Stan Fagerstrom
02-27-2004, 05:17 PM
The “Spool Buddy”
A Handy Item For Anglers
By Stan Fagerstrom
Jake Meyer is one of those lucky guys who can eyeball something up close and careful, then come up with a way to make it better.
Ever hear of a “Spool Buddy”? I hadn’t either until I walked the aisles at the outdoor show in Eugene in early February. I’d seen items similar to it before, but these were unique.
The items I’m talking about are those handy elastic type bands designed to hold line in place on a line spool. Chances are you’ve seen earlier versions of these holders. The ones I’ve seen most often before are made of an elastic about a ¼-inch wide. In the middle of the band is a round piece of plastic with a hole in the center. Once you run the amount of line you need off of a line spool, you run the end of the line up through the hole in the plastic button. The line that remains on the spool is held snugly in place. In event you want to strip a few feet off the spool, you simply grab the end sticking out of the center button and pull off what you choose.
Suppose you’ve just wound about 50 yards of new line on your reel. Before I discovered the new style line holders I usually wound up looping a rubber band around the remaining line until I needed it again. Sometimes the rubber band broke or the line managed to slip out from under it. Too many times I’ve discovered loose line when I found it wrapped around my shoe, tangled in the vacuum or my wife tripped on it. Once some loose braided line dang near strangled the family cat. None of these experiences added to my peace of mind or contributed to the domestic tranquility of the household.
http://www.ifish.net/sfspoolbuddy.jpg
It's easy to adjust the size to these Spool Buddy line holders. They also provide a handy means of holding rod sections together or securing rods for travel purposes.
The first time I saw the new line holders they came in only two sizes. One was for smaller spools. A second, bigger band was designed to accommodate larger line spools. If your needs fell somewhere in between the two available sizes you wee out of business.
Enter Jake Meyer, operator of Dad’s Tackle Box in Springfield, OR. As I said in the beginning, Jake is one of fortunate dudes who can eyeball a device and come up with a way to make it better. That’s exactly what he has done with his Spool Buddy elastic line holders.
“The line holder was not my invention,” Meyer says. “I saw them first at an outdoor show and got permission to make duplicates. I’ve been making them now for about five years. What I did do was come up with an idea for improving on the original idea.”
As Meyer points out, the line-holding bands were originally made in only one size. Right off some fisherman wanted wider bands for larger spools. Others wanted sizes that would fit small fly leader dispensers.
“I started making them in different sizes,” Meyer says, “and it didn’t take long for things to get confusing. That’s when I got the idea for the new holder we’re calling the Spool Buddy.”
What Jake has done is make the elastic band on the line holder adjustable. It takes only a couple of heartbeats to shorten or lengthen the band to the size you desire. It’s no longer necessary to fumble around trying to find exactly the right size holder for the line spool with which you happen to be working at the time.
How’d he come up with the name Spool Buddy? Meyer says the credit for that goes to Andrew, his youngest son. The lad was watching his dad working with his line holders one day. He said, “Dad, your elastic thing needs a name.” Meyer told his son to go ahead and come up with a name for it. He picked Spool Buddy.
Actually, these handy little rigs are an angler’s “buddy” in more ways than one. Have you ever found yourself wishing you had some simple means of holding two or three rod sections neatly together for storage? I have. The Spool Buddy works just fine in this regard. Just take a Spool Buddy and widen it enough to make it easy to slip over one end of your rod sections. Now tighten it down. Do the same thing with a second band at the other end and you’re in business.
http://www.ifish.net/sfspoolbudpowpro.jpg
Unused line is held neatly in place with the Spool Buddy line holder. The holder's elastic band can be tightened or widened to fit line spools that vary in size.
I do a good bit of travelling where fishing is concerned. Those Spool Buddies of mine are going to come in handy when I stick five or six rod into my rod case. Put them in individually and they rattle around with risk of damage if air travel is involved. Now I’ll bind them together neatly with two or three Spool Buddies, then wrap both ends and the middle with hand towels held in place by additional bands.
The Spool Buddies Meyer markets sell six for $5 or you can get 12 for $10. Lesser numbers sell for $1 apiece. These little holders are handy to have and worth the price.
Meyer operates Dad’s Tackle Box from his home. If you don’t find the Spool Buddy at your favorite sporting goods store you can order them from Meyer himself. His address is 554 North 67th Street, Springfield, OR. The phone number is (541) 517-4359. Meyer can also be contacted via e-mail. His e-mail address is fishingnut@nu-world.com.
A Handy Item For Anglers
By Stan Fagerstrom
Jake Meyer is one of those lucky guys who can eyeball something up close and careful, then come up with a way to make it better.
Ever hear of a “Spool Buddy”? I hadn’t either until I walked the aisles at the outdoor show in Eugene in early February. I’d seen items similar to it before, but these were unique.
The items I’m talking about are those handy elastic type bands designed to hold line in place on a line spool. Chances are you’ve seen earlier versions of these holders. The ones I’ve seen most often before are made of an elastic about a ¼-inch wide. In the middle of the band is a round piece of plastic with a hole in the center. Once you run the amount of line you need off of a line spool, you run the end of the line up through the hole in the plastic button. The line that remains on the spool is held snugly in place. In event you want to strip a few feet off the spool, you simply grab the end sticking out of the center button and pull off what you choose.
Suppose you’ve just wound about 50 yards of new line on your reel. Before I discovered the new style line holders I usually wound up looping a rubber band around the remaining line until I needed it again. Sometimes the rubber band broke or the line managed to slip out from under it. Too many times I’ve discovered loose line when I found it wrapped around my shoe, tangled in the vacuum or my wife tripped on it. Once some loose braided line dang near strangled the family cat. None of these experiences added to my peace of mind or contributed to the domestic tranquility of the household.
http://www.ifish.net/sfspoolbuddy.jpg
It's easy to adjust the size to these Spool Buddy line holders. They also provide a handy means of holding rod sections together or securing rods for travel purposes.
The first time I saw the new line holders they came in only two sizes. One was for smaller spools. A second, bigger band was designed to accommodate larger line spools. If your needs fell somewhere in between the two available sizes you wee out of business.
Enter Jake Meyer, operator of Dad’s Tackle Box in Springfield, OR. As I said in the beginning, Jake is one of fortunate dudes who can eyeball a device and come up with a way to make it better. That’s exactly what he has done with his Spool Buddy elastic line holders.
“The line holder was not my invention,” Meyer says. “I saw them first at an outdoor show and got permission to make duplicates. I’ve been making them now for about five years. What I did do was come up with an idea for improving on the original idea.”
As Meyer points out, the line-holding bands were originally made in only one size. Right off some fisherman wanted wider bands for larger spools. Others wanted sizes that would fit small fly leader dispensers.
“I started making them in different sizes,” Meyer says, “and it didn’t take long for things to get confusing. That’s when I got the idea for the new holder we’re calling the Spool Buddy.”
What Jake has done is make the elastic band on the line holder adjustable. It takes only a couple of heartbeats to shorten or lengthen the band to the size you desire. It’s no longer necessary to fumble around trying to find exactly the right size holder for the line spool with which you happen to be working at the time.
How’d he come up with the name Spool Buddy? Meyer says the credit for that goes to Andrew, his youngest son. The lad was watching his dad working with his line holders one day. He said, “Dad, your elastic thing needs a name.” Meyer told his son to go ahead and come up with a name for it. He picked Spool Buddy.
Actually, these handy little rigs are an angler’s “buddy” in more ways than one. Have you ever found yourself wishing you had some simple means of holding two or three rod sections neatly together for storage? I have. The Spool Buddy works just fine in this regard. Just take a Spool Buddy and widen it enough to make it easy to slip over one end of your rod sections. Now tighten it down. Do the same thing with a second band at the other end and you’re in business.
http://www.ifish.net/sfspoolbudpowpro.jpg
Unused line is held neatly in place with the Spool Buddy line holder. The holder's elastic band can be tightened or widened to fit line spools that vary in size.
I do a good bit of travelling where fishing is concerned. Those Spool Buddies of mine are going to come in handy when I stick five or six rod into my rod case. Put them in individually and they rattle around with risk of damage if air travel is involved. Now I’ll bind them together neatly with two or three Spool Buddies, then wrap both ends and the middle with hand towels held in place by additional bands.
The Spool Buddies Meyer markets sell six for $5 or you can get 12 for $10. Lesser numbers sell for $1 apiece. These little holders are handy to have and worth the price.
Meyer operates Dad’s Tackle Box from his home. If you don’t find the Spool Buddy at your favorite sporting goods store you can order them from Meyer himself. His address is 554 North 67th Street, Springfield, OR. The phone number is (541) 517-4359. Meyer can also be contacted via e-mail. His e-mail address is fishingnut@nu-world.com.