Name that fur

[Bimini15 0]

I thought this might be fun...

I ordered a fur bag from Collins, together with a saddle grab bag.
Part of the fun with his grab bags is that you are not sure what you are getting until you get it. But, in my case, since I have not tied much with furs, except for rabbit and some fox, I need help identifying some of the furs I got.

As hard as it may be to tell from just a picture, what is your guess? 

Pretty sure the top center and bottom center are rabbit. I can take more detailed pics if necessary.

[niveker 0]

Good one.  I agree @ the rabbit. 

Top, L-R: wolf, rabbit, wolf

Middle, L-R: raccoon, coyote mask

Bottom, L-R: coyote, rabbit, skunk.  

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

If you’re tight with your local fly shop... ask if you can take a look at their Wapsi catalog... It’s a wholesale only deal so anything you want they’d have to order for you but the important part is they have excellent color photos of all their materials... Years ago as a beginning commercial tyer that was one of the ways I learned about materials available to me - particularly stuff that I’d never seen or handled before.

Lots and lots of great materials that I’ll never use as a saltwater tyer - but occasionally something I just had to try...

[Bimini15 0]

I have been looking at the wapsi and hairline catalogs online, but there is not enough details in the pics I have seen. Hard to compare density and relative length of hair, plus the natural color variations, or the fact that many of them are dyed...

A combination of pics and fur descriptions from various websites is proving helpful.

 @niveker seems to have a good eye so far. Thanks to both.

[HookedOnFTF 0]

I’m curious what you thought of the saddle grab bag? Could you give us a critique? Thanks

[Bimini15 0]

Well... I am still not 100% of what each one is, and I can’t really compare since most of these furs are completely new to me, so take this with the whole salt shaker...

I will say this: you get quite a bit of fur in a full 6x9 bag for $7. The fur looks good to me in the sense that it is not crushed or damaged in any way. No caulics and such. Some pieces are fairly square patches, similar in size to the elk hair patches you would buy from a fly shop. Some are off cuts with very irregular shapes and you can tell the marks where the hide was clamped and stretched. Some of it may not be from the prime parts of the animal but all of it looks usable to me, some to make zonkers, some to make dubbing. In the end, it feels like you pay for three or four good patches and you get four lesser pieces for free. Like any other grab bag, it may not be for everyone. But for someone who just wants to tie a few flies with different new materials, it is great.

Hope that helps.

DUH! If I had only paid attention to your question about SADDLES...!

The saddles are good for the money. $15 a piece but his choice of colors. I got a cream, a badger and a barred ginger. See the pic below.

My only point of reference is an old Grade 1 Keough grizzly saddle I have. These have fewer, less uniform feathers, the saddles are smaller, but not necessarily shorter. The cream and the ginger do not have the same luster and appearance of the Keough, but the badger is a beauty. All in all they do not compare favorably, but I am not sure it is a fair comparison either. I do not regret the purchase.

Others who know his products better can chime in, but I get the idea that these saddles are almost a byproduct for Collins. He throws in the matching saddle for free when you buy necks a la carte and he only sells his Cree saddles or these grab bags.

[JSzymczyk 0]

to me the top left looks like opossum,   and center right looks like gray fox. 

Call the Discovery Channel and tell them you have some chupacabra and sasquatch hair.   They'll make a TV show out of you. 

 

[Bimini15 0]

That top left, and the top right, have coarser hair, if that helps. I have no idea on my own.

I don’t think I can fool The Discovery Channel. Thanks to Flytire everyone knows what Sasquatch fur looks like...😊

 

[skeet3t 0]

"Thanks to Flytire everyone knows what Sasquatch fur looks like"

It is a requirement that one takes fuzzy pictures of Sasquatch. BTW, one of my favorite comic ads is the Progressive ad aka Darryl.

I find it interesting that hair samples can show "Unknown species" but no one will take the initiative to find where/what it came from.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Across the top, L to R, looks like raccoon body. dyed rabbit, and silver fox

Then L to R coyote, a small piece of bobcat in the center,  grey fox, then the black & white and the white fur at the bottom look like rabbit.

That black & white could also be skunk.