Rubber Tubing

Natural Latex Rubber Tubing is another material that can be used to tie "Unsinkable Dry Flies." The material comes in sizes with an inside diameter of 1/16" to 1" with the most useful sizes being 1/16", 1/32", 1/8", and 3/32." The best wall thickness is 1/16" to 1/32." The tubing has specific gravity of less than one and will float even without an air bubble trapped inside. Colored tubing is available but is expensive compared to the natural color shown here. The tubing can be colored with permanent marking pens or inside with the use of alcohol based ink. It also works extremely well to tie nymphs. An example is shown to the left -- simply wrap the hook shank with lead and slide the tubing over the wrapped shank -- Then add skin, legs, antenna, etc.

New Supplier

We have another new supplier cableorganizer.com. They offer a wider selection of heat shrink than Action-Electronics.com including 4 foot sections and 100 foot rolls. Their shipping costs are more reasonable than Buy Heat Shrink.com. Beware of the collors especially red as it is not what you have come to expect as red heat shrink.

New Supplier

We have finally found a supplier that handles small orders of heat shrink at reasonable prices. The lengths are four feet and the price varies by size but is usually under two dollars. Shipping is also reasonable around five dollars for small orders. The web site is http://www.action-electronics.com/heatshrink.htm

Starter Kit

Recently I found a good heat shrink starter kit with 160 pieces of assorted sizes and colors (1/16 thru 3/8 inch). The 3/8 inch size is a little large, but considering there are only 10 pieces the overall use of the kit at a cost of under $20 with shipping is reasonable. It is available on the internet at the following location: skycraftsurplus.com 1525.

Wing Material

On page 14 in the book -- we talk about material to make wings -- recently, I came across another product that can be used to make outstanding wing material, it is called "Heatnbond." The product is used like fusible webbing, except it seals like Press and Seal, but is even more durable and will not absorb water. Like fusible webbing it is available at most fabric stores.

New Wing

Recently, I came up with a different wing using heat shrink - It is a variation of the the "Bent U" found in the book on page 12 except it adds a third leg. A small drop of super glue is used to hold the pattern in place. I use a drying accelerator for super glue called Zip Kicker to set the shape quickly.

This picture shows this configuration "Dusted" (see book page 10) with grounded up foam. In this case rubber cement is used in place of super glue or spray adhesive to hold the dust in place.

This final picture is of a finished fly using the wing and also a "Bubble" body (see book page 12) making this one buoyant fly.