Cape and Saddle Care

[smellycat 0]

I recently bought a Whiting Variety Pack? and I now have my very first capes and saddles(and of course those "interesting" pieces). I have them all stacked in a box and was wondering if its fine if the skin of one peice touches the feathers of another? Would it make the feathers underneath it greasy? I was also wondering if putting those gel silica packets in with the patches would be a good idea or not. Even though most of the patches are not "quality" they are still mine and i wanna care for them as much as possible.I know this is long and another question but could i maybe take a razor blade to scrape some of the excess "meat" of the skin?

 

(by the way if you have not already, bought those whiting variety/grab bags, mine came with lots of grizzly hackles and two pieces of really nice furnace dryfly cape piece. Most of the feathers were hen.)

[joops 0]

Hi Smelly cat

 

As long as your capes stay dry there should be no problem, if you have any fat/meat still on the skin just cut it off.

I always put my capes in separate zip seal freezer bags to stop any bugs/moth larvae getting at them.

The whiting variety packs are good but its the luck of the draw I suppose.

[mvendon 0]

Hi smellycat,

 

If your really limited for space, just place a paper towel or two between your capes and keep an eye on them occasionally. I've got capes from quite a few places including Whiting, and after some time, just about all of them have leached some oil from the skin side. Like joops posted, it's better to have them in their own bags. I've never seen one that needs more scraping from the back side.

 

Regards,

Mark

[flytire 0]

you didnt keep them in the original packaging?

[Hellgrammite 0]

I'd recommend keeping them in a ziploc freezer bag so that little nasties wont get them.

[perchjerker 0]

If you store two together in the same bag, I would put skin side to skin side. That way, any oil left in one will only contaminate the flesh side of the other; not the feathers. I have done this over the years with the capes I have personally prepared with no problems.

 

I would not anticipate oil problems associated with any of the Whiting products. They are 'professionals' at removing fat and flesh from the skins; as are all of the major growers. Thus, I would also see no need to do any further 'trimming'. This would be an entirely different story if a hunting friend gave you a game bird skin.

 

I live in an area noted for it's high humidity, and I do not use any kind of drying agent with my animal hides and bird skins, and have no problems related to humidity. Been doing this for 40 years now.

 

Ziploc bags can provide a false sense of security. True, the adults of the bugs that eat our fur and feathers cannot eat their way either in or out of such bags; BUT, the larvae can, and do. Trust me!

 

Cheers!

[joops 0]

ps. If they are a bit leaky put a piece of plain cardboard in the zip lock bag as backing to absorb any oil.