Which vise ?

I have been buying $25.00 vises for a few years and after so many flies the jaws start to wear and will not secure a hook.  Its time to purchase a quality new vise and wanted some opinions.  I am stuck between the Regal medallion w/ the stainless jaws and the Renzetti cam traveler series.  Does anyone have any experience with either of these ?  Thanks for your help !

ORIGINAL: SonofZ3

I have the Regal Medallion vise. I love it. 0 complaints. My local fly shop owner's been using the same Regal Medallion for 25 years, and its exactly the same as the day he bought it. I reccommend them whole heartedly.

Adapted for me.

Can't go wrong either way there, dUUd.

Couldn't agree more, man.

The big differences, from what I can tell, are the very different entries in the 'Pros' column. Both of the vises are very light in the 'Cons'.

Renzetti: True 360-rotary, slim design, small jaws

Regal: No need for any jaw adjustments at all

The few cons for each would be the lack of the other's pros.

I have a Regal pedestal with the standard and midge jaws. Works well for me.

Dynaking or Renzetti, would rather tie with my hands than with a regal.

have a peak vise and like it they are made in the usa. really think all the vises made in the usa are all around the same in quality, it just comes down to what features u like on the vise.

What HC said about tying with his hands.....
 
When I was a young lad ... a couple years ago... I would watch Pops tie with his hands and thats how I got started. Then I graduated to the vice on his workbench that he used to sharpen mower blades.  Then I spent some lawn mowin $ on a Thompson Pro - about $12. I tied with that stinkin vice up until 5 years ago. Then I bought a 'zetti traveler. Had it about 6 months and the jaw adjusting screw broke. Got it replace and have been on it ever since. It has seen alot of hooks with no problems other than the screw. I know one thing though - Pops would roll over in his grave if he saw the vices and how much they cost now. He would give me h*ll when I was on his big old workbench vice.  Then I saw him start to use it when arthritis hit. He never used a regular tying vice though... only that big stinkin thing that weighed about a ton bolted to the edge of his bench. Looked funny with a hook clamped in. Good memories......thanks for takin me back HC.

ORIGINAL: KJH807

speaking of tying with hands... the DVD "lost world of Mr. Hardy" has a segment on a tier who still dresses Atlantic flies with no vise
pretty impressive

there is a 30sec clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypDt1yBQlwY

Hey, I do that. Wanna see a Step by Step of tying a Blacker's Ballyshannon in hand?

http://www.classicflytying.com/index.php?showtopic=38030&hl=

When I'm not tying in hand, I used a 'zetti traveler. Love it.

Renzetti Traveler for trout and some salmon flies, Regal for heavier work, salt, warmwater. Won 'em both at the local TU banquet over the years, although they would have cost less had I just purchased them outright.

Prior to these, used a Thompson A and an old Orvis Simplicity. They both had 100's of dozens tied on them. Wonder how I managed all those years with a $20.00 vice.

ORIGINAL: dimebrite

rotary on renzetti is much better... regal i have sometimes flattened smaller 18-24 size hooks.

Quit using $hi+ hooks.

I regularly tie on 2X fine mustad #18, and 94840s (less regularly) in #24 and never had one flatten. If yours are, its the hooks, not the vise. Maybe a bad batch, maybe cheapo hooks.

I am probably going to purchase the Renzetti traveler but had another question first. Will the jaws wear away like my $20 vises have ? I am hoping for $189 they will not but wanted to be sure. Thanks again guys !

You will probably love it man, and I've never heard of anyone wearing out the jaws of their Renzetti with proper usage. Only thing I've heard of people replacing are O-rings.

only happened twice and it was many years ago cold. for some reason i'll never forget. the renzetti seems to handle smaller flies for me better anyway though. it's been a while since i've tied anything smaller than a14 anyways since i am a steelhead fanatic that targets them almost year round....

As I said:

I regularly tie on 2X fine mustad #18, and 94840s (less regularly) in #24 and never had one flatten. If yours are, its the hooks, not the vise. Maybe a bad batch, maybe cheapo hooks.

+1

regal fan here