what repurposed items do you tie with

[tjm 0]

I never got past zip locks and palm straw (think hat) for shell backs/scud backs. Knitting yarn is one of my main materials. Extension cord for copper/white ribbing wire. Turkey pin for dubbing spinner/heavy bodkin. Rifle brush glued into a piece of rod blank. Bottle corks. Banding wire (very stiff) used for gallows, bobbin rest, hackle pliers etc. Crochet scissors. nail lacquer, macrame cord for craft hair, gunny/feed sack for burlap nymph. Diamond nail file to sharpen hooks, old refrigerator magnets on the bench to catch needles, hooks, etc. Machine spring on vise as materials clip. Magnetic parts bowl to hold new tied flies, Carwash chamois for chamois strips MacBarrons pipe tobacco boxes as pocket fly boxes, Altoids boxes also. Dental floss as tippet, floss box as tippet dispenser, white sheet foam from packing as liners for home made fly boxes, magnetic sheets as keepers in homemade fly boxes Daily/weekly pill boxes as hook bead etc storage. zip lock bags as yarn/dubbing dispensers Sewing machine bobbins as thread bobbins-about 4 times less space for these Artist brushes with handles cut to make painted eyes Plastic coated wire leader w/snaps as lanyard chunks of fly line as lanyards More that doesn't come to mind right now..

[Charlie P. (NY) 0]

To pick out dubbing (or remove underhair from deer & elk) I use a bronze rifle bore brush cemented in a wine cork.

[chugbug27 0]

@tjm, if it's not a bother could you elaborate on floss as tippet?

[Gene L 0]

A diabetic insulin needle makes a very good bodkin for small flies. Also a push pin tack does pretty good as it brings your hand closer to the work.

[tjm 0]

@tjm, if it's not a bother could you elaborate on floss as tippet?

really not tying and don't recall the last time I used it fishing, I was rattling stuff though my head that I've re-purposed and it appeared on the page-something a guy on a creek showed me years ago, he said the dental floss was supper limp and strong for it's size.. He was fishing nymphs in a small spring creek, and actually just used the floss for the whole leader, white unwaxed. loop connected to fly line. I thought it was upholstery thread and asked, he said the nylon thread worked too but I never tried it. I bought a spool of floss and tried it several times, it worked.. but I didn't keep using it and I don't recall why. I used empty dental floss containers to spool and carry Maxima from the One Shot spools as tippet, wood dowel as arbor for the battery drill and a couple minutes to wind it.

[chugbug27 0]

Thanks

[DFoster 0]

Norm the cellophane on the iPhone is way more reflective than a plastic bag, almost like a mirror but clear at the same time. Everyone throws it away when they get the phone. I'm pretty sure the stuff is fairly common in the electronics industry. The photos I posted don't capture how reflective/shiny the cellophane is.

[flytire 0]

okay. good idea on the cellophane screen protector.

 

i am merely pointing out another item that can be repurposed for fly tying and was used back in the 1980's as a precurser to all of the fancy materials used today for tying scuds or czech nymphs.

 

in one czech nymph tying book it is written that salami skins were also used for shell backs but that might be frowned upon as bait fishing

 

 

the "tape" in old audio cassette, vhs, beta tapes can be repurposed

 

the electrostatic bag that electronics are wrapped in can be repurposed for chironimid bodies or wingcases etc

[tjm 0]

Bic pen as hair packer. milk jug piece as hackle guard, fiddle string (wire) as bobbin threader, mono fish line as body and as ribbing, paint brush tails, makeup remover as fly floatant, keychain, razor blades, red"straws" from spray oil cans, weed-wacker line to clean bobbin tubes (also hearing aides), a mink collar, mole that was decoration on an armchair,

 

If you think about it and look back at the history of fly tying, every single thing we use was originally repurposed, all the plastic materials now produced and sold as tying stuff was borrowed from industry.

[BobHRAH 0]

Norm,

 

It's probably only bait if you leave the salami in it?

 

Thanks, Bob H

[milkman 0]

I've been admiring the potato chip bag lately for the very shiny silver interior with a variety of outer colors. A dollar will buy you a square foot or so at Dollar General, and as a bonus you get all those free munchies inside.

[flytire 0]

^^ yup ^^

 

[DFoster 0]

The clear wrapping that a premium cigar comes in seems to be good material for making wing buds and wings. I noticed that if you crumble a piece, then unfold it and cut it to shape it takes on the appearance of veins. You can make some really realistic looking wings this way. I have made a few sets of wings but haven't actually tied a fly with one yet- Must be the cabin fever getting to me, 4 degrees here yesterday morning.

[Mark Knapp 0]

I like to use Mylar wrapping paper for all kinds of shrimp skins and scud backs.

[David Parker 0]

Simple foam packaging material found in many electronic cartons these days

makes for good bodies on Gurglers.