Tiny Trash, Big Problem:Help Me Build a Better Tippet Cutter
One thing that has always bothered me is how easy it is to lose tiny pieces of clipped tippet. Once they hit the ground or water, they are almost impossible to find. Tiny trash can turn into a big problem.
I’ve been working on an idea for a small tool that would cut tippet and catch those clipped pieces at the same time. I’ve spent a lot of time sketching it, changing things around, and trying to make it simple and practical.
Fishing line is plastic and does not readily biodegrade. The National Park Service lists monofilament fishing line as taking an estimated 600 years to break down, while also noting that plastics can fragment into increasingly small microplastics rather than simply disappear.
Just 2 inches at a time can add up fast. If 100 anglers leave behind 10 small clippings on 30 fishing days, that is nearly one mile of plastic tippet in a single year. Tiny trash really can become a big problem.
Any donation or share would mean a lot and help me take this from an idea in my head to something real.
UPDATE:
The first physical prototype is in hand! I took it straight to the river to test the ergonomics, and we want to be 100% transparent about the R&D process:
The Good: The shape is locked in, the magnetic slider is smooth, and the body feels amazing. The final run will be an ultra-lightweight plastic in a deep Forest Green to match our mountain streams.
The Challenge: Right now, it just politely folds the tippet instead of slicing it! Cutting ultra-thin fly line requires zero-tolerance blade alignment. We are already reworking the internal housing to fix this.
Leave No Trace: Swipe to see the back side. The built-in storage chamber (accessed by a set screw/Allen key) holds at least a week’s worth of trip scraps so loose line never blows into the water.
A massive thank you to everyone who has supported and donated to get us to this milestone!
