My old neighbor kept chickens, and from their feathers I tied flies. The most handsome hackles could be fashioned from a black feather with brown tipped barbs. I’ve never been able to source this feather anywhere else. Does anyone know where I could find feathers like this? They looked something like this:
Guenther,
You might try featheremporium.com. They carry many types of feathers and I have seen the type of hackle you are looking for on this website. I hope this will help you out. I purchased some feathers back in December from this company. They have an excellent selection.
Out of curiosity, how was the service with Feather Emporium, if you don’t mind me asking?
They have a big selection, but seem to have a few less than favorable reviews. I’m tempted to place an order for a couple of the less expensive capes to check them out.
I have had great service from this guy here: https://jimsflyco.com/CapesAndSaddles/Cart-Brands.aspx?dID=4&b=1
That middle fly looks to be hackled with a Hen Pheasant feather to my eye…it looks like a soft hackle not a rooster hackle. A hen feather could for sure come close. Feather Emporium has solid stuff the challenge is sometimes he goes MIA and your order can take a while or get forgotten…but when he is on he is on and shipping etc. is all smooth. It is a bit of a risk. Going to respected fly shops would be more secure. My personal favorite is Bears Den in MA. They only charge actual shipping so if the item is light it could be very cheap. https://www.bearsden.com/product10216.html A hen pheasant skin is only $15.
Thanks for all the tips. I’ve come across the feather emporium before but I’d written it off because if its web design (lots of dead links, looks like it was made in the 90s, etc). I gave it a thorough onceover and found a few feathers that look pretty dang close! I put in an order. I’ll share a few flies once (if?) I get my feathers.
It took awhile to get my order. I made a phone call and shortly after that I received my order. The quality was great. I did make the order during the Christmas holiday madness so I chalked up the slow delivery due to the season.
Does anyone have a good reliable source to order feathers, fur, silk thread, etc. It might be helpful to members of the forum to know where to get hackle and hard to find items for their tying needs. Just a thought.
Feather emporium was terrible, it took 6 weeks and several phone calls before finally getting my order. He kept promising it would be shipped the next day, when I asked for a refund it was finally shipped.
I appreciate the data points on Feather Emporium. I think I’ll stick with the more reliable vendors for now…
I haven’t used these people yet, but they seem to have good reviews and selection:
https://www.slideinn.com/store/k-fly-tying/feathers/whiting-farms/
Nice Fellow, must have the patience of Jobe, great feathers.
I buy from him a lot. It can be frustrating.
Great to hear from you again Rodger. Thanks for the info.
My order from Feather Emporium arrived today. Unfortunately, he sent me the wrong color variants of the feathers I ordered. After reading plenty negative of reviews about Feather Emporium, I don’t think I’ll go through the hassle of trying to return them. However, these feathers do make fine flies.
Guenther,
I’m so sorry that you had a bad experience with this company. I will not recommend this company to anyone else. I’m upset with myself for mentioning this company after reading all the negative reviews recently. I guess I was lucky and got my order correct but it did take a while. My apologies to you. The feathers have a brown base and tan colored tips. Do you still need these feathers? Please let me know and I will look through my stuff to see if I have anything close. If I have it, I will send you some for free. Sorry again for the bad advice. Please let me know if I can help.
I was pretty disappointed that feather Emporium didn’t work out, and I appreciate your concern. The owner of Feather Emporium clearly has a passion for feathers, but lacks the ability to be a consistent online retailer.
Mike, I feel that your responsibility (if any) is minimal. Your apology more that makes up for any mistake.
That said… If you do happen to have some dark feathers with orange/brown tips, I would love to get some for money, as a trade, or just as a gift.
Guenther,
I will check to see what I have and let you know. If I find it, I will then need you to send me your address via PM . There be no charge.
If it looks like this the variety is often called furnace.
I never had issue with feather emporium…I probably got lucky. One place that everyone loves here in the northeast is bearsDen. They have excellent customer service and I bet would work with you in cherry picking exactly what you want. https://www.bearsden.com/
Thanks for the tip. I’ll take a look.
Guenther,
I have an old furnace hen cape and some pheasant feathers if you are interested in using these to tie kebari flies. The feathers are not as nice as the furnace cape that Gressak owns. If you are interested let me know where to send them. ><)))))*> Keep Fishing!!!
I’ve just purchased some furnace feathers that should (hopefully) let me complete my feather quest. I’m still interested in trying a few of those pheasant feathers though. I’ll send you a PM.
