I prefer the whole rooster pelt myself, followed my the saddle. Most of the feathers will have 2 or more sizes on it, 90% of that the sweet spot. If you look at what you tie you will find that in a lot of cases you are tying the majority of your flys in about 4 to 6 sizes. Most of my flys are from #14 to #20. On the down side is that saddles have a limited range of sizes, alot of them will only tye down to a #16. The exception being Whiting, which can supply a wider range, I have saddles with #32 feathers. Necks will give you a wider range of sizes, but generally have a smaller sweet spot than a saddle & seem to be more prone to twist. Necks also supply some spade hackle which great for tailing, and of course quills to be stripped & dyed for bodies. You need to decide what qualities are the most important for you. If you are on a budget I would say the necks would give you the most bang for you buck, but than you have only one color. Which ever way you go, buy the best Whiting product you can!
Bob H ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, November 22, 2002 12:02 AM Subject: [VFB] Saddle vs Neck Hackle > I think we could all agree that a high quality Whiting Saddle is both > convienent and economical to use, while a whiting neck provides a greater > variety of feather sizes... but beyond that are there any clear advantages of > one over the other? My gut feeling is that a neck hackle has the edge in > stiffness and straightness, and perhaps floatablility. What do you guys > think, and which do you prefer to use?
