Help me find a new vice!

**colchilibeck** · November 12th, 2011, 01:47 AM

I am in a bit of a pickle at the moment. Christmas is coming up and I have convinced my girlfriend that what I really need is a new vice. I currently have a old school thompson model a vice. Yes this vice does work, but I am more then ready to upgrade now knowing that I am going to be tying all my own flies from now on (no more buying flies shipped from asia).
I believe I have narrowed down the vises that are in my price range and have all had fairly good reviews. Of course it would be nice to go to a local shop that had each vise in stock for me to try out but alas they don't. If you could give me any insight to any of these vises I would really appreciate it. The vises I have been looking at are the
Peak Rotary
Renzetti Traveler
Griffin Montana Mongoose
Dyna-King Trekker

For some reason I am leaning more towards the peak or griffin, but I am not sure why. Maybe its because I have been reading vise
reviews for the past 4 hours and it is now 2am and my brain is a little fried. Either way and opinions would be appreciated!

**Coastrider** · November 12th, 2011, 07:01 AM

I was going to get the peak before I got my danvise, nice looing unit

**BCBound** · November 12th, 2011, 09:02 AM

I'll throw another candidate in the ring for you. Have a look at the HMH website. Some pretty nice looking vices there too.

**colchilibeck** · November 12th, 2011, 09:15 AM

Coastrider, why did you decide against the peak vise?

HMH does not make a rotary vise unfortunately. They do make some sweet looking vises.

**Coastrider** · November 12th, 2011, 11:09 AM

well, for the price, danvise was the best deal and got great reviews

**BCBound** · November 12th, 2011, 11:52 AM

So what's the deal with a rotary vice anyway? I have not tied a pattern where I found myself wishing that I could spin the vice. The one I have now, although super cheap, can be rotated to accomodate different sides of the fly, but it dosn't spin.

What are the pros and cons?

**colchilibeck** · November 12th, 2011, 03:28 PM

Instead of me typing it out, I'll just post somthing I read online. I am wanting to start tying flies with epoxy like minnows and such. A rotary vise will make applying epoxy much easier. And good rotary vises arent necesarily too expensive either.

The advantages offered by this construction are numerous...
- Since the fly rolls freely around its own center line, the annoying factor 'other side' is eliminated. It doesn't matter on which side you're tying in your material. Everything will be in front of you and legs on the far side are tied in just as comfortable as the legs on the near side. A step up in control and ergonomy.
- Applying head cement, epoxy, paint etc. will also get easier. As all sides of the fly will be the 'right' side, you will see what you're doing at all times and can also easier avoid doing it where you don't want it done. If the fly needs rotating while glue is setting, the vise can of course be a helpful tool for that too.
- Wrapping material the "normal" way, will mean one of two things: The twist of the material will increase with each wrap... or you will have to transfer the material to the other hand after each wrap, with a higher risk of uneven wraps or dropping the material. Using a true rotary vise, you can instead rotate the hook and let the vise do the wrapping for you... "tying your fly" if you want. Not only is it a plus to be able to see it being applied all around the fly while doing it. It will also save a lot of time while doing the really "nasty" wrapping jobs... like wire, floss or tinsel bodies etc.

**Zane** · November 12th, 2011, 03:36 PM

When it came time for me to get a new vise, it was between the Renzetti traveler and the Peak rotary. I ended up with the Peak mainly because of cost, and I have not been disappointed. A well made vise. I don't use the rotary function all the time, but as stated above, it is real handy and I am starting to use it more.