In early February I purchased this Renzetti Traveler 200 Series Vise with a C-Clamp. I wanted to use the this new vise awhile before sending on a review, so here it is: it’s an excellent vise. In fact, I guestimate that 90% of non-professional fly tiers will have all their needs met by this fine product (more on wants later). For us regular folk, it is good enough for who it’s for; in my case, it is waaaay better than who it’s for. The design is excellent and well machined; the clamp is wide enough to fit on the tailgate of my truck, an important point for an old guy wanting to go back to his trout bum days.
A great vise isn’t going to fix flimsy thread management, or mangled proportions, but it can help. While my flies aren’t going to catch the fisherman, they have been catching fish; so what if so far my flies look like a Picasso cubist portrait with the nose up near the ear, and eyeballs lodged on the left side of her face? It’s contributed to my becoming a better fly tier, though it likely has not contributed as much as watching Cheech’s terrific tying videos. And that’s the problem: I’ve come to want that purple vise! I launch a new video, and with the first sight of it, I hear Prince singing, “Purple vise, Purple vise . . . “ My plain vanilla Traveler 2000 meets my need, but it’s not satisfying my purple lust . . . So Cheech help me out: there is a wonderful Patagonia film about an ancient fly fisherman in the Italian Alps who ties simple flies by holding the hook in one hand, and ties the fly with his other hand! I think I can break my maniacal lust for your purple Renzetti if you would do a video of tying a pattern that way with purple finger-nail polish (UV purple, of course).
Thanks to everyone at Fly Fish Food for being a great company, and for helping me become a better fly tier and fisherman.
