Product Review: Thompson Pro II Fly Tying Vise

D.H. Thompson designed the first draw collet fly tying vises nearly one hundred years ago. The basic design principles have remained the same ever since, and a fleet of very fine vises draw their design heritage from the early Thompson design. Essentially, the draw collet design has three main components that make the jaws close to hold a hook. There is a central tube that has a flared, funnel-like end with a collet that extends through the main tube and has a split design jaw that is pulled into the flared end of the tube by a cam lever on the other end of the tube. When the collet is pulled into the flared tube end, the two halves of the split design jaw are forced tightly together. Draw collet designs are easy to use, and can have tremendous holding power, so long as the steel the jaws are made from is properly hardened to resist bending or fracturing under proper use.

The Thompson Pro II vise is a simple elegant design that has been around for years, and which is well built enough to offer many years of great service. There have been many commercial tyers over the years who spent their entire career relying on a Thompson vise.

After using a number of different vises over the years, I was surprised and delighted to discover how smooth and solid the controls on the Thompson Pro II vise are. Along with its sister vise, the Thompson Original Pro vise, the design is one which has been imitated and nearly copied many times over the years. The design works well and has holding power that is nearly equal to the best vises available today. The smooth inside faces of the jaws clamp so tightly because of the draw collet design that they seem capable of hanging on in nearly any tying situation. While the cam lever is lightly built, is works easily and is very comfortable against the hand when locking the vise. I have used vises with lever locks that were actually quite uncomfortable... not a big deal to use once, but if you are tying for several hours, it is nice to have something that is easy on your hand.

The vise is usable as it comes out of the box with hooks from size 2/0 to size 18, though you can certainly use it with smaller hooks if you wish. You just lack some clearance if you properly set the hooks in the mid sized jaws. Thompson makes a midge jaw that is usable from size 18 to size 32, and a super jaw that can be used to size 6/0 and beyond with great holding power, and without the risk of damaging the jaw by cranking it down too tightly and bending it in the attempt to grip very large hooks. One of the things that I love about the Thompson is that the overall finish is very nice, particularly the beautiful pedestal, but also with special note to the jaws, which are nicely machined and well matched at closure.

One drawback of this vise is that it is not designed for use with a c-clamp. If you want to use it with a clamp, buy the Thompson Original Pro Vise, which comes set up that way instead of with the pedestal base. It can be upgraded to a pedestal base similar to the Pro II base, but without the elegantly flared base to the shaft, leaving it looking a little less finished. This pedestal base is one of the prettiest and most stylish on the market, and because of that, it is my daughter's favorite. Also while the vise head does rotate to various positions to hold a fly, it does not rotate once locked, so no rotary function is available. Additionally the system accessories are fairly limited compared to some of the newer elite vises, but if what you want is a great simple vise that looks beautiful, is well finished, is very easy to use, holds up well, and doesn't break the bank, this vise might be perfect for you. There are some other very good vises at similar price points as well, so look around to see if this is the one you like best for the money.

Tight lines!

David