Griffin gave me the chance to try out their Montana Mongoose vise. This is an initial review of their product. The vise is a mid-range vise and will cost you between $210 to $240ish.
So, if you want to step up to a vise with a bit more functionality, this one may be for you. Griffin sends it in a convenient carrying case, and I loved that it comes with both a pedestal base and a clamp base. They've also thrown in the bobbin cradle, a bobbin, and a bobbin threader. Often, I have to purchase these separately.
It is a rotating vise which may be a step up for some who may be tying on a stationary vise. The adjustments are very user friendly, and you don't have to carry an Allen wrench with you everywhere you go. The material spring is completely adjustable, and you can fairly easily tip the head of the vise up and down.
What I often refer to as a vise being in-line - the Mongoose fits the bill. Basically, as you rotate the vise with a hook in the jaw, the hook shank rotates on its axis, rather than bobbing up and down as you rotate. This can be very important when tying on material like a hackle - or really anything you might be wrapping around the hook shank. The jaws can easily handle hooks as big at size 6 or 8 and go as small as sizes 24 to 28. The adjustment for this "in-line" is very user friendly - loosening with a thumb screw rather than an Allen wrench.
In terms of a few negatives, there isn't a lot of open space under the vice jaws, so it can get a little crowded. More importantly, many of the components you will use frequently are plastic rather than metal. I've only used the vise for a few weeks, and nothing plastic has broken. I just don't know how durable the vise might be in the long run. I wish they had used metal - but then the vice would likely be more costly.
Overall, this is a nice vise with much of the additional features commonly found on more expensive vise. If you tie a lot, you may want to be careful with the plastic components. I hope this is helpful - and THANK YOU Griffin for giving me the chance to learn more about the Montana Mongoose and to put it to good work!
28 авг 2024