Orvis leader kit

or however that dang word is written! : ) Use this forum to discuss those things that are related to, directly, or indirectly, fly fishing, i.e., tackle, catalogs, single malt scotch, cigar preferences, pipes, camera gear, etc. This is sort of an off topic area but one related to bamboo and fly fishing.

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Dale H
Member
Posts: 18
Joined: 05/26/14 07:56

Re: Orvis leader kit

#21

Post by Dale H »

Curiosity shelf it is. I tied a few clinch knots with the largest and smallest diameters. Seemed okay with a steady pull but, as Loogie predicted, they broke easily with a sharp tug. Then I pulled off about a foot of material and tried to straighten it it out. No luck. After being wound up on those little spools for fifty odd years it just wasn't interested in lying flat.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply and share their knowledge. I really appreciate it.

Dale H

crowebeetle
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1340
Joined: 08/03/13 22:51
Location: Chapel Hill, NC & central Penna

Re: Orvis leader kit

#22

Post by crowebeetle »

I've had one of those boxes of 20 spools for a while but it came with no instructions, thus you guys once again have solved a mystery. Given the age of the material it will be a another curious dust collector.

BTW I have had "issues" with brand new nylon tippet material breaking easily when tying flies on and breaking when setting the hook on small fish. Upon testing, the leader material, 3 or 5x breaks with a fairly gentle pull. I check spools before using them.

jeffkn1
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 5626
Joined: 06/08/05 18:00

Re: Orvis leader kit

#23

Post by jeffkn1 »

Just an opinion, but most of those old Orvis leader material sizes will still perform in the manner they were intended. Yes, they're stiff feeling, especially in comparison to more recently formulated leader material, but is there anyone fishing for trout under 4 or 5 pounds who is seriously concerned about Orvis diameters 2X or over?
The knotting-and-quick-pulling test, which was standard for 50 years or so, is as unscientific as it ever was. The biggest shortcoming of the old Orvis may be that the stiffness works against you when trying to cast tight loops using shorter leaders. The work around for that is to drop the butt material diameter a size or two until you get the performance you want. When you look at the formulas you find that for most trout leaders the butt is .021 or .019, with .019 being the standard for smaller fly line diameters (4wt and smaller, for example). Tippet material is the only area of concern and in the case of lighter sizes simply substitute whatever your preferred current make is. I was accustomed to the Orvis material and found all the then-new materials of the 70's and 80's either too stretchy or two limp. Some things have changed since those days. If you look at the formulas for Orvis leaders you'll find an application for every diameter in the kit. Extreme neglect could have hastened the deterioration of the finest sizes but that doesn't mean the kit's useless. It's as functional as it ever was. If you have neither the time nor the inclination to learn about how to build or modify your own leaders, then even a new fresh kit would be of no value.

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