Im still relativly new to fly tying. i have been tying for almost 2 years now and im constantly learning new patterns and techniques. I started out with a very cheap vise that came with the kit i bought from gander mountain. it worked alright for what i was tying, mainly steelhead flies like crystal meth and sucker spawns but it would never lock the hook in completly and alot of times no matter how tight i set it the hook would occasionally slip. Last summer i decided to upgrade and i went with a griffin spyder odessy vise. Its by no means a top of the line vise but it has worked well for me. It is a rotary vise and that alone opened up some areas of fly tying that i had previously been unaware of. It holds the hooks very well and im very happy with it but it also has some flaws. Having somewhat large hands i find it can "cramp" my fingers when im tying materials on the bend of the hook since the design of the vise comes out from the post drops down and has about a 45 degree angle back up. it took some getting used to but im getting better at it and im sure that in a couple of years i will be upgrading again.
