After surveying much of the candidate field, my instincts suggest that the Petitjean bobbin is the only bobbin offering capabilities and functionality that have never fit within a bobbin’s pervue. As such, its unfamiliararity and unique foibles require a deeper look at the bobbin, to assess whether its promise is realized already or it’s a prototype of something that can only be realized later with additional refinement.
Let’s Get Price Out of the Way
The 800 pound gorilla in bobbin assessment is price. There are plenty of inexpensive “house” bobbins offered by vendors that cost less than five dollars and are copies of copies of the Matarelli bobbin. These bobbins work flawlessly, and as such, should be the default option for most tiers interested in problem free functionality at reasonable cost.
Beginning tiers should not look at anything but “tried and true” until their skills surpass their starter gear. Ditto for the commercial tier, who is focused on speed and wants his tying gear to function flawlessly without his having to fiddle with foibles or shortcomings.
Seventy-five dollars for a bobbin is excessive. Regardless of the alloy used, the engineering marvels it contains, and factoring in its innate ability to ward off vampires and disable hungry zombies, it’s hard under any circumstances to justify this kind of cost.
If cost is king, you don’t want this bobbin.
What capabilities would be worth a $75 bobbin?
I found myself asking this very question many times over. I had come to the conclusion that the only way to justify the hideous expense would be in counting the tools no longer needed, or counting the minutes saved due to the tool’s assistance.
In looking at my tying bench and the costs of the many tools present, the only options that come to mind are vise, scissors and hair stacker. If my bobbin could replace any of those tools it would likely pay for itself.
Unfortunately, these options aren’t in any of the bobbins sold, so any real feature increase in a bobbin is likely to be minor, replacing only the inexpensive tools like threader cleaners, dubbed loop tools, and their ilk.
Hence, the Petitjean Bobbin.
All the things I found out since the last article on the topic
As I dug deeper into the bobbin’s use I had to create new tests to determine where the foibles existed, and whether some of my initial premises were correct.
Grip Does Not Matter
How I gripped the bobbin and which side I rested my thumb on was the first issue I found my comments to be incorrect.
I find holding the bobbin with my thumb on the tensioner keeps the thread contained within the wire guide. If I was left-handed, or wrapped the bobbin counterclockwise, my instinct now is that I would hold the bobbin 180 degrees differently.
It doesn’t matter which side of the bobbin is towards you – or whether your thumb is positioned in a certain way, holding either side of the bobbin works equally well. I tested this premise by gripping the bobbin randomly while it spun under the vise jaws. I found no additional issues with the thread coming out of the tip guide regardless of my hand position.
So how was the thread coming loose?
It was the advancement of the thread up or down the shank, and the speed with which I did so that cause the thread to come out of the tip guide. When I advanced the thread quickly down the shank the bobbin tip would be ahead of the thread, sometimes at an really small angle, it would scrub the rim and find the small aparture of the tip and come out. If I wrapped more methodically down the shank (instead of going from eye to bend in three turns) the bobbin acted normally no matter how I held it. It’s a mix of speed and angle that can cause the thread to come out.
The Plane of the bobbin may influence this behavior
If the bobbin is held parallel to the hook shank and the thread is advanced down the shank quickly, the thread may find the aperture of the tip guide and come out. If the plane of the bobbin changes the same law applies, but it may not be as obvious. The point is to ensure the angle of thread (between point of attachment on the shank and tip of the bobbin) is not too small, implying the tip of your bobbin is far in front of the point of attachment, where you took your last wrap. Remember the thread “scrubs” its way around the tip of the bobbin as the bobbin rotates around your hook shank, too acute an angle and the thread finds the opening and is released.
I tied several dozen parachute flies to test the bobbin’s attitude in relation to the tying area. In the first test the bobbin was held with the tip down and parallel to the parachute wing, wraps were applied to the wing post. In the second test, the bobbin was held with the tip pointing toward the parachute wing, and the bobbin was wrapped around the wing. Both tests were successful, and the thread did not come out of the guide.
It appears that only the acute angle issue, coupled with speed, causes the thread to find the aperture, instead of the attitude of the bobbin in relation to the work surface. The plane of the bobbin can influence the behavior, but the cause appears to be the same … acuteness of angle in the new plane combined with a meat headed fly tier intent on completing the fly quickly.
By now I’d tied about six dozen flies with the bobbin and most of the issues were moot. I’ve not used the thread tensioner while tying the trout flies as setting the tensioner once is all that’s necessary for similar sized flies using the same thread. Replacing the thread and changing the hook size to saltwater had me change the thread tension, but again only once.
Summary: This is a bobbin that functions well in the hands of an experienced tier. It is not without flaw, as the thread can pop out of the tip guide when you get forgetful and move the thread either up or down the shank quickly.
The dubbed loop tool is useful when tying nymphs, less so when tying dry flies, and I tied more dubbed loop flies than normal as it was so convenient to do so with this bobbin. The thread tension function tends to be “set it and forget it” if tying similar sized flies with the same size thread. This tension adjustment was the best I’ve tried so far – not a complete brake on the spool, but noticably increasing the tension.
The cost makes this a luxury item. This is not for the average tier who will eventually own a dozen of these bobbins. While the Matarelli bobbins copies are plentiful and cheap, most tiers will choose to own a dozen of them instead.
Rating: 3 Stars. The cost of the bobbin is prohibitive, and the thread can come out occasionally even when you’re used to the bobbin, New Functionality: 4 Stars. Good thread adjustment, dubbing loop tool works well, once you’re used to it.
In this day and age of the $700 fly tying vise, and the $1000 fly rod, the $75 dollar bobbin is in lockstep with what we’ve done to the sport. I can’t say I agree with where we’re heading, but I’m not surprised at any of this.
Personal Note: I really like the bobbin, but it does not justify my owning a dozen of them. This bobbin appears to be the only real advancement of the bobbin as a fly tying tool, but it’s cost is staggering in light of what you get. I can’t think of a capability that when added to a bobbin would make it worth a hundred bucks, but I have to applaud Mssr. Petitjean for his efforts and his vision.