Richard Wheatley Aluminum 16-Compartment Fly Box Review

So many factors go into transcending a normal item in a sea of competition into an icon that stands out above the rest. It isn’t just the item’s history, or its functionality, or its craftsmanship, or its looks. An icon exudes an ineffable quality—an aura—that is some mystical combination of all those factors and more. To me, the Richard Wheatley traditional compartment box is such an icon.

But, for the sake of review, one must cut through the aura, look past the prestige, and evaluate the products for what it is – a metal box you stick flies in. The aluminum box came in a hunter green anodized finish, flourished in gold with the Richard Wheatley emblem. The traditional compartment box I used has 16 compartments on one side of the box’s interior and flat foam on the facing side. A small, bent metal clip holds each compartment closed, and the clips made one-handed opening and closing of the compartments a breeze. Plus, having covered compartments obviates the all-too-common nuisance with standard fly boxes of dropping flies into the wrong compartment or, worse yet, losing $100 worth of flies when you accidentally drop it headlong into the river. That said, It’s not idiot-proof—at least not from this idiot who left it along the banks of a beautiful meadow stream high in the Sierra Nevada. What was R.W. thinking by not offering a GPS locator beacon option for all their fly boxes?!

I had the opportunity to spend many streamside hours with this superbly crafted box, and it functions flawlessly. The 12 central compartments were sufficient to hold a large variety of bugs, and the four slightly larger end compartments worked well for mid-size streamers and terrestrials. The foam opposite the compartments served brilliantly as a place to store flies at the extremes of the size range, as well as a perfect platform for your go-to patterns. The box’s durability will surely please the accident prone among us, and even after extensive punishment, it still looked as though it came out of the tweed coat of an English gentleman.

That durability can be attributed to both the quality craftsmanship and the all-metal construction. However, the trade-off for that level of durability is weight. Loaded with an average sampling of flies, the box weighs in at 7 oz. That doesn’t seem like much on paper, but the weight does become apparent after hours on the river. And although this Wheatley isn’t much larger than my hand, it isn’t as small and pocketable as a wallet style fly box. The size and weight make it a great go-to when you need a lot of flies while investigating unknown waters or cruising along in a tube or drift boat, but it’s a bit overkill for quick jaunts to home waters that you’ve dialed.

Unlike Tigger, the wonderful thing about this Wheatley box is that it’s NOT the only one. In fact, R.W. has expanded their line of products to a mind-bending number of sizes, materials, layouts, and designs. And if you cannot find your perfect combination of features among the plethora, they offer a “Build Your Own” option as well as custom engraving. Although Richard Wheatley is celebrating their 150th year and holds the honor of fly box to the Royal family, you are not confined to the traditional metal boxes. They have firmly embraced modern technology and design, offering extensive variations that include clear-plastic-cover boxes, ABS (instead of aluminum) ones, cool new graphics, waterproof boxes, and a number of foam styles or clip options. The point is, you can’t only have one Richard Wheatley box, and you won’t want to only have one! At £40 (currently, $65), they don’t exactly qualify as cheap, but they do make a perfect gift for birthdays, and anniversaries, and Father’s Day, and Christmas, and President’s Day, and Thanksgiving, and Arbor Day, and Canada Day, and….. Enjoy your new boxes!

Check them out at www.richardwheatley.com.