Sources for Fly Tying Yarn
Like many of you, this pandemic has been difficult for me. I sold my house right before it started and have been house and dog sitting for some friends who were in Guatemala for a couple of months. The library of fly tying tools and materials I’ve collected over the years (including my beloved roll-top desk) is buried in storage and I’ve been unable to access it. I was laid off from work for a couple of months but to stave off the boredom, I assembled a small tying kit that has restored my sanity a bit.
It’s nothing more than a Plano tackle box with a few essentials–thread, hooks, wire, partridge hackle, grizzly hackle, pheasant hackle, and peacock herl. But it’s helping me mentally get through the lockdown.
Of course, I had to deck it out with a few stickers including the new personalized stickers from Tenkara USA.
Everything (including the vise) fits in the box. I’m kind of glad I did it. I’ve been thinking of putting together a travelling fly tying kit for a long time but just never got around to it. I’ll bring this with me on my upcoming trip to the Rio Grande in Creede, CO in August. Sometimes, being forced to make the best out of a bad situation can be a good thing I suppose. Here are just a few flies I’ve tied with this kit (and I aim to tie more) …
Do you have a travelling fly tying kit? Share pics with us!
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Jason, this is what I would use to carry my fly tying materials and tools in when I would go to club meetings. I would take materials for the flies that I intended to tie. Seems like I can only post one picture here.
Hi Dave, that box looks awesome and I love the TenkaraTalk sticker! I wish I could see the contents. I think you can post multiple pictures. I’ll look into it. if not, you can always just do multiple comments with pics.
I have the same Plano tackle box for my portable set-up.
Griffin Odyssey Spider vise.
My old Griffin ceramic bobbin.
A cheap extra-large bobbin that fits sewing machine thread spools.
Hooks (of course), Indian rooster and hen hackles, a little bit of genetic stiff hackle, peacock herl, etc.
Not a huge variety of stuff.
Cool Martin. Can you share some pictures with us?
Yes, I’ll post a pic soon.
I should have mentioned that my entire fly tying set-up is portable.
I live in a tiny cottage so I don’t have my stuff in a permanent spot—almost everything is in cases when I’m not using it.
My main vise is a Griffin Montana Mongoose with c-clamp and pedestal base—it has it’s own case.
I do often leave the vise set up.
My main set of tools is now Loon stuff—about half of that stuff has it’s own case.
All other tools and and materials are in heavy-duty plastic totes of appropriate size.
All easily portable.
I tried to capture as much as possible in two pictures.
A better look at the tools.
I’m sorry I don’t have a picture however I wanted to share that my traveling kit is contained in a used laptop bag I bought for $2 from a charity shop. It has ample pockets to contain all the gear a traveling fly-tier could hope to carry.
Love tying on the road….!!!!
Thanks for sharing this project, Jason. I hope things are getting back to normal for you since you posted this and we will see some updates soon. We appreciate the value you bring to the tenkara community.
On the travel kit, do you carry your standard vice? I have ordered a c-clamp, like Martin’s, to carry but wonder if saving weight is better than having the convenience of the standard base.
Hi Doug,
Yes, I carry my Regal Medallion with a pedestal base. It’s the only vise I’ll tie on and in this scenario, weight is not an issue for me so it’s well worth it. I’ve never liked clamp vises because they dictate where you have to clamp them and for me, it’s never the ideal position. But with a pedestal, as long as I have a flat surface, I can place the vise anywhere for the most comfortable tying distance.
Do any of you ever take your tying kits on a plane? If so, how do you pack and ship it (I assume checked luggage)?