A place to discuss the collecting and tying of classic flies, the tyers who made them famous, the tools, materials and techniques they used as well as the waters they were designed for. While classic is generally used to describe old things, classic is also used in the sense of first class or in the highest form. Therefore a fully dressed Salmon Fly, or a Carrie Stevens Streamer are just as much classics as a Chernobyl Ant would be. Enjoy the forum.
A hinged (tilting) stem turns a true rotary into an angled- axis vise when you need clearance behind the fly without the cost of another vise. Hinged stems are $75 on the Renzetti website. It works best on a C clamp so you can adjust the height better. Tilt it up tie a few tilt it back. Simple.
John
Do those hinged stems work with the Traveler? I saw the hinged stems on the Flyfishfood website and they say that they're for the Master and Presentation 3000/4000 series. No mention about the Traveler.
Like many on this thread, I started in the mid 80"s with an El cheapo vise that came with a flyting kit. I used that for maybe a year or so before I got a Price Vise(fixed head) as a Xmas present. That vise was Ok and it held a hook, which is about all I can say about it. In 1989 I upgraded to a Regal Rotary (pre-medallion) and that was a big leap forward. Like many others, I ended up chipping the jaws, but I contacted Regal about this and they replaced the jaws and I only had to pay for shipping. A year or so later I got the midge jaws and I was off and running, I then got the pedestal stem and the aluminum pedestal base. I hated that thing. It was so light and moved constantly, so I sold it shortly thereafter.
Some time in the late 1990's I bought a used Renzetti Traveler (I think it was off this list) as a backup/travel vise. It was one of the older models before they made the upgrade to the rotaary tension screw. I found it so difficult to adjust that I just kept it in the stationary position and put it in the travel kit and used the Regal exclusively.
Fast forward to last year.
I signed son #2 up for Fish camp (run by Redding Fly Shop). He had a great time and caught 20+ trout at Antelope Creek Ranch. They do teach a little flyting as part of the camp curriculum so he wanted me to show him how to tie flies before he went so he wouldn't be completely clueless. I gave him a brief intro on how to tie a wooly bugger and off he went' I didn't give it much thought after that as I didn't expect that he'd take up fly tying anyway.
Boy was I wrong about that! He started fly tying immediately after Fish camp and hasn't looked back. We brought our tying gear when we went on our family vacation to our family home in NW MT right after Fish Camp so he took over the Regal for good and I was back to that Renzetti Traveler. I just used it in the fixed position the entire time so I got by.
After we returned home I started doing more research on the Renzetti vises and watched a LOT of u-tube reviews, etc.
I had 3 Thompson A vises. They were good back in the day. And they reside in my Granny’s Hoosier Cupboard now.
Next was a Renzetti Traveler that one of my old hockey player has now. That is a very nice vise.
My Regal was a nice one too. My #2 son has it now.
My vises currently are a rotary HMH and a Peak. Both are real nice, but I do use the Peak a bit more.
With my youngest son having taken over the Regal and being stuck with that old renzetti traveler, it was time for a new vise. I thought I could just get a Regal pedestal stem and a cheap pedestal and just use the existing set of midge jaws, so I ordered the pedestal stem. Well, it turns out that the stems for the Medallion are NOT compatible with the old models so it was back to square one. Figured I might as well just order a new Medallion with the standard jaws and C-clamp, so that's what I did. WIth the shop offering 15% off for 1st time buyers, I paid about $150 so was happy with that.
About 6 weeks later I discovered that the tips of the jaws did not align correctly and there was about a 1/32" offset. WTF? This could be a safety issue as it could increase the possibility of the jaws spitting small hooks. Unfortunately, the return policy period had expired so now what?
I went onto the Regal Website and saw what it would have cost to get it repaired and then took a look at their upgrade options and it turns out that upgrading to a different vice head wasn't significantly more so I went that route. I was going to upgrade to the midge jaws, but then saw the stainless jaws and thought "might as well just go all-in". So that's what I did. I also got them in the Hot Rod Red color, so I really went all-in.
Upgrading to the stainless jaws was absolutely worth it! With the size range and the fine tips, there's no need to get the midge jaws. You're almost getting 2 jaws for the price of one.
I still wanted to get a Renzetti, though. I did more research and ended up getting a Presentation 2304 (Black version). Took advantage of a 20% off sale last Nov so that made it really affordable. Love that vise!
Then I decided to get a traveler for the trips to MT so ended up picking up the 2300 traveler in Jan. The shop had them on sale and got a great deal on it. About a month ago the old Regal was starting to show it's age. The standard jaws were getting more prone to chipping and the midge jaws wouldn't hold anything larger than a size 10. I showed my son how to use the traveler and that's he's tying on now. He likes it more than the Regal. The nice thing is that this is a vise he can grow into and it will last him for YEARS.
Of course with my son now using that 2300 Traveler, I was left with no choice but to get a replacement :-). I just ordered the 2200 traveler and the Spawn Fly Fish Site is having a 20% off sale on everything through this Sun, so that dropped the price down to $200.
I think I'm now done with buying any more vises.....
Over the years, I've decided I can't make up my mind. I had a Traveler back when they didn't have a cam. My Renzetti 4000 is the one I go to, but I've become a vise collector. HMH Standard is great. I have an Anvil Apex, which when I bought it was $88; now they're about $200. It doesn't compare to the HMH, but it's a good vise. I've got a Regal with SS head, but I've never warmed up to it. Recently I bought a Griffin Patriot, which I owned back in the 90s. It's a nostalgia vise.
I went through a few Griffins before buying my first Regal Medallion. A few years ago, I upgraded the Medallion to a Regal Revolution, both with the bronze pocket base. I absolutely love it. I am going to get the big game jaws soon to tie musky and SW flies and bucktails.
Mike B
The Peak Vise does everything I need and then some! I scored a great deal here on the Forum when someone upgraded and sold me their Peak. Very unusual to buy them on the secondary market. It was "pimped out" with several upgrades and also included midge jaws too. Even had a light, but since I already had an OTT light, I sold the light and it pretty much covered my cost for the vise.
