Vice Recommendations Please

[WildTigerTrout]

Griffin Montana Mongoose. I have had mine since 2005 with no complaints. I really like it. Tied a lot flies on this one. So many I wore the blueing off the top portion of the jaws.

I also have a vintage Thompson 1A. Works fine.

The other vice I have is Griffin's Superior 2A with FINE jaws. I use this just for tying midges and tricos.

Many good choices out there. Good luck and have fun in your search.

 

[PABigFishHunter]

I ended up ordering the Griffin Oddesey Spider and the Renzetti Traveler to compare them side-by-side. I think I'm leaning Renzetti, but I'll know when I get my hands on them.

Thank you all for the help.

 

[JMP]

I use a Regal. When I decided to tie my own flies, I bought my materials at Fly Fishers Paradise. I tried the Regal and Renzetti. Both are excellent choices. Steve, the proprietor ties on a Regal. I valued the ease of hook placement over the rotary option. I had the standard jaws. Regal has a trade in offer, and after 30 years on this vice, I upgraded to the stainless steel jaws. I was fortunate many years ago to find someone selling a Regal standard with the brass base and a set of midge jaws for $100. Glad I made the purchase. My suggestion is to try each vice and select the one you find best suits your needs.

 

[shakey]

i am a renzetti traveler user

 

[jrcll]

i have the Peak, made in the usa , has many accessories, and reasonably priced

 

[wbranch]

Fly-swatter wrote;

The standard jaws have a chip from user error that I've tied around for 25+ years.

It's interesting that you mention that. It has also happened to me - regretfully twice. Both times as you mention user error. Both times the hooks were small, probably #14 - #16 and I didn't position the hook far enough back in the jaws. As soon as I let go of the clamping arm the jaws slammed shut and spit the hook out like a rocket and God knows where the hook went. So now I have two little chips at the very front of the jaws. They haven't affected the ability of the jaws to still hold very tiny hooks. I'm just more careful how I insert small hooks now.

 

[salvelinus]

For a vice I like whiskey, gambling, and women. Not necessarily in that order. For a vise there are a lot of good suggestions in this thread.

 

[HellBoy]

I have an Anvil Atlas, now Wollf Industries, and I've production tied with it from #22 tricos to 3/0 saltwater flies for probably six years, had an Anvil Apex before that. Best vise for the $$$ IMO. The cut outs in the jaws allow for the larger hooks to be locked in tight and it comes with the pedestal and c-clamp.

 

[PABigFishHunter]

I tried the Griffin Odyssey Spider and Renzetti Traveler side-by-side for a couple days and in the end I decided to keep the Griffin. I was a little surprised by my decision as I figured I'd like the Renzetti better.

The Renzetti was a little more stylish but it just didn't fit my setup as well. The Griffin being a little larger seemed to fit me better and I was less clumsy with it. It's one of those things that's hard to explain but things just seemed to work better on the Griffin.

All that said, they're both really great vices and I'm sure I would have gotten used to the Renzetti over time had I stuck with it. You really can't go wrong either way and they were both HUGE upgrades over what I was using. Thanks again for all of the suggestions.

 

[MKern]

I bought my Griffin Odyssey Cam back in '04. Never had a problem.

People always warned that it was for people with skinny fingers (which I have) so I wasn't worried about that.

I don't use the rotary feature much other than to quickly spin the fly for a different angle.