If you're buying cock capes, try to buy good quality half necks. Metz Grade 3 are very good and Grade 2 even better, for a reasonable price. High grade Whiting capes are superb but cost a lot more. For a home tyer tying only for personal use, a good quality half neck will last you a long time, so it's a one off investment (although you may want 3 or 4 colours). I'd recommend buying a brown half neck to start with. Some shops will try to sell you saddles rather than necks - my advice would be to avoid them because the range of hackle sizes can be very limited. With a good quality half neck, you can tie a full range of fly sizes and you'll have enough to last you years. If you're buying via the internet, it's worth phoning somewhere like
lathkill's who will give you good advice and most likely sell you half necks, even though they may only advertise full necks on their web site. If a shop advises you to buy a saddle, in my opinion, they are giving you bad advice. The reason I say this is that I know some shops will ask you what size of flies you're tying then try to sell you a saddle for them. You'll have enough hackle to tie thousands of flies of only one or two sizes. The problem comes when you want to tie other flies in different sizes and the saddle just doesn't have the right size hackles.
jdl
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