BW Sports
Tippet/Fly Pouch

The Tippet/Fly Pouch II is BW Sports' entry into the minimalist chest pack field. Although simplicity and minimalism are not the same, many American anglers attracted to the simplicity of tenkara are realizing that they do not need all the gear they carried as fly fishermen. More and more are abandoning their vests in favor of small chest packs. The Tippet/Fly Pouch comes on a lanyard that has several clips for nippers, an emergency whistle, etc., and the pouch itself holds a small fly box, tippet, and all the tenkara lines you could possibly want.

Let me rephrase that. It holds all the tenkara lines even I could possibly want. On any given day I usually test several different lines with a variety of rods, and I rarely have fewer than half a dozen lines with me. On my trip to California in 2011 to fish with Daniel Galhardo and Dr. Ishigaki, I had a lot more than that, a lot more.

For some time I'd been looking for a leader wallet to hold the lines I do carry. There was a "minimalist fishing bag" thread on the Tenkara USA forum not too long ago, and one of the posts mentioned the BW Sports Tippet/Fly Pouch. After reading the discription I ordered one that evening.

There were other bags mentioned in the thread that might be of interest to tenkara anglers. One from Eddie Bauer (the Travel Day Bag) looked like it would do nicely, but it may be discontinued because it was found in an outlet store and is not on the Eddie Bauer website. Another was the May Fly Lanyard Pouch, which seemed a bit larger than necessary (it holds TWO fly boxes), and is constructed of a padded material which adds bulk.

The main reason I chose the Tippet/Fly Pouch was that although the other minimalist bags seem to have just a small pouch for a little bit of gear, this one incorporates a leader wallet in the bag. There are five zip-loc envelopes that can be removed (as a unit). Each envelope is 4.25" by 4.75" inside the zip part, and each will hold several of the 3" x 4.5" envelopes that TenkaraBum lines are mailed in or with.

Thus, the Tippet/Fly Pouch would easily hold and organize all three sizes of the Hi-Vis Fluorocarbon level lines, a Hi-Vis Hand Tied Line, or two (or three), a Horsehair line and an Artificial Horsehair line, every line I offer - for two different rods!

Although BW Sports makes a fly box to go with the Tippet/Fly Pouch, I do not stock it. I much prefer either the C&F 1504 fly box, which just barely fits in the pouch, or the small Morell Fly Box, which slides into the fly box pocket with enough extra room to hold a Varivas tippet spool. The TenkaraBum six-compartment fly box leaves enough room for two Varivas spools or one Maxima spool. I'm pretty sure there would also be room for a bottle of floatant, too, but of course that's just conjecture.

You could easily carry a tippet spool or two inside the pouch if you'd rather have a slightly larger fly box. The first shipment of Tippet/Fly Pouches I received did not come with the BW Sports fly box, but I now have some with the box and some without it.

In the main compartment along with the leader wallet, there is room for another tippet spool or one of the blue Tenkara USA line holders. On the back side of the main compartment, and also on the back of the pouch itself there are three pockets that will easily hold flat items (like a Tip Grip) but will also hold a Varivas tippet spool.

When I first got the Tippet/Fly Pouch, and before I actually used it, I was a little concerned that the main part of the pouch doesn't fully close. It's an open pocket that is held tight by a velcro strap, but I thought it might not be secure for carrying small items. After using it for quite some time now, that has never proven to be a problem. I don't carry any small items that don't fit on the lanyard clips. The blue line holder that I did carry loose in the pouch was held very securely and never fell out.

Another advantage of the the BW Sports product over the May Fly Lanyard Pouch or San Juan Chest pack is that it sells for just $20 (without fly box).

BW Sports Tippet/Fly Pouch - $20

International Shipping Charge - Canada $2, other countries $7

Destination

Canada $2.00 USD Everywhere else $7.00 USD

Payment

Payment is through PayPal but you don't need to have a PayPal account. You can use your credit card. PayPal payments will be made to chris at tenkarabum dot com. Credit card statements will read CM Stewart.

Shipping

The Tippet/Fly Pouch is just heavy enough to require an additional $1 over and above the standard $3 shipping charge added to all orders. International shipping for the BW Sports Tippet/Fly Pouch requires an additional $2 to Canada or $7 to other countries.

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