Hackle Pliers

salmo

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I'm pretty disappointed in my Stonfo Hackle pliers. They either slip off or break the hackle/quill. Before I spend a shirt ton on the C&F can anybody give me a review. Frankly the 50 cent ones from Temu ain't that bad.
 
I’ve been using this style hackle pliers for a number of years and I’m very happy with them. Super grip with very little breakage. Won’t break the bank at about $12. I believe Hareline calls them - TyFlyz Hackle Plier. If you get to any of the Fly Fishing Shows lots of companies carry them. These are about as simple as it gets.

IMG_1165.jpeg
 
Can I semi-hijack to ask generally what hackle pliers folks are using? I almost posted this question yesterday.

I usually use this ("English"?) style:
english-hackle-pliers.jpg

They mostly work fine, but they are sometimes too heavy to leave hanging by the hackle, which occasionally I wish to do. I see that there are some smaller, lighter versions of this style out there.

I've also tried plunger style pliers as a lighter alternative, and, while they worked great, they seem basically disposable and broke after little use.

Just curious what people like or not.
 
I don't think that there is a magical hackle plier in existence that isn't going to slip or break hackle. To me the tool is merely an aid to keep my fingers out of the way. You still have to be very cautious and slow.

I use a pair like what hooker of men posted above. You can adjust the tension on that style by bending it a little.
 
I'm pretty disappointed in my Stonfo Hackle pliers. They either slip off or break the hackle/quill.
I have the Stonfo Elite plunger style and have been pleasantly surprised by how much less they commit these offenses. Still have to be gentle with fragile stuff. I just finished a dozen starling hacked flies with zero slips and one break (not gentle enough).
 
Just curious what people like or not.
For decades I used the english style which were better than any other style I tried until recently. I now have the english style in regular and midge, the stonfo elite in standard and midge and the pliers dc410 shows above (haven't used this one yet, but it looks promising).
 
I’ve been using Loon Ergo hackle pliers
They have grooves in the jaws, that seem to hold better than traditional ones
 
All hackle pliers suck at various times and I've tried them all.

In all seriousness I bet if I went down to my desk and counted I have at least 30 pairs including fancy English styles, rotating types, Stonfo, EZ-Hooks, TyFlyz, Cottarelli, you name it...

Therefore when one pair pi$$es me off, I just grab another...

...and another, and another until I calm down. 😉

FWIW - On my English style pliers I always tune the grip so the jaws lie flush against each other to maximize grip and I coat one jaw face with Pliobond or Barge Cement to improve grip.
 
All hackle pliers suck at various times and I've tried them all.

In all seriousness I bet if I went down to my desk and counted I have at least 30 pairs including fancy English styles, rotating types, Stonfo, EZ-Hooks, TyFlyz, Cottarelli, you name it...

Therefore when one pair pi$$es me off, I just grab another...

...and another, and another until I calm down. 😉

FWIW - On my English style pliers I always tune the grip so the jaws lie flush against each other to maximize grip and I coat one jaw face with Pliobond or Barge Cement to improve grip.
And use sandpaper(>400grt) to brake the sharp edges.
 
All hackle pliers suck at various times and I've tried them all.

In all seriousness I bet if I went down to my desk and counted I have at least 30 pairs including fancy English styles, rotating types, Stonfo, EZ-Hooks, TyFlyz, Cottarelli, you name it...

Therefore when one pair pi$$es me off, I just grab another...

...and another, and another until I calm down. 😉

FWIW - On my English style pliers I always tune the grip so the jaws lie flush against each other to maximize grip and I coat one jaw face with Pliobond or Barge Cement to improve grip.
THIS. I’ve actually stopped searching for a better hackle plier because I’m convinced they don’t exist. I work on focusing all my mental energy and intensely concentrate on a specific point where the hackle stem meets the pliers. This heightened awareness is more easily obtained than a better hackle plier. Focus, young grasshopper.
 
Another couple of things I've discovered about hackle pliers over the years:
If you tie really small flies and use small short neck hackle, lighter pliers like EZ-hooks, TyFlyz or "midge" size English hackle pliers can work better. That's because sometimes bigger pliers slip a bit on small feather stems if they are heavy and you leave them hanging before or after winding.​
The less you move the pliers, the less they slip or break-off hackle. I use a "true rotary" vise. When hackling perpendicular to the hook shank, I hold the pliers stationary with the hackle stem as straight as possible as I rotate the vice jaws. I have WAY less problems doing it this way this versus winding the hackle by rotating my hand & the hackle pliers around the hook.​
I can't say the same is true on parachutes that I do NON-rotary which reinforces what is contributing to the problem. BTW - Even if you DON'T have a rotary vise, IF you can rotate the head of your vise 360 degrees, even off axis, you can do the same thing and get the same benefit. You also DON'T need "rotary" hackle pliers to wind by rotating the vice head.​
FWIW - If you wind hackle conventionally, use hackle pliers with loops and don't want to move the hackle pliers from hand to hand, get a pair with a loop big enough to put a finger through and let it spin on your finger as you wrap. If you use small loop pliers, use your pinkie or put the handle of your whip finish or half hitch tool through the hole.​
Hackle stems get more brittle with age and dyed hackle is more brittle than natural colored hackle. Since I tie & fish a lot of small stuff, I have a couple of older neck tops that I got in trade from friends for the bigger hackle I never use.​
Some of those older midge size hackles can drive me nuts with breakage so I took a page from using quills and I soak those old feathers in warm water beforehand. I'm not positive but it also seems at times that the wet feathers slip less.​
SOME hackle pliers, especially some English style just grip too damn tight,. They crush the hackle stem too much causing break-offs. If you can't fine tune the tension of the grip by popping them open and doing some bending, reserve them for big hackle, other materials or as a roach clip.​

The good news is if you hackle dry flies with saddles instead neck hackle, depending on the pattern you WON'T need hackle pliers until about the 3th or 4th fly. Maybe that's why I love saddles so much... 😉
 
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I put a piece of heat shrink tube on one of the jaws of all my hackle pliers. Not perfect but much better than factory finish.
Fortunately I rarely need to use hackle pliers.
 
I’ve been using this style hackle pliers for a number of years and I’m very happy with them. Super grip with very little breakage. Won’t break the bank at about $12. I believe Hareline calls them - TyFlyz Hackle Plier. If you get to any of the Fly Fishing Shows lots of companies carry them. These are about as simple as it gets.

View attachment 1641239828
i have those too. like them a lot. got mine when charlie craven came to our club for a tying presentation. he said he knew the guy that came up with them and he was selling them for $25 if i remember correctly. i see them available in many places now.
 
Another couple of things I've discovered about hackle pliers over the years:
If you tie really small flies and use small short neck hackle, lighter pliers like EZ-hooks, TyFlyz or "midge" size English hackle pliers can work better. That's because sometimes bigger pliers slip a bit on small feather stems if they are heavy and you leave them hanging before or after winding.​
The less you move the pliers, the less they slip or break-off hackle. I use a "true rotary" vise. When hackling perpendicular to the hook shank, I hold the pliers stationary with the hackle stem as straight as possible as I rotate the vice jaws. I have WAY less problems doing it this way this versus winding the hackle by rotating my hand & the hackle pliers around the hook.​
I can't say the same is true on parachutes that I do NON-rotary which reinforces what is contributing to the problem. BTW - Even if you DON'T have a rotary vise, IF you can rotate the head of your vise 360 degrees, even off axis, you can do the same thing and get the same benefit. You also DON'T need "rotary" hackle pliers to wind by rotating the vice head.​
FWIW - If you wind hackle conventionally, use hackle pliers with loops and don't want to move the hackle pliers from hand to hand, get a pair with a loop big enough to put a finger through and let it spin on your finger as you wrap. If you use small loop pliers, use your pinkie or put the handle of your whip finish or half hitch tool through the hole.​
Hackle stems get more brittle with age and dyed hackle is more brittle than natural colored hackle. Since I tie & fish a lot of small stuff, I have a couple of older neck tops that I got in trade from friends for the bigger hackle I never use.​
Some of those older midge size hackles can drive me nuts with breakage so I took a page from using quills and I soak those old feathers in warm water beforehand. I'm not positive but it also seems at times that the wet feathers slip less.​
SOME hackle pliers, especially some English style just grip too damn tight,. They crush the hackle stem too much causing break-offs. If you can't fine tune the tension of the grip by popping them open and doing some bending, reserve them for big hackle, other materials or as a roach clip.​

The good news is if you hackle dry flies with saddles instead neck hackle, depending on the pattern you WON'T need hackle pliers until about the 3th or 4th fly. Maybe that's why I love saddles so much... 😉
Wow. Thanks for the input.
 
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