New Vise!

[Hairstacker]

Well fellas, after extensive research, soul-searching, day dreaming, and hand wringing, I decided to upgrade from my $12.50 Integra Mastax, made-in-India vise to an HMH Standard Bench vise. I bought the HMH brand new, and it came with a 4 lb pedestal, a spring material clip, two allen wrenches, and a neoprene case. Very sturdy, solid vise and, having tied on it for a week now, I am absolutely happy with it. Holds hooks solidly and is styled in a traditional configuration that I'm used to and comfortable with. Very nicely machined with very smooth rotary function (although not "true" rotary) and adjustable head angle. Good access to the hook from the rear and underneath, and plenty of room to comfortably rest my left hand on top as I hold materials being tied in. I also like how you just unscrew the jaw to substitute other jaws that are available as an option. All in all a very nice vise that I expect will outlast me. If you're in the market for a solid vise with lifetime warranty and aren't looking for "true" rotary capability, I highly recommend taking a look at HMH's line-up of vise models.

By the way, apparently in one case, HMH experienced the jaws lasting about 150,000 flies on an HMH vise that was being used by a commercial fly tying outfit. HMH stated it took care of the jaws for them. I'll be sure to post my experience once I've tied that many on mine.

[SullyTM]

...so what is going to be your first pattern in the new vise? Nothing like a new toy to make a guy happy! Guess Mike won't be watching the Stupid Bowl on Sunday. Thom

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

In CA it seems like the Dyna King dominates the market.

HMH has been around a long time and was the 'big dog' 10-20 years ago.

I do have access to them so I wonder if I should put some in again?

[Hairstacker]

In my research, I noted that Dyna King vises were very, very highly regarded by those that use them and many consider them the best. Another very popular vise maker is Renzetti.

On a fly tying-only website, an ongoing poll of current, world-wide (not California-specific) vise users, where the question asked was, "What is your primary vise?", revealed the following breakout for 410 vise users thus far:

Renzetti 113 users (28% of total)
Other 107 users (26% of total)
Regal 50 users (12% of total)
Dyna-King 41 users (10% of total)
Griffin 37 users ( 9% of total)
Thompson 34 users ( 8% of total)
HMH 14 users ( 3% of total)
Nor-Vise 13 users ( 3% of total)
Abel 1 user (<1% of total)

Again, it's not a California-specific poll and may not necessarily reflect what folks are buying today, as many of these users have been tying on their vises for years. Noteworthy is the full quarter of tyers in the "Other" category -- a catch-all that swept up the Danvise, Anvil, Law, and Peak users, as well as those who are using no-name brand vises, which you often find packaged in fly tying kits or sold as imitation knock-offs of name-brand vises. I believe the high percentage of Renzetti users is an indicator of the popularity of "true" rotary-style vises today, as those are mostly what they sell, particularly their very popular "Traveler" series of vises. In any case, an interesting poll. . . .

[PatrickM]

I just got a Renzetti Traveler vise, Mike. Big step up from my $35 Thompson (which WillJ is now putting to good use). I'm not sure about the difference between "rotary" and "true rotary" but I'm digging the vise anyhow. Very easy to use, and seemed like a good deal for the price.
That reminds me - I'd better get cranking on my swap flies.

[Darian]

Hmmmm,.... If you disregard the brand names, true rotary vises represent 38 percent of the total.... I've been thinking about upgrading to the Dyna King Barracuda.

I've had four different brands of vices over the years. The first came with a fly tying kit given to me when I was about 13 years old (1953?). Next, was a Crest vise; similar to a Thompson "A" model. Then, a Thompson "A" and a Thompson rotary vise. My current vise is a Regal pedestal and I'm happy with that but it requires some change in postioning to go from rotary to tying standard flies.

True rotary does provide a complete tying capability with minimal or no adjustments. Makes for tying a large range of sizes, as well. Now, all I've gotta do is find the $$$$$$.....