Mickalo 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 we have sick cat here and for the last week or so I've had the pleasure of having to give her IV fluids and B-12 injections. The IV hoses make some great ribbing material once you cut it up into small strips, the IV needles make great pics and glued to old paint brush stick for cleaning out hook eyes. The syringe plungers still trying to figure out what to do with those yet but I'm sure they'll come in handy for something. Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
boynabubble 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 Thin .009" stainless guitar string for weedguards- the best I've ever seen. That's a great idea. I will have to give it a try. I think I have some old strings lying around somewhere. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swattell 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 Thought it would be fun to start a list on alternative materials. Some of the ones I am aware of are … Typical craft store products like glass beads , yarn, foam and so on Plastic bags/wrap for wings and bodies Weather stripping for foam bodies Seen some grub patterns tied with colored rubber bands What else are people using ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swattell 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 How about Dorito packets cut into strips and tied on as wing buds on sticky buzzer patterns (some UK patterns specify crisp packets) Craft shops are good sources of foam, beads, artificial fibres Copper wire from small motors as weighting and ribbing Fuse wire as ribbing Dental floss as bodies (someone else has the same idea) Pipe cleaner for white bodied flies - added bonus is that it is slightly weighted Angelina fibres in lieu of fritz 'Hard as Nails' nail varnish Packing material for bouyant flies The list could be endless, and i guess most innovative tiers can find a cheaper source of commercial materials from the alternatives. It's having the time and knowing where to look. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytyinfreak 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 McDonalds drinking straw or other sized drinking straws to encase McFly foam for tying egg patterns. There's always the holiday ribbon bonanaza! and cant forget the memory thread from the craft store, makes great bodies for stoneflies. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
petelangevin 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 i use rubber bands of varying sizes for ribs on nymphs and for legs and claws on crab and crayfish patterns.. i have stripped old electric motors for copper wire for dubbing brushes and rib material on other flys.. you can look all over the house and find things you can use for fly tying.. heck when the wife trims the dogs (bichons).. i grab some of the clippings.. dubs up nice... or can be used an a dubbing brush as the under fur of some of my gurgler patterns.. colors up nice too.. with koolaid.. i look at dollar stores and thrift stores for things i can tie with... the mrs gets aggravated.. i just don't let her see what i am buying.. what she does not know won't hurt me.. lol.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSzymczyk 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2011 the mrs gets aggravated.. i just don't let her see what i am buying.. what she does not know won't hurt me.. lol.. OH YES IT WILL!!! :bugeyes: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Vegas 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 wow guitar strings?? I have a ton of those. What size are you using? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EricF 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 Ah, here's one I remember - I'd be curious if anyone else has tried this - about 10 years ago I was into a phase of dying buck tails with women's hair dye. Then I migrated into giving them (the bucktails) home perms. Gave them a nice kink. Hard to say if it helped my streamers - I don't fish streamers all that much. Anyone else try this? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tidewaterfly 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 I used the hair dye on bucktails & other fur, my one sister has a hair salon, and I've gotten dye from her. But, never tried giving them a perm! :dunno: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
utyer 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 Yarn, don't forget yarn. Almost all yarn makes excellent tying material. Both natural and synthetic yarns can be used. It can be used right off the skein, or chopped up and blended into dubbing. Yarn can be blended with natural furs or other yarns. All colors are possible. I have found some very fine textured yarn that makes good dry fly dubbing material. More than half my dubbing is blended from yarns and scrap fur patches. The best part, is it can be found very inexpensivly, and in many cases free. The last two bags of yarn I got were free, one from a friend, and one bag was given to me at a yard sale after I helped the owner carry out a couple of tables. Old fur coats stoles, collars etc can often be found at yard sales or flea markets. Most for about a buck. Very fine copper and silver wire is found in old computer ribbon cables. The newer hard drives are no longer using ribbon cables, so computer stores will have a lot of extras. Heavier wire is found in electrical cords from almost anything. Old (plastic) bailing cord (used in the bailer hopper.) This you need to collect from farm yards or stables. The mylar tubes sold for streamer bodies used to come with a braided poly core. The core makes a good substitute for z-lon. I use it for wings, trailing shucks, and wing posts. Sadly, most of the newer mylar tubes are now filled with cotton strings. Look for older stock, which is often marked way down. The normal price for the mylar tubes was less than a hank of z-lon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
petelangevin 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 i tie crabs with latch hook yarn, i got 60 bundles of it off ebay for 4.00 plus shipping. i have enough yarn to tie thousands of crabs.. i'll probably never go thru the stuff.. mostly tan. but several other colors too.. amazing what you can do with the stuff.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Vegas 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 your local craft store can be your best friend! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
morfrost 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 You can also cruise cardshops for giftwrapping material on sale. I once picked up several spools of braided mylar cord in silver, gold, red and green metallic colours. I recall there was about 15 yards per spool and they had a polypropylene core which was slightly krinkly really sparkly and made exellent posts for parachute flies. I've used up the silver and gold, but still have some of the red and green. I usually swoop in after Christmas. Sometimes you get lucky. I've also found some dusters that have synthetic hair in interesting colours at the supermarket or dollar store. Also I found one at a supermatket that had Black ostrich herl. It made good butts on some Salmon fly patterns that called for this type of butt. Maybe not suitable for competitions, but the fish aren't anywhere near as fussy as Norwegian judges. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snowranch 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2011 Fabric stores for decorative thread. You can make some interesting midge bodies and nymphs with what you find there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
