Starting Out- Kits? (which one) or Ad Hoc?

[M. Wood]

Does anyone have any experience with kits?

[Zach Matthews]

I think you only wind up losing money by buying the kits, and moreover the materials usually kind of suck in them.

[mark s]

I agree with Zach – I started with a kit and pretty much the only thing I used from it is the whip finisher.

[Mike Cline]

I think you only wind up losing money by buying the kits, and moreover the materials usually kind of suck in them.  Zach

I wholeheartedly agree with Zach on this one.  Kits suck for a myrid of reasons.  Last year while I was still in Alabama, I wrote this little piece on beginning fly tying:

http://www.alabamariverfishing.net/articles/In%20The%20Beginning-II.pdf

After tying my own flies for over 45 years: IMHO – Don’t Buy A Kit

[Neal Osborn]

MW, see if this previous helps answer your question http://www.itinerantangler.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?num=1203547218.

[lawrence underwood]

Zach and Mike are right.

[mike ormsby]

Good advice so far — and I have to agree that for most part kits aren’t the most economical or even the best way to get into tying — the quality of materials and certainly the vise & tools are not generally that good — few exceptions even some good “kits” put together by fly tying specialty shops or even some manufacturers — best to try out some different vises etc. by either joining club and going to tying sessions (usually selection of vises/tools to use) OR got to your local fly shop and take lessons and try out some different vises — lots of quality vises and tools at not overly expensive price point — and most will last for long time (many with life time warranties) — will be money well spent in long run — AND more economical too

[Neal Osborn]

Fly tying is expensive! That is a fact.

[Mark Schafer]

As far as a

[Eric Weller]

I too looked into a kit and then realized it was a waste of money.

[john cantrell]

in an attempt to play devil’s advocate…

[Kent Edmonds]

Unicoi Outfitters (http://www.unicoioutfitters.com) has a kit that is realistically packaged with pretty good stuff/ It has decent tools and materials to tie a variety of common flies. It’s was put together for the very reasons y’all state, i.e. most kits are crap.

Kent - FlyFishGA

[M. Wood]

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate the input!
Mark

[ethan smith]

For the most part kits get a bad rap, and in most cases for good reason they can be expensive, and can provide an over abundance of usless stuff. However, sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I bought a kit from Gander Mtn. I think it was around $50-60 and it came with basic materials and tools as well as a basic book. The materials are fairly bad, and I had to search for one that had what I wanted in it (they were all sort of randomly stocked with colors materials etc) The tools are pretty basic, the vice is pretty simple. But it works and you can get going with one simple purchase, no hassle.

Those early flies I tied were horrible looking but hey, they caught fish. Over the years I’ve been adding stuff little by little as I need it, but I still use that old stupid vice.

[Tim Pommer]

Although kits come with crappy materials, your first three dozen flies are gonna be equally as crappy.

[stuart cawthon]

Check out

[Rob Snowhite]

i get my feathers now on ebay. some nice and inexpensive stuff up there.

my last order didn’t specify the feather size so i ended up with a mini ostrich plume

[wayne patton]

I agree . . kits are not good. Cheap tools, bad materials. I think a person is better off buying stuff as they go. Get a vise, some cheap scissors from the sewing section of Walmart and get started. But materials for one fly that you will use. Tie that fly, but materials for the next fly, now you can two two flies, and depending on the materials, maybe more. That’s how I started and I think it has worked out fine.

[Abe Mathews]

My suggestion is to get a hold of a Griffin #2A (I found one for $30 that my brother now has but they’re normally about $50), a pair of decent scissors (I like Dr. Slick), a pair of “junk” scissors (JoAnn Fabrics has scissors on sale for 50% off about once a month), one standard ceramic bobbin, and a whip finisher.

Make a bodkin by sticking a sewing needle in a wine cork, steal a pair of your wife’s (or mom’s, or girlfriend’s, or your own) tweezers, and get a bottle of Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails.

[Kent Edmonds]

Earlier I mentioned a quality kit that a local shop here in GA sells, but didn’t have a link. Here it is –http://www.unicoioutfitters.com/classes.html and here’s contents for the $125 kit –

Supreme Vise
Hoffman 1/4 Saddle (Grizzly)
Hoffman 1/4 Saddle (Brown)
Hoffman Bugger Pack
Griffin Std. Bobbin
Griffin Hackle Plier
Universal Scissors
20 Mustad #19580 Hooks; Size 8
20 Mustad #9671 Hooks; Size 10
20 Mustad #94840 Hooks; Size 12
20 Mustad #94840 Hooks; Size 14
20 Mustad #37160 Hooks; Size 16
Pack Hare’s Ear Dubbing
Pack Olive Dry Fly Dubbing
Pack Adams Grey Dry Fly Dubbing
Brass Beads
Spool Gold Wire
Spool Flat Gold Tinsel
Spool Lead Wire
Spool Olive Thread
Spool Black Thread
Pack Tan Elk Hair
Pack Peacock Herl
Pack Duck Flank
Pack Wooly Bugger Marabou
Pack Polypropylene Yarn
Pack Medium Dark Olive Chenille
Pack Black Yarn
Pack Goose Biots

Kent - FlyFishGA

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