I recently upgraded my 25 year old Regal and to a Renzetti Traveler (w/ cam lock), after hearing many positive things about them, both from shop staff and previous owners. Though I've only had it for a few weels and have only tied a limited range of flies so far, I'm quite impressed with it. While substantially lighter in construction than the Regal, I expect it will be plenty sturdy for most of the things I'll require of it. A little rough in appearance and probably not as precisely machined as some of the higher end products, it seems reasonably well done and certainly serviceable and certainly a relative bargain at $160. I guess my major gripes (the relatively light weight construction aside - well, relative to that boat anchor of a vise that the Regal was, and I guess I've got to keep in mind this is the "Traveler" model after all) is that the rotary function tension adjustment was a little fussy (though has held once properly adjusted) and the cam had a definite roughness (almost gritty) quality, at least initially. Both improved after taking the thing apart and re-lubing it with a quality synthetic grease.
The "true" rotary function is great - both for actual rotary tying (winding body materials, etc.) and for the 360 degree inspection function - and certainly makes tying in underhook materials, such as throat hackles, much easier. Flies look better and go together faster than with a fixed head vise. I found the rotary tying style easy to adapt to, though the extra steps required - half-hitching your tying thread and hanging the bobbin on the special support before beginning the winding - a little annoying, particularly since my focus over the last 20 years has been *eliminating* tying steps <g>. Still, it does produce some damn nice looking fly bodies and I expect the two little extra steps will become second nature before long. One factor to consider - especially for a 'lifetime vise' - is whether the company will be around to support it in 10 or 20 (or 40) years. This is where a company like Renzetti or Regal seems to have an edge. In fact, now that I have my Renzetti, my Regal is going back to the factory for a well earned refurbishment! BTW, I stuck with the C-Clamp. I invested in a "universal C-Clamp" adapter, shortly after buying my Regal, that allows the C-clamp to work with almost any thickness table (or tree limb, or whatever), addressing what I saw as the major shortcoming of the C-clamp style vises. The C-clamp does have the advantage that when you really need to reef down on it - like last night when I was bending some hook eyes so that I could snell them properly for stinger hooks for the Miyawaki Poppers I was tying. The C-clamp is, of course, also lighter and more compact, a plus if you're planning on actually using your vise as a traveller. -Wes > -----Original Message----- > From: Scott Craig [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 9:09 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Fly Vise Help > > > I have a $120 gift certificate for any Cabela's product. After looking > through their catalog, I decided to upgrade my non-rotary and non-pedestal > Regal fly vise. My range of hook sizes in the past has been between 16 > and 2/0. I have never used a pedestal vise, but it looks convenient. > > I'm thinking of going with the Dyna-King Barracuda model. I have not seen > or heard of the Danvise or Griffin vises. Is the Renzetti Master Vise > worth $600?? > > Any comments welcome, I want this to be the last vise I buy! > > Here is what Cabela's has to offer... > > Vise Price Hook_size Pedestal > Danvise New Classic $79.99 ? N > Dyna-King Barracuda $319.00 ? Y > Griffin Odyssey $139.50 28 to 4/0 N > Nor-Vise $245.00 ? Y > Regal Rotary $164.99 ? Y > Renzetti Cam Series Traveler $159.95 28 to 4/0 N > Renzetti Master Vise $599.99 28 to 10/0 Y > Renzetti Presentation 4000 $334.99 ? Y > > ****************************************************************** > ********** > Scott The members of this genus (Salvelinus- > Craig includes Bull trout & Dolly Varden) > are by far the most active and > handsome > Practise of the trout, they live in the > Catch & Release coldest, cleanest and most secluded waters. > on Wild Salmonids > No higher praise can be given to a > http://www.eskimo.com/~craigs Salmonid than to say, it is a charr. > (Jordan and Evermann 1896) > ****************************************************************** > ********** >
