fly tying kit

[hammerhead]

I was thinking of buying a fly tying kit. There are few on sale at cabela's (delux fly tying kit for $ 54, it includes basic tools and raw material) . Any ideas whether its a good deal or there is soemthing else better out there.

Thanks
faisal

[Lance]

I'd skip the the kit and get it in peices. You can get much better equipment that way along with supplies you actually NEED for a very small amount more. If you buy the kit you'll still end up buying supplies anyway.

[jdchaff]

i got a kit from cabelas about a 2 years ago. it costed $100. I just got a new and better vise. the materials that come with the kit come in small amounts so you go through them kinda quickly, learning how to use them and experimenting with flies. I thought the kit was very helpful.
Also you might want to put up a fly tying book. I have "The Art of Fly Tying", it tells you how to tie all types of flies -dries, nymphs, bass. It has good step by step instructions and photos.

[Lance]

I went bumped around Cabela's selections and the Kaufman kit isn't bad for the money but it's still $90 which is really about what you'll need to spend to get a halfway decent start and a vice you won't want to throw away in a yr. The Thompson tool kit for $77 is a very nice choice for a beginning set then all you need is a few materials to get you going. Probably about $100 in total startup.

[hammerhead]

Thanks guys
In their catalog there is a basic fly tying kit plus book and a dvd and i think it was all for 50 something dollars. but I was wondering the same thing that I may be better off buying the individual things . it would be more fun that way. But dont know where to start.

[Lance]

You don't need anything Fancy. for the tools and that it would be tough to beat that thompson kit. I've still got my Thompson that I started a loong time ago. It still works fine and I even let a buddy use it for a few years. Rotary isn't that important unless you tie alot. As far as materials go are you mainly looking at stuff for steelhead initially or or more than that? I can give you a nice little shopping list for materials based on your target species and the most common flies to tie.