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Renzetti Traveler or Standard Regal


Mark K

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Of those two....Renzetti Traveler. Of any.....Peak Rotary.

 

Like Colt, I wonder why you are limiting yourself to just two. Like Colt I would go with the Traveler. If the sky is the limit, The Dyna-King Indexer is my choice.

 

CLICKDyna-King

 

It is a steal ar less than $500.

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as owner of a renzetti traveler i would go regal the drift guys use 8 of them forteaching fly tying for kids come out to the hunting and fishing days and try one out this weekend drift will be there. rich

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Both are excellent and you can't go wrong with either, personal choice totally. With that said, I've owned and used many vises but my favorite and one that I continue to use 95% of the time is my Regal. It's everything in a vise that I need and it will long out live me. Find a fly shop that carries both and play with each one and see which of the two speaks to you. A long time ago I was at a Fly Fishing show and Regal had a booth. I sat down, played around, and within a few minutes I was hooked.

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Thanks. Regal it is. I was limited to those because i had an Orvis gift certificate and those two were the choices. I actually have the Regal in front of me, the option to send back. But I am keeping it.

 

Funny what Rich mentioned. My kid was tying a fly at one of the shows at a drift booth. I had a regal in front of me and I started fiddling with it. It felt great. The purchase was just on instict. One thing that is particularly nice is I like to rest my left hand on it. It just feels right.

 

My #1 criteria is a rock solid grip on the hook. You probably shouldn't do this but I took a bass hook and bent it into a pretzel in those jaws. If you place the hook currectly in the little groove, that hook ain't going nowhere. Given my fondness for messing with deer hair, it should be a winner.

 

Also made in USA (like the Renzetti).

 

My regret at this point was not getting that massive bronze base, I got the clamp on. Both will work, but that big chunk of metal was a thing of beauty.

 

Mike G. Nice vise but almost 3 times the cost of What I spent. Regal makes a cool high end vise too.

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One thing that is particularly nice is I like to rest my left hand on it. It just feels right.

 

 

 

I couldn't agree more with this, silly and simple I know, but I like the openness to the left for my hand and materials. And in reference to Airborn Mike's comment, I've never had problems with 5/0 Pike hooks because of that "groove" that the hook can be set it. I did have problems with larger hooks slipping in my HMH Spartan vise.

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I couldn't agree more with this, silly and simple I know, but I like the openness to the left for my hand and materials. And in reference to Airborn Mike's comment, I've never had problems with 5/0 Pike hooks because of that "groove" that the hook can be set it. I did have problems with larger hooks slipping in my HMH Spartan vise.

 

Have any of you tied small trout flies with it?

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Mark,

 

The old saw is,"Get the best you can afford." Budgets are a hard reality. I can talk because I am using a vise that costs 1/2 of what your Regal does.

 

This discussion gave me more insight into the Regal. Apparently there is no need to adjust tension since the spring does it for you on any sized hook. It is kind of like automatic transmission for a vise. That alone makes it great for avoiding "spitting the hook." That is a hazard with my Danvise and even with the high end Renzettis. I admit I was put off by the huge head which makes it look like one is pounding tacks with a sledge. On the other hand, Cornwall and Morris favor Regals; so who am I. Enjoy.

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Mark,

 

The old saw is,"Get the best you can afford." Budgets are a hard reality.

 

Mike,

I couldn't agree with you more but on the other hand I don't want people to think you need an expensive vise to produce excellent flies. I think back 35 years ago when I started tying flies. I was working my way thru college stringing tennis racquets and so my first fly tying vise was my racquet stringing machine. Ha

 

Also, I was at a show one time when I saw this older woman tying incredible small trout flies using nothing more than a handheld vise grip to hold the hook and her other hand to hold the bobbin. Such dexterity was fun to watch.

 

About the Regal vises, I'm not sure if it is still true but I heard for years that there were more Regal style vises used for commercial work than any other vise by a large margin because of their ease of use and ability to hold up forever.

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Mark K.,

 

If you are still in your approval period, consider this. I have been studying thre models you are looking at. Though I like the Regal jaw closure, the Renzetti has one feature that your Regal model does not. (a more expensive Regal Model does.) It is some times called "true rotary capability," the ability to rotate a fly along the axis of the hook shank. It is not just being able to turn the fly to look at the other side. It has been pointed out that most tyers who have true rotary vises fail to use this feature. Al and Gretchen Beatty have a good book on this. Though at first it may seem that rotary is just a quick way to wrap a Wooly Worm, it turns out to be much more. For example, with it you can spin a chenille out of materials like herl or marabou, consistently spin and trim deer hair, and complete a neat whip finish without using a thread loop or tool. Of course it does speed up any wrapping process since you can wrap thread and body material at the same time. Consider whether you will need this in the future.

 

Rob,

 

Are you saying that Regals are immortal? :rolleyes:

 

I agree on the expense item. My $85 Danvise gives me a rock solid grip and true rotary capability. I have heard that some fly shops sold it as an entry level true rotary with the thought that their customers would return to upgrades to models like the Renzetti rotaries. Most customers were satisfied with the Danvise and never upgraded.

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Mike- I tied two flies with it so far. A clouser and a bugger. I won't be doing any real tieing till snow hits the ground, as I am trying to manufacture some fishing time.

So far,

It has an iron grip and a really great "ergo" feel. Hooks don't slip and there is little to no adjustment. If you do wish do adjust, your hand is already there, resting on the head. All you do is squeeze the lever.

 

If I change my mind, I can unload it in a heartbeat on ebay.

 

Immortality? Yup. I can't see why this would not be something to hand down. Like a lot of the other vises out here.

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The devil made me do this :huh:

 

Which one? If you don't mind knock offs, you can get both for $60 from Barlow's.

 

Terraregal:

 

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Terrazetti?

 

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Let the buyer beware! Read the reviews on the net first.

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