Favorite bobbin(s)?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

What are your favorite fly tying bobbins?

Brand, model and size......

Just want to be sure we are stocking the best ones.

Thanks

[Jgoding]

I love my Nor-vise automatic bobbins. I bought a kit for my brother for Xmas the day I was talking with you Bill. I also have a C&F bobbin which I haven't tried but it looks very nice. The Rite bobbin seems like a favorite as well with the adjustable tension.

I also received my Ekich automatic bobbin but an inadvertant switch with someone else's order has me sending it back in to get it exchanged so hopefully in a week or so I can try it out.

My preference is leaning towards ceramic these days as well. Using stuff like power silk, Kevlar, and even wire it seems a better option as people say stainless steel will groove etc... with some of these materials.

Thinking about it though, most of the standard bobbins work alright. I like my nor-vise bobbins for a lot of reasons though. PM me if you want all the details about it but you can see both automatic bobbins on youtube.

[Darian]

Here's a vote for the Nor-Vise bobbin.... :)

[JD]

Rite Bobbins and Tiemco bobbins are pretty much the best out there, IMHO. For the Rite Bobbins, I find the "standard" best for trout/steelhead and the "cermag" best for streamers (salt- or freshwater). The "shorty" is too hard to load thread, so mine goes unused. Watsatch makes some interesting variants, but with the exception of their dubbing loop tool/bobbin combo, (http://www.flytyingtools.com/webpages/tools/bobbin_whiler_mitchs.html) nothing they have is really unique -- just very appealing to the eye. Ceramic seems to be the only way to go these days with the rise of the "super" threads popular in Europe (e.g. Powersilk), and I favor tubes over inserts.

Nor-Vise has their fans but I tried their automatic bobbins and did not care for them at all. I especially dislike how you have to spool your own thread. Very time consuming for someone who uses a lot of different color and sizes of thread. The Ekrich bobbin has always intrigued me because it solves this problem, but at $100 a piece, I can think of a lot of other tying supplies I "need."

[shawn kempkes]

I use the griffin ceramic tube bobbins.

[Mike R]

second the griffin ceramic tube

Mike

[wjorg]

Mitch's Bobbin/Whirler, hands down.

[Mike O]

is there some kind of bobbin which uses the wide/narrow sewing thread spools like those made by Gutermann Thread??? I like some of the threads they have.

[Jgoding]

Yeah, respool it and you can use it on a nor-bobbin.... or just respool it on a standard spool maybe (an empty one). JD, I use a lot of threads as well, I don't see re-spooling as a problem. Now, keeping track of what each spool is a bigger issue as I tried writing on them with a sharpie to no avail.

I'll report in on the Ekich, at $100 it's a lot and it has an insert over a whole ceramic tube which I don't like either.

[Steve Potter]

I like the Rite bobbins for hair and saltwater flies, and have a dozen or more Frank Matarelli stainless steel types for trout and panfish. I think the simple spring kind is best for learning the basics. My 2 cents ,Steve

[Bob Scheidt]

Materelli long tube bobbins.

Bob Scheidt

[Mr T]

Materelli long tube bobbins.

Bob Scheidt

+1 to that.