Deer hair is commonly known to be very buoyant, and is used a lot for dry flies. My question is are there other hairs that are similarly buoyant? It would be nice to have a greater variety for color, accessibility, and such.
For example what about hairs from these:
Fox
Coyote
Rabbit
Raccoon
Skunk
Opossum
Porcupine
Buffalo
Beaver
Badger
Ermine
etc.
Thanks!
Jonathan
I don’t think anything on your list will add buoyancy to a fly. Look for hair similar to deer hair such as elk or moose. Another hair that works on a different principle to float a fly is snowshoe rabbit foot.
Antelope and Caribou are hollow…basically that’s the ones you are asking about…hollow…but I do indeed like calf tail…don’t ask me in theory why it should work so well…but witness the “Norm Wood Special”.
So Antelope, Caribou, & Deer are the only hollow hairs?
Elk is another one previously mentioned. I don’t know about Moose as I don’t have any. Keep in mind that some of these other types of hairs may have a larger diameter so you may want to use them in other ways than smaller diameter deer body hair. If you don’t know if a particular kind of hair is hollow or floats, put it in sink water and dunk it a few times. Best way to test any materials for sinking or floating characteristics or to test flies for that matter :).
not that ist leagle but polor bear hair i beleive is also and there is some synthetics that you can use .im not shure what its calld but you can spin it like deer hair.
for difrent collors you can always bleach and dye hair
Jon,
Maybe [url=http://www.rmdstore.com/HairChart.html:3a96f]this[/url:3a96f] will help you.
Bugsy, great reference. I have added it to my favorites. Thanks!
Jonathan
When it comes to tying with any type of hair, I defer to the Guru, Chris Helm, from Toledo, Ohio. Check out page 12 and following pages of his online catalog for a description of different hairs and their uses. It’s very educational and worth printing out to keep at your tying bench.
http://www.whitetailflytieing.com/PDF/Catalog091106-SAV.pdf
Also, I may be wrong, but I don’t believe that there is any hair that is actually “hollow.” I believe hair that floats well is actually cellular in construction, which, along with the under fur, aids in keeping the animal warm in winter. Dead air space is an insulator.
Joe
Hairs which are hollow will float. Most deer and antelope species have hairs which are hollow and therefore will float. However all deer/antelope hair is not the same, it depends where the hair came from. For most hairs the tips are solid and become more hollow as you get to the base end. Hair cut from the centerline of the back is longer and more hollow than hair from the legs or tail (buck tail for example is completly solid.)
To to address your list…
Porcupine quills are very hollow, porcupine guard hairs are solid.
Fox, coyote, rabbit, mink, skunk, raccoon
beaver, badger, ermine, squirrel, cow and buffalo. These area all solid hairs and won’t float.
Fur from the toes of a snow shoe hair are a special case. The hairs are solid, but float very well do to it’s unique spiral structure and natural water repellent oils.
For very hollow high floating hair I choose, elk, deer, antelope, caribu. Prong horn antelope probably has the most float, but it is fragile, more course and harder to work with.
You can see how hollow a particular sample is by spinning a small amount onto a hook and seeing how much it flares. Solid hair like buck tail will have almost no flare as you tighten the thread, while hollow deer hair may flare as much as 90 degrees as the thread is tightened. For elk and deer the hollow section starts just about where the color changes along the shaft. The dark tips are solid and the lighter shafts are hollow. Try tying some deer hair in by the tip, then try some tied in at the base. There will be a dramatic difference in flare do to the change in density.
Found a website that shows a magnified cross sesction of “hollow” deer hair. http://www.hidetanning.net/Microscope.html
MICROSCOPE PHOTO HOLLOW PORTION MAGNIFIED
This shows the hollow bubble like structure of the hollow portion of hair. The darker, low areas contain pigment.
Joe
Neat picture, and thanks for all the responses. I am now feel a hair smarter. :lol:
Jonathan