials for that matter. It is also a generic list of materials as I really don't have any preferences as to what brand of materials you buy.

Eventually you will need materials if you want to continue tying flies. The list may give you a head start as to what you might want to buy

Again, you do not have to buy the entire list all at once!

Buy what you want when you need it!

1. Hooks (in different styles and sizes)
2. Thread (6/0 to start in black & white)
3. Pheasant Tail (center feathers when possible for the longest fibers)
4. Peacock Herl (eye feathers and strung herl)
5. Marabou (blood quills are better)
6. Deer hair
7. Elk hair
8. Buck tail (in different colors like red, yellow, or white)
9. Lead or non-lead wire (in different sizes)
10. Ribbing wire (silver, copper & gold)
11. Rooster Hackle (grizzly, brown, white & dun) A good option is an introduction pack
12. Hen neck or saddle (grizzly, brown, dun etc) (great for soft hackle & wings)
13. Hungarian Partridge Skin (great for soft hackles)
14. Dubbing dispenser of hares ear (various colors) & superfine dubbing for dry flies
15. Gray duck or goose wing feathers (used for wing cases)
16. Head cement
17. Tinsel and other flash materials (in assorted colors)
18. Calf tail (start with white, add colors when necessary)
19. Yarns & chenille (used for making bodies, both in assorted colors)
20. Floss (1 strand or 4 strand in assorted colors)
21. Strung hackle (practice wrapping hackle with this. cheap alternative to the pricey hackles)
22. Beads (not necessary to begin tying flies but if you really need them get them)


Poor quality materials are destined to discourage beginner tiers and cause greater expense when the time comes to replace them. Buy the best you can.

Another recommendation seen on most forums is to pick out 5-10 that you want to learn how to tie. buy the materials provided in the recipes of those flies. these materials are now the building blocks for tying different fly patterns in the future.

[cphubert 0]

flytire's list is spot on and looks like my travel kit. I like capes or half capes for hackle I think it the most economical and best value (size range and used for tailing) it is probably going to be your highest cost items but buy the best you can afford. The Whiting intro pack is a great start, I always have grizzly, ginger, brown, medium dun, cream, & black necks in my travel kit. Often cheap hackle is not a value, go to a show or good fly shop and have them show you how to grade a neck and what to look for, when you see the difference and tie with quality material your flies will look better and you will have fewer problems.

[Dave_L 0]

Great advice. This is a great start. Thank you gents.

[chugbug27 0]

If you want one-stop for the materials I mentioned try bearsden or Bob Marriott's. There may be others as well. Here's a link to a prior discussion. Flytire posts a nice list of stores on the thread:

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=87819&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1

 

Not everyone's going to carry the whiting intro pack in those four colors. If that's the route you go, I'd hunt around by phone until you find someone who can commit to fill that specific part. (Don't just order online, or you can't be sure what colors you'll get.) The rest of the materials pretty much all the big stores will have.

[flytire 0]

there is no "mother of all fly shops" that offers one stop shopping for all things fly tying

 

here is a basic list of reputable online fly shops that i have ordered from.

 

from time to time a shop may be out of a certain material and another shop has it

 

a lot of shops do not carry the "european" fly tying materials and brands

 

[rscconrad 0]

Chugbug, where were you when I started tying. Dead on for what he is trying to tie. Flytier your list is good to.

[tjm 0]

If Chugbug's or flytire's list taxes your budget, you can catch a lot of fish with just grizzly or light dun hackle and muskrat, peacock herl, one kind of elk, fine gold wire and a pheasant tail feather. I use a lot of kitting yarns.

Feather-Craft still sends a paper catalog that is nice to look at and wish, I'm not sure anyone else does.

[chugbug27 0]

+1 tjm. And nothing wrong with just one spool 8/0 uni or 70 Danville, maybe gray, for those types of flies, in lieu of the Euro stuff.

[flytire 0]

my list taxes noones budget

 

Again, you do not have to buy the entire list all at once!

Buy what you want when you need it!

[tjm 0]

Your list is perfect, I only mentioned things I would use most/chose first, as you said "you do not have to buy the entire list all at once!"

But what first? Ideally start with a single pattern and buy just those materials, I guess.

[flytire 0]

Yup

 

Another recommendation seen on most forums is to pick out 5-10 that you want to learn how to tie. buy the materials provided in the recipes of those flies. these materials are now the building blocks for tying different fly patterns in the future.