The Feather Emporium

[Poopdeck 0]

Great hackle and fair prices are all over the Internet. So much so that doing business with a business with so many noted failures is a no go for me, regardless of price. Noticeably cheaper hackle on the internet would give me pause anyway. I'd rather spend a dime else where rather then save a nickel by doing business with somebody noted to have horrendous customer service and questionable quality.

[Swamp Fly 0]

flytier, I hadn't visited Jim's fly Co before this. Thanks for that.

 

Swamp

[Gundriver64 0]

Hi Guys,

Reinvigorating this thread a tad bit.   Besides FE, are there any other vendors who sell cape/neck feathers in small batches (of great quality).  I don't have a need to buy several hundred dollars in full capes/necks.   I tie just for my own needs.

 

TIA!

G

[flytire 0]

i posted this in march

Check out Jims fly co and flyfishfood for hackles

[bdngrd 0]

I have had an odd experience with FE, ordered several capes before I found this and other threads. After a month of waiting and starting a PayPal dispute, I got my order in plain ziplocks, although I think the capes are fairly nice. I had strange communication from the vendor by phone- all emails were ignored. I repeatedly asked for order confirmation and tracking info- never got it. I lost some sleep over the whole process and was certain I was being scammed. In the end, I think I paid a lot for decent feathers and a lot of heartburn. I would not order from FE again. 

I looked at Jim's and flyfishfood, but they were sold out of what I was looking for. 

Customflyfeathers on The 'Bay however, sent me very high quality feathers and very promptly. It was a little bit expensive, but I was blown away by the quality. I will buy from them again. I bought from them after I figured I would never see my FE order. Now I have a lot of dry fly hackle!

[feathers5 0]

Stat away from the Feather Emporium.

[James 0]

Stay away from this place i know that the eye candy he has is very tempting and makes you want to place a order but the lack of service and if you will ever get your order is just not worth it.

I would go to your local fly shop and check to see if they are a whiting dealer and let them know what you maybe looking for and hopefully they can get. There have been some great suggestions for other shops i can say the Blue Ribbon in West Yellowstone has always been helpful and I have had great luck with Bob Marriott in California has been helpful with hard to find item. Good luck 

[flytyerwannabe 0]

Throwing my 2 cents in here- a couple years ago I put an order in for $180 dollars worth of hackle. Saw the horrific reviews and tried anyway. Pretty consistent experience to what has been described- the printing label was generated and tracking information was provided right away but that's as far as it got. I gave it about a month and a half, tried calling multiple times but he rarely answered and had a full inbox. Always told me he was doing some misc task and would call back in half an hour, then never heard back. Didn't reply to emails either. I wound up getting a refund through Paypal. Too bad, as he seems to have some pretty interesting stuff in stock. Better off looking elsewhere it seems

[Moshup 0]

Due to virus lock down there has been a run on tying supplies which I’m sure includes hackle so inventories are low . 

[vicrider 0]

It is too bad about the way FE has slipped and lost so many cyber customers. I had good luck with him and now am afraid to try him again. One thing that did aggravate was he has this way to order feathers in 3 different sizes in the Whiting hundred packs. That works great but they're all in a baggie together and it's not the easiest to tell the difference in 22, 24, and 26 feathers. Before I got a couple of full capes I got my cree hundred packs from him and was more than satisfied.

Nick

[Rjohn7 0]

I placed an order by phone 2 days ago for $645.50  It arrived today,  all intact,  the skins were the ones I saw and picked out via photos.  I ordered a grade 1 full jungle cock skin,  a grade 1 jungle cock saddle,  several silver grade spey- a couple of white,  a red, and another color,  forget which.  and last a peacock neck-head-back.

 

Really the quality on them all is excellent,  and they arrived in two days.  I had a nightmare time with the website cart and just ended up calling. 

 

 

 

[mikechell 0]

I'm pretty sure I don't even have $645.00 in all my tying stuff combined.

[SilverCreek 0]

I've bought from him but NEVER remotely.

He goes to the Badger Fly Fishers Spring Opener Conclave and I sort through his wares and buy what I like.

Even with Whiting, I never buy hackles I cannot personally examine.

[Rjohn7 0]

15 minutes ago, mikechell said:

I'm pretty sure I don't even have $645.00 in all my tying stuff combined.

I will *never* add up what I've spent on fly tying!  I'd have to kick my own butt if I did!

[Rjohn7 0]

9 minutes ago, SilverCreek said:

Even with Whiting, I never buy hackles I cannot personally examine.

if I followed that rule I'd never buy anything.  I don't even think there is a shop close enough for me to shop in person.  there used to be one about an hour away and its now closed.  I tend to buy from people that if it doesn't meet my requirements for quality I can send it back.  I also tend to only buy the high end stuff (grey peacock pheasant hides,  blue eared pheasant hides or anything over $500) from people who will take very very good photos for me until I am satisfied.  even over $250 I expect a couple of good photos at the minimum of the specific hide.   This shouldn't be too unusual.