Fishing - Hair stackers?

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- - Hair stackers? (http://www.fishingbanter.com/showthread.php?t=13952)

"Charlie Choc" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 10:32:10 +0100, "riverman" wrote:

SWMBO and I are starting out with a week of flyfishing at some trout
fishing
venue in South Africa (www.kingfishertrout.co.za) then headed off
overland
to Victoria Falls region and southern Zambia in a rental 4x4 with full-on
safari camping gear (http://www.bushlore.com/Campers.asp). Should be an
exciting vacation, and I hope to be able to cast to some TigerFish in the
Zambezi, some lake species in the Okavango, and of course, some trout in
South Africa. Look for a TR when I get back.

Looks like fun Myron. That's the kind of thing my trailer was really made
for.
g

Yep. The tent rig is made by the same folks who made yours. Any inside hints
about stuff we ought to know?

--riverman

I may be way off base here but I thought a lipstick container was a
good substitute because once the hairs were stacked one could twist
the little thingy and bring the hairs up all nice and neat. I don't
use one. I have a bought stacker with 3 different "cups" to use for
different length hair. Just my $0.02.

On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 11:18:15 +0100, "riverman" wrote:

Yep. The tent rig is made by the same folks who made yours. Any inside hints
about stuff we ought to know?

Actually that's a different brand tent, mine's a Hannibal, but it looks like
it works the same way. If it's like mine there will be some bungee cords
inside to hold things together when folding/unfolding. Just make sure they're
fastened when getting ready to fold it back up and also watch out that tent
fabric doesn't get caught in the PVC cover's zipper. With mine, there is
enough 'play' in the hinge that there is room to leave the sleeping bags in
the tent when folded but not much else, so don't forget to take flashlights,
etc., out before folding.

The tents are amazingly simple to set up and take down. Don't forget where you
are if you have to get up in the night, though. g
--
Charlie...
http://www.chocphoto.com/ - photo galleries
http://www.chocphoto.com/roff

"Tony & Barb Vellturo" wrote in message
...
I may be way off base here but I thought a lipstick container was a
good substitute because once the hairs were stacked one could twist
the little thingy and bring the hairs up all nice and neat.

Hmm, good point. Maybe SWMBO uses the wrong brand of lipstick, because the
thingy on hers is made of plastic and has lots of little holes in it that
prevent the hairs from coming out neat, or else I was trying to use it
wrong. I'll look at some other lipstick dispensers, just for curiosity.
Personally, I seem to always prefer 'alternative' style methods of doing
things....some misguided notion that it creates an identity that has to be
created and not just bought.

--riverman
(a Unique Individual, just like everybody else)

From: "riverman"

Personally, I seem to always prefer 'alternative' style methods of doing
things....some misguided notion that it creates an identity that has to be
created and not just bought.

Nothing wrong with that. If you're committed to finding an alternative, someone
else mentioned using a .45 shell casing. I have used one for shorter hair, and
a .44 magnum for longer stuff. They are workable, but the extra weight of a
'real' stacker makes the process easier.

Also, you mentioned that when you tap the lipstick container, the hair tips
still don't aligh properly. This is likely due to the "fuzz" mixed in with the
hair. Make sure you comb out as much of the fuzz before stacking, and iy
doesn't hurt to apply a little downward pressure to the hair butts with your
thumb during the tapping process.

Be careful when removing the hair from the stacker, as static electricity may
cause hairs on the outside of the stack to cling to the side walls of the
container. This is especially true of plastic containers....less of a problem
with aluminum or brass.

George Adams

"All good fishermen stay young until they die, for fishing is the only dream of
youth that doth not grow stale with age."
---- J.W Muller

"Frank Reid" moc.deepselbac@diersicnarf wrote

Seconded. A hair stacker, (I use the large one 'cause its easier to stuff
the **** in there)

hehe, I mainly use the small one because it's easier to get the **** OUT
still stacked nicely G ... most of the hair I use is for small Sparkle
duns ( down to 22s, but mostly 16-20 ) To tie that pattern well the hair
must have very, very short tips ( the solid 'black' part at the very end )
and be hollow right out to those tips, AND, each hair must be small in
diameter ( it is possible to find a rare piece that has short tips and
relatively fat individual hairs, but it won't be AS easy to tie with, too
"flairy" )...... such hair is almost always, also, short and tends to tip
sideways in a bigger tube

I only mention this to point out one thing I'm constantly relearning about
tying .... the more carefully one selects materials, the better the fly and
the experience of producing it. Another thing? The exactly right tool
makes things better too ... gear whores rejoice ....and for very small
amounts of short hair a small stacker works better, for bigger amounts of
long hair, a bigger one rules ... what can be nicer than an excuse to buy
two G?

I just bought one....bought the wrong size....

It appears the hair really needs a lot of room to settle down properly.

john

"riverman" wrote in message
...
In my beginner days, every single fly tying instruction book I read (that
means both of them) had the same 'inside hint' that a hair stacker was not
really necessary. One suggested an empty lipstick case, another said you
could align the hairs by hand just as easily, with a bit of practice.

But now that I'm getting a bit better at tying, I find aligning the hairs
a
RPITA! I tried a lipstick case, but when I dumped the hairs out, they all
fell into disarray again. I think a hair stacker really is a good idea,
but
I don't know for sure because I've never really used one.

This is really a weak topic for a thread, because if I just go out and buy
one and then toss it later, it will represent a much smaller waste of
money
than most of the things I have in my tying kit. But just the same, whats
the
scoop....do most of you advanced tyers use a stacker, or do you do it by
hand?

--riverman

riverman wrote:

In my beginner days, every single fly tying instruction book I read (that
means both of them) had the same 'inside hint' that a hair stacker was not
really necessary... another said you could align the hairs by hand just as
easily, with a bit of practice.

Okay, well this is a topic I've spent a lot of time discussing with
"contemporaries" over the years... I've been tying for 40 years now, and
for the first 30 of those years, I NEVER used a stacker. Part of it was
for the first ten or so, I never knew one existed, so I didn't know I
should want one or didn't have one =)

I learned how to prepare and stack hair right off the hide (or tail)
from the guys I tied with as a kid and I guess I was lucky in that
respect, and I got to be pretty good at it!

Then as I got into more of the tricks and books and all, I found out
about this stacker device and thought, "gee, that would make this a lot
easier"... but as funny as it sounds, you needed to learn how to use
one... I mean, it seems easy enough, you cut off a hank of hair, stuff
it in a tube, tap it down, grab the butt ends and pull it out, right?

WRONG!!! You still need to prepare the hair (it has to be clean, you
need to remove all the underfur, pull out the 'wild' hairs first, etc.)
and once you've done all of that, if there's static build-up in the tube
or the hair... it won't stack right.

Oh yeah, and there's dealing with curved (hair from the side of an
animal) and or curly hair (calf tail, for example) still... stackers
don't seem to help much more with these.

But now that I'm getting a bit better at tying, I find aligning the hairs a
RPITA! I tried a lipstick case, but when I dumped the hairs out, they all
fell into disarray again. I think a hair stacker really is a good idea, but
I don't know for sure because I've never really used one.

Well, I don't know if you've really missed anything. I tried doing it on
the cheap with a lipstick tube, a shell casing and a shortened pill
bottle first and these were all more trouble than they were worth,
especially seeing as a real commercial stacker is only around $5-10
bucks =)

But then you'll find that it's not "one size fits all" and a small
stacker REALLY is better for short hair, and a large one is better for
longer and/or larger clumps of hair, so you'll have a couple of them...
and you'll learn the trick about pulling a used fabric softener sheet
through them to break the static (yep, it really works!)

And then you'll see there are a bunch of different ones, like the
Renzetti aluminum and brass one, and the Griffin heavy based aluminum
ones and some with cork or rubber on the bottoms and a few plastic ones
and my FAVE of the cool ones, the WOODEN ones turned on lathes that look
real cool and seem to avoid most of the static problems... but can bust
depending on the grain of the wood when you really tap 'em hard or on
the edge...

This is really a weak topic for a thread, because if I just go out and buy
one and then toss it later, it will represent a much smaller waste of money
than most of the things I have in my tying kit. But just the same, whats the
scoop....do most of you advanced tyers use a stacker, or do you do it by
hand?

I don't know if I have the right responding to something where you're
asking for the opinions of an advanced tyer, I mean, advanced in years
maybe, and not even then compared to some of the folks out here... but
my advice would be to treat yourself to one, and if you don't like it,
give it to someone else.

If you're only wanting to buy one, and this is gonna sound weird to
people who know me, because I SELDOM EVER ENDORSE ANYTHING ORVI$... I'd
recommend the Orvi$ one with the see-thru window in the base... I
thought it was a joke when I saw it, but my brother bought it for me a
few Xmases ago, and it's nice and heavy, it's an adequate size and it
has a cork base, so it doesn't mar the oak table top when I tie in the
living room... and the see thru feature is kinda cool to see if the hair
is aligned without having to pull up the tube to check. I think it's
like $12-15, and what's that... a couple of shots of Chinaco?? =)

Larry