The MP vise has been designed by Marc Petitjean of Switzerland and is manufactured by Marryat in Japan. It is an ambitious vise design, ingeniously packaged in a black anodized aluminum box that doubles as a pedestal base. In this (8 x 5 1/8 x 11/2") box you will find the broken-down vise, three sets of jaws, bobbin cradle and parachute tool, and a few other miscellaneous items. This box, in turn, is fitted in a black-cordura nylon carrying case.

While I marvel at the ingenuity of the total package, I am simultaneously puzzled at the design concept. The features suggest an all-around design however, the size and packaging suggest a purpose- built travel vise.

This versatility comes at a price.

Before use, the vise must be assembled from the various components stored in the box. For first time users, the vise comes supplied with printed instructions, as well as a video and a CD-rom that contains the same instructional sequences as the video and can be played on either Windows or Mac systems.

The MP vise comes with two sets of jaws and a tube-fly attachment. The fine jaws hold hooks sized #4-32, the blunt jaws hold hooks #8-9/0, and the attachment turns the MP vise into a tube-fly vise for tubes up to 1/8" diameter. Jaws can be exchanged quickly, without tools.

The jaws work on the parallel clamp principle with the coarse adjustment set with a knurled ring at the back of the main housing. Final jaw closure is achieved by forcing the tails of the jaws apart with a small knurled knob, closing the tips in the process. To release the hook, reverse this operation.

By loosening a nut on the housing (using a 'coin' included in the box) the jaws assembly can be tilted down a few degrees to turn the vise into an in-line rotary design, or tilted up to improve access to small hooks. Loosening a large knurled ring releases the jaws assembly to enable 360 degrees rotation. The housing holds a bearing system that is loud enough to be a wake-up alarm when the jaws are revolved.

How well do the jaws hold hooks? The short answer is that they hold most hooks solidly. The long answer is that the way they grip the wire is a major drawback of this vise. Each set of jaws has a number of curved grooves, six in the case of the fine pair and four for the larger jaws. Hooks need to be positioned in the designated groove for that size hook, a selection that is quite critical. Choose the 'wrong' groove and you will struggle to get a good hold. For the fine jaws, for example, the first groove from the tip is designed to hold #16-18, the next groove #14-16, etc. In other words the 'sweet spot' per hook size is well defined and the jaws dictate the placement.

A second downside of this design is that somewhat non-standard shape hook bends may be next to impossible to be used in this vise. The tube-fly attachment adequately handles a selection of either metal or soft tubes.

The pedestal base is relatively light but can be fixed to the table with a C-clamp arrangement also provided . Tabletops to a thickness of 3" can be handled.

The lid of the box has a white panel, which can be positioned on the tying surface to act as a simple back plate, enhancing the contrast of the fly for ease of tying.