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barrytheguide

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Everything posted by barrytheguide

  1. Just a quick reply using my alter ego. I spoke to Jon at HMH yesterday and he didnt seem to want to discuss the issues I had with my TRV, he just said he had refunded my credit card although the refund hasnt shown up on my account. As a matter of fact if he had offered to replace my vice with a better made one I would have accepted. Today another guy who has just received his TRV spoke to me on the phone. He seemed to be not unhappy with his although he hasnt actually used it yet. He did say the jaws on his were smooth whereas ,as you can see from my photos , mine were definitely rough cast and in no way were they tool steel. So maybe I just got a bad one. I guess only time will tell when a few more reviews roll in from other purchasers. Cheers and a Happy Xmas Bazzer
  2. I hope the mods will not let this thread get out of hand. As the OP I dont have a problem with them locking it at any time. Its my opinion there is to much negativity around at the moment. Im hoping the owner of FE will read this and address their problems and Im sure they will get a lot of business from forum members.
  3. Thanks for the replies. Th problem is that all the descendants of the original are much improved. Much longer and more dense feathers. I want the old cock capes for soft hackle flies that Ive come up with! Thanks Bazzer
  4. I doubt if I will be successful but I would love to be able to purchase some original Darbee capes dating maybe back to the eighties. I would love to find a light and dark dun but any would do and in any condition even if there are only a few feathers left. Why do I want them when Modern Whiting capes and saddles are so good? Because they have some unique characteristics for soft hackle flies that modern hackles dont. So on the off chance you have one please pm me to get the ball rolling. Thanks and Happy Christmas Bazzer
  5. Its coming up to Christmas and in its spirit and with all the bad stuff going on in the world how about we stop knocking Feather Emporium and give it a second chance? He has a wonderful website and materials that I personally would love to have. Maybe in the past they have been overwhelmed with orders and mistakes have been made. I for one am going to order some small value items from them and see how it goes. So how about other forum members do the same? Happy Christmas to All! Bazzer
  6. Bugsy, I have no brand loyalty at all. Over the years Ive tied in many different vises. As a full time guide who gets home after a hard days rowing a drift boat, having dinner and then having to tie flies do the next day because all the ones you tied previously dont work I want a vise thats going to save me a bit of time. I thought the HMH with its LAW type jaws might do th job. Of course it might, but frankly the quality was cp. So a good try but a waste of time for me. Plus since Im almost completely retired, speed is not so important. My Renzetti Master does a great job and I have numerous accessories for it. So Im staying for that. I hope someone at HMH looks at the vise I returned and fixes the quality control problems Tight Lines Bazzer
  7. Mods, please delete my barrytheguide account
  8. How many more times must I say I am barrytheguide and bazzer69 for reasons already stated. I honestly regret posting anything about the TRV. I paid full price for one and I was frankly very disappointed with the quality although the basic design is sound. I take the criticism of me as flaming when I have done nothing wrong. If the mods want to delete any of my posts than please go ahead. Im surprised that there havent been posts by users of the TRV I for one would be welcome to read them. I dont believe I ever mentioned I could buy a lot of materials for $500, do I hear fake news? Once again, I only offered a opinion , yours might differ.
  9. The only way to try one is to buy one. If the quality was better then I would be keeping it because the design is pretty good. The reason why I have published my opinions on the vise is to help anyone else that is thinking about buying one. But it seems that some members of this forum like to flame regardless.
  10. HMH have agreed for me to return the vise for a refund! Maybe one of these days Ill find a LAW for $50! Barry
  11. Thanks, I am one of the first people to buy one of these vises, I understand that one hundred were made as part of the first batch. Several people have asked about the vise and Ive tried to give honest answers. I would not recommend this vise unless the quality issues are fixed Barry
  12. Oh, Im English and we tend to be not so sensitive or politically correct as the Americans.
  13. Indeed I am one of the same. Im not very good at remembering user names and passwords plus Im now retired from guiding and the only way to creat a new user name is to start a new account. I have given a honest but short review on the vise. If you dont believe me I suggest you go and buy one for yourself. Its all only my opinion and Ive tried to be objective. My summary or the TRV is tat its well designed but HMH have rushed to build it and subsequently the usual high quality of their products has failed. Hopefully the next batch will be much improved. Barry Bazzer Bazzer69 Barrytheguide He's bazzer485 over on this UK forum with this same topic currently going on. Same person, multiple handles.
  14. There are numerous books available about soft hackle flies and most detail numerous recipes for patterns detailing the hackles required. Some are illegal to own and impossible to get anyway. But many others are available if you just do a web search. Very few of them call for hen hackles, most are smaller feathers from the wings of birds such as Woodcock, Snipe , Coot, Starling etc. hard ones to obtain and illegal in the USA are Golden Plover and Euro Blackbird
  15. Ordered mine this morning, I’m excited to be seeing it hopefully by the end of next week. I’ll post a short review. I would love a LAW, but not at the silly prices they currently sell for. I can’t imagine why Lawrence Waldren has licensed the design to someone. I really like the idea of the HMH large brass wheel. I ordered the Spartan, the exhibition model is nice but not worth the extra bucks for me. Bazzer
  16. Mine is on order, it should be here by the end of next week. There are two versions, the Spartan being less than $500, not bad when a LAW sells used for $3500-$4000. Heavynets, yours might be a decent copy, but it doesnt have the adjustment of the HMH
  17. Thanks for mentioning the Sharpes. I'll keep it in mind. I saw the price of $60 plus a hefty $90 shipping from UK. When the time comes, I'll check with Poppy. Everything I read in the description of the Sharpes staff appeals to me, but I'm not sure about how well the rubber tip would grip those basalt shelves and ledges. My only experience with a rubber tipped staff ended with river quickly claiming the tip. I've had no problem with the rubber tip, but there are plenty of spares in Walgreens, Riteaid etc, I've been contemplating atting a tungsten stud to the tip of mine just to cover my bases!As far as Wading in 2,000cfs, that's nothing compared to the western coastal rivers. I would not contemplate Wading in any fast moving water, I always look for a safe spot. When choosing a safe spot always check to see if you can wade out again safely buy going slightly downstream and not the same way you went in. It's a lot easier that way.. Oh, Poppy from the Red Shed sold me mine for $99 including shipping.
  18. Thanks for,selling me your old Renzetti gallows attachment. It's certainly the dogs bollocks when it comes to tying Quigley hackle stackers and any other parachute style fly for that matter. It will fully rotate with the vise head if that's what you want. I just cannot see any reason why Renzetti would stop making them in favor for one that does not rotate.
  19. I've always wondered why Renzetti abandoned their gallows attachment but left the holes in the Master to use one. But I use the bobbin holder as I described and with a little adjustment I can still use the full rotary function, not that I find any real need to do so. I use a little "S" hook on the end of the spring to tie hackle stacker style flies. All others I can get around not using a gallows note: hackle stackers use thread as a "post" and although they can be tied without a gallows attachment it's a lot easier with. With the average parachute style fly I find a stiff post that doesn't need the attachment. Ps anyone got a piece of water vole skin they are willing to part with?
  20. No, I just used the screw that was already in the hole. But I'm sure somewhere like Ace Hardware would have a screw and knob to fit.
  21. Actually the military uses depleted uranium for bullets. Years ago you could buy them from military surplus stores. It's soft but about twice the density of lead I believed, would make for great beads! Might Glow as well!!!
  22. The Sharpes Wading staff is without a doubt the best there is, not cheap, but what price safety? It's available from Sharpes in the U.K. Or from The Red Shed in the USA. It's weighted so it does not float to the surface has a fabulous lanyard system and a rubber tip. Pair that with a pair of Korkers with the aluminum bars and you have the best total Wading system I've ever used!
  23. I simply use the bobbin attachment in the hole shown above and a small spring I purchased from a hardware store along with a clip. It works a treat and the spring and clip only cost a couple of bucks. Works a treat!
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