I have some animal capes like one is a Gemsbok and I don’t know if it’s hair is hollow like Deer or not and would love to have a link to some page that will tell me on this and others.
Thanks,
Skip
Do you want to know if it is hollow so it will float or so it will flare?
Tie a clump down to a stout hook with some dental floss and pull real tight to try to flare it. If it flares easily, it’s probably hollow. (But it may be soft-core follicles. also.)
If it doesn’t flare, it’s just plain hair.
Oh thanks DonO, I should have thought of that, LOL! I have done some hunting so have a some pelts from that, but I also while hunting on one ranch the wife had a contact for buying pelts and other things from Africa so I got a few that I wanted not knowing one day I would be picking which one to cut up, LOL!
Skip
Skip48,
Usually animals that live in very cold climate such as the Polar Bear have hollow hair. The hollow hair trap air and this layer of trapped air helps to act as an insulator for the animal since air is a bad conductor of heat.
I also attached a good link on hair, check it out good information.
http://blog.riverwoodfliesonline.com/?page_id=77
Sorry Tennessee (Popperfly)
Polar Bear hair is not I will say it again not , Hollow…
I have some in my arsenal and it is not hollow, cold climate animals ie Deer and Elk , etc do have hollow hair, but not bears, or rabbits for that matter… …
Flyfishfairwx,
Well I will beg to differ, any website you go on will tell you Polar bear is hollow, do your research before you comment.
Despite what we think, a polar bear’s fur is not white. Each hair is clear hollow tube. Polar bears look white because each hollow hair reflects the light. On sunny days, it traps the sun’s infrared heat and keeps the bear warm at 98 degrees F (when they’re resting).
http://www.kidzone.ws/sg/polarbear/polar_bear.htm
Fur. Polar bears? fur consists of a dense, insulating undercoat topped by guard hairs of various lengths. It is not actually white?it just looks that way.
Each hair shaft is pigment-free and transparent with a hollow core that scatters and reflects visible light, much like what happens with ice and snow
http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears/bear-essentials-polar-style/characteristics/fur-and-skin
How many would you like me to post?
Well you could knock me over with a Hollow Polar bear hair right about now…
I see that it is hollow to reflect light and not float.
I wonder if it would spin like deer hair, would be an expensive fly!
So I stand corrected Polar Bear hair is Hollow.
I thought I was wrong once before, but I checked and was mistaken.
I am going to check at a local university, under their microscopes…
Nice, learning more than I thought. Very good info on that link and great info on Polar Bear Fur and now I want some, LOL! Oh well don’t think I have a good source for that.
Thanks all!
Skip
A young gentleman at a local church meeting had a quiver made from a scrap of caribou. I understand that caribou is hollow and finer than elk or deer. It is also quite dense. I would think it could make some nice flies, but I have never seen it recommended in a pattern. Is there some reason we know about for that?
so lets see… deer hair is NOT hollow!
caribou is most likely the ultimate spinning hair.
NO hair is hollow. “Deer hair is hollow” is a misnomer. It’s not hollow, it just has small air pockets in it, little bubbles if you will. The crushing of these air pockets is what makes the hair flair. Basically the diameter of the hair collapses when you cinch down the thread. In fact ALL parts of the deer hair have the small air pockets, but tail hair just has much smaller pockets.
But to answer the question in scientific terms, this link is all you need.
http://www.chymist.com/HAIR%20ANALYSIS.pdf
ummm based on the copy of the chris helm dvd you sent me, he mentions that it is not hollow and is actually “chambered”.
thats why i said …deer hair is NOT hollow!
I was agreeing with you that deer hair IS NOT hollow, but contains pockets or like you said chambered.
ok that what i thought
on the polar bear hair, i read one website that says the “underfur” is not hollow only the “guardhairs” are hollow. so on a polar bear thats alot of hair! 
I tie many of my Elk Hair Caddis patterns with caribou hair. It’s much lighter than elk hair and it flairs much easier. I don’t know if it’s hollow or has bubbles but it lands on the water like cottonwood fluff. The one drawback I know of is that it is extremely fragile compared to elk or deer. All in all, I like using it. I think I’ll tie some today.
I wish i could find some kind of medium dark brown two inch long hair that floats but does not flair when i tye it as an over wing. This troubles me greatly.
But i’ll get over it,
MontanaMoose
Hey Moose, have you tried the red or brown hair from a Springer Spaniel? It was used for a classic fly but I can’t remember which one.
No Joe, but great idea ! I even know someone with three springers. Seems that there are places where the hair isn’t too curly either and might make a good overwing. Wonder if it naturally floats…next time i go to visit my friend in tri-cities i’ll have to ‘harvest’ some springer hair.
Thanks !
MontanaMoose
Aren’t caribou and antelope furs similar…