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Fly Tying
Greg Stine

Deer hair packer

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The following are the observations of an occasional loose hair packer who likes to only look at tightly packed flies. I'm also tight fisted with my hard earned money. I would like to see a better picture showing the entire tool. This whole tactile strength, superior feel and control explanation seems a little over the top for what amounts to a stout ram rod. Perhaps it's a spot on description but I would like to see the entire tool for myself before buying into its ingenuity.

 

Is there an internal spring and is the tool itself two pieces that are somehow pegged together? This is worrisome to me since movable parts, springs and force maintain a tricky relationship. I was thinking it was built like a solid clothes pin until I read your description.

 

I do not see this being a viable pursuit unless you can cut the fugly packer price by half or, even better, 2/3's. Even at that I don't see it being a viable pursuit. I don't see the fugly packer being a profitable pursuit either. This does of course depend on your definition of a viable pursuit. There is simply not enough of a market for a hair packer to make it a viable pursuit for me. Now if you had them made in China and you purchased a couple hundred thousand of them and could sell them for 5 or 10 bucks a piece you could probably sell enough to make some extra scratch. Remember, made in America appeals to a super small minority of consumers where the vast majority only care about price. Contrary to popular belief, Chinese manufacturing is more then capable of producing quality. You get what you spec out.

 

Just my thoughts on such a unique tool used my only a small number of consumers and a small number of fly tiers and a small number of tiers who tightly pack hair.

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The packer shows a lot of thought and appears to be well made. I like the idea of the force coming from the base, and the loose spring. I have arthritis and find it difficult to hold the fugly, in fact, I don't, the junior is my go to, I guess I would need to experience this one, but the junior is hard to beat, made strong, and because of it being metal, its easy to clean out excess glue buildup. yours being made of polymer might be issue. With the junior, simply grab a razor blade and scrape build up off and out of grooves and I'm back in business

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Here's a modest proposal...

Greg, maybe give one to Mike W, Bruce & Cream (although we haven't heard The Cream chime in yet, and so I don't want to be presumptuous), and have them post their findings here. I'd personally enjoy seeing the results of that, a lot, especially with pics. Build up some drama...

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I think(know) Poopdeck made a lot of valued points:

Ive tried a couple times in my life to market a product...Basically what you guys know as Waspi foam poppers....late 80s in a nut shell about $10,000 per size for a high speed injection molding..and then have to order 1000 for a size at a time.

+ foam cutters too... raising six kids @ 40 grand a year it aint happening.

 

I talked with Waspi and I talked with Raineys on the phone neither were interested and didnt think it would sell...well look at today...and a year to a year and half later both those company marketed my ideas.

 

Tell ya what send me that thing for 2 weeks you pay this way and Ill pay to send it back.

I think you have a winner there But I agree with a lot of the people that @ 30 bucks probably not unless its just really rocks.....If you can figure out how to sell it for $15-$20...Or get Bass Pro or Cabelas to pick it

up (been there too)you might actually make a couple $$$$

 

The first concern I have about it is that it needs to be able to do a size 10 up to a

Size 3/0....with one size tool...not a 3 tool set.

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The polymer Ive chosen will not bond with any adhesive. Crazy glue, epoxy or UV adhesive will pop right off with a blunt tool. Dont use a razor or it will cut into the tool. Its low coefficient of friction and high dimensional stability means it should last for 10s of thousands if not 100s of thousands of cycles. One will last a lifetime.

 

The Fugly and the brassy are made with flexible springy metals. That means even when your packing with it it has a springy feel in your hand. The tiny spring in my tool is only to hold the tool in the open position before use. There is no spring in line with the packing force. With my tool you can hold one in each hand to the floor (like a packing motion) and do pushups all day long with no deflection and it will not break.

 

With this tool I see no reason to have more than one size. This packer has one straight jaw and the other has a triangular notch. This means for all but the smallest shank it has a three point contact with the shank.

 

I think $10,000 for a mold might be low in todays market. If it was molded I could probably make money at $10 or so. But with a low volume product like this I probably wouldnt live long enough to break even.

 

Thanks for all the feedback and keep it coming.

 

Im trying to post more photos but having some trouble.

 

Greg

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It looks much nicer than I previously thought with your latest pictures. I am not really a hair packer but I would buy one because you posted here and I think it's cool. PM me if you want to sell the one in the picture.

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I havent made forty post yet so I couldnt sell any here for now. Ive only made about thirty so far. Trying to get feedback to see if I need anymore changes before a larger production. I have only showed it once at a small fly tying event. 19 tiers showed up but only two tied hair bugs. They both bought one without ever even testing it. They both owned a Fugly.

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I have done some limited packing and I would love to do more. I would pay $30.00 for one without a second thought. If I had back all the thirty dollar bills I've wasted on more foolish things than that, I could buy a pretty nice boat.

 

In a prior life, I made plastic injection molds and yes they will cost considerably more than $10,000.00, but you probably already know that.

 

Please let me know when and if you are in production. Please put me on your list for one.

 

I have four patents and have gone into production on a few things and while I will never get rich at it, it has been exciting and rewarding. Don't quit your day job but I think you should do it.

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@Gary

You havent asked, but here's my free advice, not knowing the fly tying market but knowing a bit about licensing... First see if the major deer hair packer tiers really like your product more than what's already out there. Rather than manufacture it you could then justify putting $ into getting a patent and then market the prototype for others to make and sell to their own specifications. You license the rights. You could spend the $ manufacturing without a patent, but then someone else with better efficiency and better marketing could make the same thing and undercut you. Without pursuing the patent you might also find yourself infringing on someone else's without knowing it.

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