Daiwa Figure 8 Tool

The Daiwa Figure 8 tool has become one of my "don't leave home without it" items. I don't carry a lot of gadgets: nippers and Spring Creek Clamps all the time, Flip Focals if I will be tying on tiny flies, but that's about it. This one, though, has definitely become one of my favorites.

Daiwa Figure 8 Tool
Daiwa Figure 8 Tool with hook extended from barrel

It is called "speedy figure 8 knot" in Japanese, and it certainly does allow you to tie quick figure 8 knots.

Thumb and forefinger holding a loop of line.

It is truly a snap to use. Make a loop.



Barrel of Daiwa Figure 8 Tool inserted into the loop

 Insert the tool through the loop.



Loop after making a half turn (180 degree rotation) with the Figure 8 Tool

Make one half turn with the tool. You have to make the turn in the correct direction - and the correct direction depends on how you have formed the loop. Rather than me telling you how to make a loop, just try it once. If it works, you are turning it the right way. If your half turn destroys your loop, you turned the wrong way. Seriously, you can figure it out in less time than it would take to read detailed instructions of how to do it right the first time.


Figure 8 knot in the line formed by hooking the loop tag end and pulling it back through the loop.

Extend the hook, grab the line and pull it through the loop. Figure 8 knot!


The tool also makes it easy to tie loops

Large loop held with thumb and forefinger
Large loop folded over to make a second, smaller loop, pinched between thumb and forefinger.
Barrel of Figure 8 Tool inserted into the smaller loop and rotated several times, twisting the line forming the loop
While barrel still in the smaller loop, hook is extended to catch the line making the original larger loop
Figure 8 tool pulling the larger loop through the smaller loop
Figure 8 Tool pulling the loop to tighten the knot
Close-up photo of the resulting loop knot.

With just a little practice, you can tie loops of any size you want. The loop shown above is stronger than the Perfection Loop, but the tool also makes the Perfection Loop easy to tie.

If you tie surgeons knots, or for that matter, any knot where you have to reach through a loop to grab the line on the other side (or push a line through a loop) this tool will make it easier. It also works on any of the  knots tied with hemostats (in place of the hemostat).

If that wasn't enough (and for most people it is), the tool is also excellent at holding a fly as you tie on your tippet. Lots of tools are out there to do this, most of them do not work on as wide a range of hooks as this tool. On the left is a photo of the tool holding a Daiichi 1120 size 10, which is about as large a hook as most tenkara anglers normally use. It will also hold a Daiichi 1560 size 6 for those anglers who'd discovered the effectiveness of a Keeper Kebari.

Most anglers don't need a fly holder for large hooks, though. For the really small hooks, the Daiwa Figure 8 Tool beats the other tools out there. The photo on the right shows it holding a Tiemco 518 size 32! You probably can't do that with the hook holder you use now. (Unfortunately,  you probably can't do it with the Figure 8 Tool any more because I can no longer get the 518 size 32.)

Daiwa Figure 8 tool's hook holding a size 6 hook tight against the end of the barrel.
Daiwa Figure 8 tool's hook holding a size 32 hook tight against the end of the barrel. Note: the size 32 hooks are no longer available

Daiwa also makes a yellow Figure 8 Tool, which has a larger barrel diameter. It will not hold small hooks and it is more difficult to insert the larger barrel through line loops. I would highly recommend getting the orange one sold here, rather than ordering the yellow one from Japan.


At $30, the Daiwa Figure 8 Tool will not be the cheapest tool on your vest. However, for the people who have them and use them for tying knots or holding small flies, they are worth every penny.

Daiwa Figure 8 Tool - $30

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International shipments

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Warning:

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You were right about this little Daiwa tool.  It is a game changer.

I bought two as gifts for my fishing buddies, so they can experience the transformation too.

I use mine for fast and perfect double or triple surgeons knots, with half the overlap I used to require … and for 5 second perfect clinch knots tied at the very end of the tippet…very little waste.

Jerry O, Idaho