[Mike Barrio]

Hi Folks

Fred Carrie has made some interesting comments regarding fly line packaging in a review in his "Fish Wild Magazine"

He does not like his lines to come in a box and on a plastic spool, but prefers them to simply come in a small plastic bag.

The market leading fly line brands tend to come with spools and boxes, so I had not considered packaging Barrio lines in a plastic bag before ......... What do the forum members think, do you prefer the boxes and spools?

Best wishes
Mike

[PDScott]

Hi Mike,
From my experience, trying to wind a line on to a reel off a coil, as opposed to a plastic spool, is asking for a major tangle. I do not suppose the box is that important and inevitably adds to the cost, but I do like a tangle free experience!
Peter

[Alex Burnett]

Hi Mike

In my experience they are just as well in the plastic bag as I take them out of the box, then take them off the plastic spool & fit it onto a line winder which make putting on a new line a very simple easy to control one person operation as you can adjust the speed it comes off the Line Winder far better than off a plastic spool if you are doing the job on your own. 

Alex

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Mike

In my experience they are just as well in the plastic bag as I take them out of the box, then take them off the plastic spool & fit it onto a line winder which make putting on a new line a very simple easy to control one person operation as you can adjust the speed it comes off the Line Winder far better than off a plastic spool if you are doing the job on your own. 

Alex

Hi Alex

Good point, I hadn't thought of that, but there again ...... how many folk have a line winder? Most folk that I have seen loading a fly line on to a reel use the old tried and tested "pencil through the spool" method?

Best wishes
Mike

[Sandy Nelson]

I prefer the spool.
I can reuse them to store other lines on too.
I also tend to keep the boxes to house the old lines in.
I suppose i may be the odd one out, collecting old lines, but they are usually ok and i've normally changed them, to try something else .

Mind you i suppose if you were to supply them in a paper bag, then it would be very Ecco friendly.

I also like having all the details of the line on the box, and keep them for reference.

I would wonder at whether or not being stored in a polythene bag, might have an effect on a pvc line, being similar materials, would there be a possibility of trans-molecular migration?, i'm no chemist though, but i've had problems before with soft plastic baits melding into plastic boxes, many moons ago, and wonder if something similar might happen if the lines were stored for a period of time. I'm probably speaking complete tosh mind

Sandy

[Iain Goolager]

Hi Mike,

I have to agree with sandy.

I prefer the spool.
I can reuse them to store other lines on too.
I also tend to keep the boxes to house the old lines in.

I too don't have a line winder so load a line by running the stem of my flytying vise through the spool centre holes then re-fitting the stem to the vise base. The vise is obviously clamped to a suitable surface and the stem height adjusted to allow the spool to rotate with just a slight tension.

Just my opinion.

Iain

[Peter McCallum]

I find the spools can split & dump the line if your not careful... then the line is a complete bugger to spool on so if I bought one in that condition I would be driven demented, so it's spools for me.  

Wouldn't keeping them in a plastic bag stop too much leaching of plasticiser out Sandy, which keeps our line 'plastic'? I'd think theres more chance of that than migration of molocules between polymers. Maybe I'm talking B******S on that though.

[Rob Brownfield]

There would indeed be a problem with the plastercisers in the bag and the line possibly affecting each other, however, you can buy plastic bags that are "safe" for other plastics. My "soft baits" come in them, and as Sandy says, stick a loft plastic lure into a normal "non safe" plastic lure box and the two melt together.

I like the spools myself and to tell the truth, if i had just paid £40 or £50 for a fly line, I would expect good packageing, even if it is adding a fiver to the cost. I also like the box because then you know your line has not been sitting in the sun degrading. I have bought a couple of very cheap lines off of the web as "ex display" and when they turned up ther where faded on one side. Must have been in the shop window. when used, the faded section started to crack after a short time.

[Irvine Ross]

Either way is OK for me. A plastic spool saves a bit of bother but handling line in a coil is no trouble either.

For lines that come without a spool I slip the coil over a rolled up newspaper then let the newspaper open up a bit until the coil of line is a snug fit. Then undo the ties on the line and slip the rolled up newspaper over a broom handle and place broom across two chairs. The line will now unwind without tangles. It's a wee bit more trouble but how many lines do you buy in a year?

Irvine

[Ron Bain]

i would  be happy with the spool or the bag.

[stickleback]

My garage is overflowing with crap as it is  , and if I do get a spool and box I lob them out.  Then again I did buy a cheapo line winder to help me spool them up.  I like Irvine's idea - very low tech and ecco friendly   

[Magnus Angus]

I would expect good packaging, even if it is adding a fiver to the cost. I also like the box because then you know your line has not been sitting in the sun degrading.

Exactly the point(s) of the packaging.

Mike asked if there would be any problem marketing Barrio lines in simpler packaging - not really imho. I'd suggest a wee diagram showing how to use a rolled newspaper as an improvised line-winder.

[Jim Eddie]

Aye , simpler packaging works for me , not the first time I,ve used a rolled up newspaper or magazine.

 

Jim

[Mike Barrio]

Hi folks

Thanks for the great feedback

Personally ...... I like the packaging that I use at the moment and to be totally honest, I have never liked buying fly lines in plastic bags.

But I will put some thought in to alternative packaging.

Best wishes
Mike

[Sandy Nelson]

But I will put some thought in to alternative packaging.

Best wishes
Mike

I dont think underpants are a good idea, unless they suit the line weights

Sandy