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RexW

Fugly Hair Packed Sizes?

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I've got a Brassie and can't for the life of me see how this cheap tool is inferior to the Fuglly.

The brassie is not inferior, its just another size of the same tool, if im tying a #10 popper ill use a brassie, #2/0 diver im using fully packer, its like using a tackhammer to hit a railroad spike or a sledgehammer to hit a tack, right tool for the job. And then I comes down to science there's going to be more force applied through a larger heavier tool than a lighter smaller one!

 

Except that there's not a meaningful degree of difference between a #10 and a #2/0 as far as the tool is concerned.

 

Essentially you're moving up in size from a 1" brad nail to a 3" deck nail, and deciding to move up from a claw hammer to a sledge to do it.

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I bought mine from Pat three yrs ago, shortly after he introduced the JR version. Briefly debated which size before asking Pat.

 

Regarding the JR, Pat told me "the notch is a bit smaller...and the [slightly smaller] size of it makes it easier to see the smaller hooks...though you can also use it for the bigger flies...my preference is for the larger packer...I use it down to a #2 hook...Pat."

 

Me = average man's hands, size lg glove, hair bugs mostly #4 to #1/0. Own full set of Brassie packers and set of Dyna King delrin packers.

 

The JR is 5" long x 1/2" wide. The Standard is a fraction over 6" and wider. I chose the JR and think I made a good choice.

 

If your hand's distance from the hook puts your blood pressure in the danger zone, you can place your thumb and forefinger directly behind the "jaws" of the packer during use, similar to shown below. The JR naturally puts your hand a bit closer than this to your subject fly.

hair-packer-8.jpg

 

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Ok, now i know what people are talking about! But i'm wondering why Mike even thinks something made by a man with a beard could even have an advantage over something else, being so anti beard that he is!

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I read a lot of Brassie defenders' opinions on a tool that they have seemingly never used. Interesting. I have tried and own both tools, and stand by my opinion. My suggestion, try the tool and then draw your conclusions.

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Cold said: If I'm putting something together with phillips head screws, I can use just about any phillips head screwdriver that'll fit in the screw. That said, if there's nothing impeding my access to that screw head, I'm going to use the shortest screwdriver I have, because it's getting my hand closer to the working surfaces (that being the screwdriver head and the screw). I'm not gaining anything, and I'm increasing the awkwardness by using a 12" long screwdriver on that screw.

 

Mr. Cold,

Using your analogy, you proved why the Fugly packer would pack hair with less effort and therefore more efficiently.

Drive 12 or so tight running phillips screws with a stubby phillips screw driver. Then drive 12 more tight running screws with a 12" long phillips. When you're done, let us know which one was the least awkward and required the least effort to drive the screws.

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I read a lot of Brassie defenders' opinions on a tool that they have seemingly never used. Interesting. I have tried and own both tools, and stand by my opinion. My suggestion, try the tool and then draw your conclusions.

I'm a Brassie "defender," I guess. And I haven't tried a Fugly and almost certainly won't. I'am unwilling to pay the cost for the experience. I know the Brassie will work, and I'm quite sure the Fugly will work as well. But quite likely not any better. It's such a simple concept it would be hard to improve upon. Kinda like a bodkin...you can pay $10 for a $3 tool, and receive no benefit from it. I've yet to read praise for a Fugly that makes much of a difference. It's a hair packer and you can do a very good job with a ballpoint pen bottom....'nuff said.

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I don't see too many posts here comparing the price difference between a Brassie and a Fugly. The Fly Fishers Shop catalog has both of them listed that I just got in the mail.

 

Cohen's Fugly -- Original $29.95, Jr. $28.95

 

Brassie, any one of the three sizes -- $5.95

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Mr. Cold,

Using your analogy, you proved why the Fugly packer would pack hair with less effort and therefore more efficiently.

Drive 12 or so tight running phillips screws with a stubby phillips screw driver. Then drive 12 more tight running screws with a 12" long phillips. When you're done, let us know which one was the least awkward and required the least effort to drive the screws.

Thank you, person whose apparently never used a screwdriver.

 

Just a few days ago I did just that during the course of a home improvement project, though I only did about 4 of each (4 were in an inaccessible area and required the use of the longer implement).

 

Prepare to be stunned: I'd much rather use the shorter one and be close to whatever I'm working on.

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I read a lot of Brassie defenders' opinions on a tool that they have seemingly never used. Interesting. I have tried and own both tools, and stand by my opinion. My suggestion, try the tool and then draw your conclusions.

I'm a Brassie "defender," I guess. And I haven't tried a Fugly and almost certainly won't. I'am unwilling to pay the cost for the experience. I know the Brassie will work, and I'm quite sure the Fugly will work as well. But quite likely not any better. It's such a simple concept it would be hard to improve upon. Kinda like a bodkin...you can pay $10 for a $3 tool, and receive no benefit from it. I've yet to read praise for a Fugly that makes much of a difference. It's a hair packer and you can do a very good job with a ballpoint pen bottom....'nuff said.

 

Nuff said, and well said.

 

Never packed hair with one, but I checked out one that a buddy had purchased (no idea on what particular variety), and I've not seen nor heard any significant point explaining how it's in any way superior to what we've already got. I guess that makes me a "defender" as well, for calling a spade a spade.

 

You can hang clothes on a line with jumper cables too...doesn't mean they do it any better than a wooden clothespin.

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Cold, you mean to say you can drive tight running screws easier with two, maybe three fingers compared to your whole hand or maybe two hands? I think you might be fibbing to us.

Are you sure you weren't dreaming about that home improvement project instead of actually doing it? BTW, I probably have and do drive more fasteners of all types in a year's time than you will in a lifetime. I just don't tell tall tales about it.

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It's well within your rights to make things harder than they need to be, it's a free country. Who am I to stand in your way? By all means, continue.

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