Have to ask, what does "safe" mean in this context? If you are worried about infestation, then of course it is safe. If you are worried about shade of color, that too is "safe" because Whiting appears to have very good quality control for his dyeing process.Originally Posted by Normand
The gotcha is always size, in my experience. For capes this is not an issue because of the large variance in sizes of feathers on a skin, but for saddles (which I prefer) this can be a key issue. More often than not I'm looking for saddles with feathers in a particular size and the only consistent manner I've found in obtaining such skins is by sizing them myself. If you have an online vendor whose judgement you trust, that can go a long ways towards solving the problem, but I hate going through the effort of ordering material only to have it the wrong size and being forced to return it. I just hate wasting the time. I've had more bad luck than good when buying hackle on line (from both fly shops and "producers"), so I usually just wait until I can examine the product first hand before purchasing. Patience has always paid off in the long run.
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