Advice for a new starters?

[kentangler]

I am a reasonably competent tyer. A fishing mate asked me today how he should go about starting to tie - should he buy a beginners kit?

My inclination was to say "no". In my experience one of the essential keys to good fly tying is quality of materials and I am thinking the quality of kit materials may not be that great.

I can fix him up with a vice, manuals etc and show him basic techniques. He wants to start with spiders which is fair enough but what would be on YOUR list of equipment and materials for a basic spider construction kit?

[weight_forward]

Just spiders;

Hen capes: natural black & greenwells
Partridge skin or a bag of feathers (I would be happy to use grizzle hen though)
Thread: black, orange, purple, olive, brown, primrose or another pale yellow. Uni 8/0 or similar, Pearsalls if you really must tie with barge rope, even if you do then Gutterman is better value.
Hooks: B170 #16 to #12, B175 #14 & #12
Hares mask
Peacock herl
Oval Tinsel: Gold and Silver

I’m afraid I’m not a traditionalist when it comes to spiders, I can’t imagine a trout knows the difference between a Snipe and Purple and a Natural Black Hen and Purple

[otter]

If he is going to tie specific spider patterns to imitate specific insects then it would be best to use the materials where available that have led to these patterns becoming best in class.

Game hackles have specific attributes that cannot in general be matched by poultry hackle. That is not to say that poultry hackle cannot be used on spiders or that anything is totally set in stone. What you use to tie your fly when used to imitate a particular insect is linked to how you intend to fish it.

If your friend starts right in tying flies that try to match the naturals that he is trying to imitate and keeps that in mind with every single fly he ties he will quickly pass out those that simply tie flies on a whim.

Consistent success comes with having specific patterns for specific circumstances that suit the way you fish and the type of water you fish.

I would suggest that your friend should firstly define what imitations he requires for his water, define how he intends to fish, find suitable proven patterns and then try and ascertain the required materials to tie these.
At least then when he starts to fish them he will at least know that he is using proven patterns suitable for the job, suitable for his style of fishing and suitable for the type of water and its inhabitants.