Quartermaster #001

A cool-as-hell vintage Flambeau toolbox, a glut of coveted turn-of-the-century lithographs, and a spotless Bauer M5 Reel.

Six days ago the fly fishing world lost a giant. John Gierach’s writing was a bright spot in our corner of existence, his wit and wisdom unmatched. He was the angler’s angler, the trout fisherman’s folk hero, the original Trout Bum. Here’s to the writer that made us all take a closer look at this crazy little way of life we call fly fishing.

If you don’t know his writing, I strongly encourage you to pick up one of his many books. You’ll be glad you did. Mad River Outfitters has a nice selection.

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Rare Flambeau 5-Drawer Model 22060

If you’re a fly tier and you’ve ever looked for a way to carry your vise and some materials on the road, you know that there’s no good solution. For years I packed things in Ziplocs and a generic plastic bin, which was fine, but always left me irritated.

Pawing through little plastic bags for that one material always ends up in a mess, which is especially frustrating at campsite picnic tables or hotel room work areas. That is until I discovered the discontinued Adventurer line of tool boxes from Flambeau.

Flambeau is an American company founded in 1947 and still makes all manner of injection-molded tackle and tool boxes. The company takes its name from the Flambeau River in Wisconsin, a tribute to the company’s origins in hunting and fishing.

The examples of the Adventurer line that I am most drawn to are the gray high-density polyethylene boxes with blaze orange drawers produced from the late 1980s through the mid 1990s when the brand was particularly focused on making rugged long-lasting injection molded units. The color scheme is practical — the muted exterior hides wear while the orange trays make finding items easier — and pleasingly retro.

The Adventurer line came in a range of models and configurations, but the ones I like most stand upright and feature drawers that slide out from the rigid housing, which is especially nice when tabletop space is limited.

I own a larger Model 22030 which folds open akin to a typical tackle box, but have been eyeing the smaller vertical drawer units like the Model 22060 featured here. This particular tower unit is a six-drawer configuration with five ‘standard’ drawers and fifth larger bottom drawer that should be ideal for housing a vise, tools, hooks and other stuff too big for the other compartments.

My 22030 has been awesome, and is adept at keeping a selection of materials, hooks, beads, thread and tools ship-shape. Loading the box does require some discipline, and I tend to repack it seasonally with materials appropriate for the season and the fishery I am visiting.

The compartments are a tad small for the plastic bags that most materials come in from the fly shop, but I’ve found that decanting them into smaller containers and trimming long feathers like pheasant tails a viable solution.

‘Standard’ drawers have a large center container about 3 1/4” wide which are apt for housing larger materials like packs of hackle. The six side containers are 2” wide and can be divided in half (if you have the dividers). Most have a large single-bin bottom drawer which can stow larger items like a full skin or cape, and the vise itself. 

I’m on the verge of buying a 1000 pack of 2x6 re-closable bags as I think they’d fit the drawers perfectly. I’ll let you know if I pull the trigger.

By my estimates, the Model 22060 has a footprint of 19” x 10.5” x 14”, and would likely weight about 7 to 8 pounds unloaded, a concern if not for the very robust top carrying handle and locking front buckles that snap closed and stay there. The line even came with an eyelet for a padlock, a helpful addition when you want to keep your precious fly tying materials from growing legs.

These boxes often got heavily used and most have chipped and scarred exteriors; the drawers are often stained, cracked and littered with cruft. This one is really clean overall, and looks to be only lightly used.