Polar Bear

[Allan]

Recently I tied a bunch of steelhead flies for a program and the recipe for several of the flies called for wings of polar bear hair. The polar bear I have is legal and I used it. Now I'm not looking for any endangered species argument, animal rights blah blah, 'shoulda used **** as a substitute', or other moral claim against the use of the material. I'm simply inquiring about the use of the fur closest to the skin: Has anyone used this fur for dubbing? If yes, do you mix it with any other fur, something soft like rabbit to make it easier to spin? Any particular patterns?

Thanks.

Allan

[hap]

Allan
I use a lot of polar bear and cannot throw away the underfur... I use it for dubbing a lot, both alone and with other stuff added. In split thread it is an amazing material with lots of "build" and it really looks good underwater with tremendous gloss and light-catching. It literally glows in the right light.

For props on Intruders where a ball of dubbing supports the hackle it is unrivaled.

I often tie the Alaska Mary Ann with a dubbed body of PB to go with the PB wing.

A local shop has a complete, 100% legal hide which will be sold (in small pieces) starting soon.

[Allan]

hap,

Thanks for that information.

[narcodog]

One ting I have found when buying PB is there is a difference in it's former use. In '75 I bought a small section from Rumph from his barn in PA. The hair is long with nice under fur. A few years ago PB was coming back on the market through various sources. This hair was from rugs and clothing and had been sheared. The long beautiful fibers where not there. It is still usable but not the same. Just sayin.

[hap]

One ting I have found when buying PB is there is a difference in it's former use. In '75 I bought a small section from Rumph from his barn in PA. The hair is long with nice under fur. A few years ago PB was coming back on the market through various sources. This hair was from rugs and clothing and had been sheared. The long beautiful fibers where not there. It is still usable but not the same. Just sayin.

Actually the bear is the same, no shearing involved... It is just the location on the hide that the particular piece was cut from. The stuff along the sides of the paws is ridiculously long and the farther toward the back you go the shorter the hair. I have a bit of hair that is at least 10" long.

[wcglass]

I have used Polar Bear for a long time and still do. The Polar Bear I have can be tricky, it's very hard and extremely slippery. When tying it in as a wing, I was taught to keep a little of the under fur at the base as it provided purchase on the longer harder hair. Either that or use the Hass style for winging my flies. The extra under fur is excellent dubbing material, almost seal like.
wcglass