Cookshill Fur Dubbing review and giveaway
7:40 AM
Matt
, Posted in
Random.org has selected Andy's comment, posted on January 12, 2011 5:48 AM as the winner!
Thanks again to Cookshill for sponsoring this review and giveaway!
Cookshill Fly Tying
Cookshill Fly Tying is a U.K. based fly tying supplier. They specialize in natural materials including a number of hard to find skins and feathers. What sets Cookshill apart from other suppliers is the degree of quality control they use when selecting their materials. The majority of the materials sold by Cookshill are, "sourced, sorted, selected and packaged by us giving 100% quality control." Each purchase is backed up with the Cookshill guarantee: -Our aim is to provide a range of mainly natural materials of the highest quality and at a price that is sensible. We appreciate that the needs of each fly dresser are very individual and your idea of a correct feather size or colour may vary from ours.
The Review
Not all seal fur dubbing is created equal. I have used many bags of seal fur dubbing that were course, cut way too long, and had so much oil in them that would nearly slip a waxed dubbing loop. On a recommendation I emailed Cookshill Fly Tying and ordered a few packages of their seal fur dubbing to try out. I'm not sure how Cookshill processes their seal fur, but whatever they are doing it far and away the best seal fur dubbing I have ever worked with. The dubbing is soft, cut to a medium length and has just enough oil to shine like silk but not make tying with it a nightmare. It comes in the following colors: Natural Cream, Light Olive, Medium Olive, Dark Olive, Golden Olive, Irish Golden Olive, Ginger, Black, Yellow, Orange, Hot Orange, Scarlet, Fiery Brown, Claret, Black Claret, Green Highlander, Lime Green, Sunburst or Blue Dun.
The colors are very nice and you can easily blend your own custom colors by mixing two or more shades. The price is very good considering the quality of the dubbing. Individual packs can be purchased for 1.50£ ($2.32) or any five colors for 7.00£ ($10.83) add a few dollars for shipping and the price is still right around what you would pay for a pack of Ice dubbing here in the States.
In Sum
If you have never tied with Cookshill seal dubbing, then you are really missing out. It has a deep shine that synthetic materials just can't emulate and has all the right characteristics one would expect from a fine English fly shop. You can place and order or find out more about the other materials Cookshill Fly Tying offer by visiting their website or by sending an email to: cookshillft@aol.com
Giveaway
Cookshill has graciously provided me with a number of extra seal fur dubbing packages to give away. To enter just leave a blog comment on what your favorite dubbing is. Be sure and include a way for me to contact you.
I will select the winner on January 17 using Random.org.
A big thanks for Cookshill for sponsoring this review and giveaway!
Disclosure- Cookshill Fly Tying provided the featured products free of charge for me to review. I was not compensated in any other way for this blog post.
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Posts
I have been using Ice dub for years. The seal fur dubbing looks great. Sign me up. Jackmeyer287@yahoo.com
I mainly use haretron. but this stuff looks like nice flashy stuff that would be well worth a try.
dmyers@qcci.com
Seems like a nice buggy looking appearance. I bet it would be great for some steel head nymph patterns that I use in the Great Lakes regions...Stone flies and caddis nymphs always look nice with a little shimmer from the dubbing.... pcohen4@nycap.rr.com
Nice review! I use trilobal dubbing from Hareline. Fponey78@mac.com
Nice looking dubbing great review. rick.schroeder@coloradomountainfishing.com
I have used Cookskill products for a number of years and I have yet to be disappointed with the material or service. As was stated the seal is a great product. If you are looking for a hard to obtain s/h material Steve will have it. I tie a lot of old pattern wingless wets that call for some hard to find material such as a poult red grouse wing. He can get it.
Seal is unlike any synthetic material. It has a translucency that man made cannot equal even after it has been dyed.
narcodog
Found your review very interesting. I've wanted to try seal fur but hard to find. I mainly use all natural dubbings, squirrel, woodchuck, muskrat and possum. I do all my own dying and mixing.
Mike Blezien
mickalo@frontiernet.net
I use a lot of Imi-Seal and Krystal Dubbing, but the "Real McCoy" looks great. Thanks for sharing the info!! bigdewy@yahoo.com
Great review. You always find such interesting products. I use ice dubbing for most of my flies. mmcoy34@gmail.com
Matt how do you find this stuff? I would love to give seal fur a try. Bhetz3@msn.com
looks good. used seal for dubbing years ago and loved it. would like a chance to try cookshills
dick621@msn.com
I've been using a lot of different dubbing but standard hare's ear, davy wottons masterclass dubbing and seals fur are my favourites.
The Url to my Blog ( wavingastick ) can be found below. You can reach through the e-mail on there.
Nice review! I use rabbit most of the time, but the seal fur looks great. bisler67@yahoo.com
I like the review Matt. Keep em coming! I like Hareline rabbit plus dubbing. vjohnson6@gmail.com
Seal fur? Never tried it. Looks pretty cool. Pat Conner
I like hare's ear plus, nice and buggy for nymphs.
Rabbit dubbing here. The seal looks really nice. Jthomas01@aol.com
My collection of seals fur has been built up over the last 40 odd years & I have it from many different suppliers. I also have it in many different qualities, but Steve's is not only in a different class to ALL the others, it's in a different school. "arkle" jthorsfall@hotmail.co.uk
I have never tied with seal fur, but have been told that it is very nice. I would love to give it a try.
Andyjhay55@myfairpoint.net
I have had some trouble with some of the seal I've dubbed with, as you note in your article. My favorite depends on what I'm doing, I guess. I use everything from silk and fairy fiber to seal. I'd love to try this out. Thanks for the offer!
David <><
I am usually forced to make my own dubbing blend since seal is next to impossible to get here in the States. I try to utilize mohair, antron, trilobal nylon, rayon, floss, you name it as a substitute for seal, but it's just not quite the same. I may have to check out Cookshill and check out the seal dub.
Great find! I need to stock up for Steelie flies!
Very nice looking material could use some of that seal in my Steelhead nymphs, among other things. flyjcfish100@msn.com
Haven't tied in years, so I don't recall what I used previously!
I tie with synthetic dubbing most of the time. The seal fur looks pretty goo though. mjames03@gmail.com
Спасибо! Очень интересный обзор.
Никогда ранее не пользовался дабиннгом от "Cookshill Fly Tying". Раньше это был для натуральных цветов либо самодельный из кролика, или зайца, для цветных вариаций мушек синтетический разного происхождения (пряжа, синтетическая шерсть и т.д). Про котиковый даббинг только слышал, интересно было бы попробовать. Цена весьма разумная.
Thanks for your post. My latest find in the dubbing department is *SYBAI Fine Flash Dubbing*. Looking forward to trying the seal fur dubbing from Cookshill Fly Tying.
Sign me up for a change to win
avril@reelsisterscolorado.com
I like any dubbing that gives a real buggy look when it is picked out. Olives, browns, and black are my favorites.
flglov0@hotmail.com
I really like angora, and SLF is really nice stuff too.
I'm a big fan of muskrat fur, and Ice Dub........flytyer_neal@yahoo.com
I've never used seal fur dubbing but I see it called for a lot in recipes. My main dubbings are from the Dungeon and they do make a nice quality. I would LOVE to try some of this dubbing!
I use sow scud and ice dubbing mostly
I've never tied with Seal dubbing but would love a chance to try it!
Thanks
Jeff
Been using it for years---would love to win more!!
I have used it for years. Always could use more!!
I use mostly Hares Ear Dubbing because that is what is readily available to me. flyfishingfanatic@hotmail.com
Love the stuff!! Great for Stillwater flies.
I've used Ice Dub mostly, but love to try this.
smellskunk@gmail.com
thanks
Wow great review and regardless if I win or not I'm making it a point to visit Cookshill! Fantastic thank you.
I use a lot of Wapsi's SLF dubbing and I make my own from various fur patches I've acquired mostly from Hook & Hackle: opossum, rabbit, red fox squirrel, gray squirrel, various died pine squirrel, mink, and more. Sometimes I blend these with synthetics and/or wool yarn.
I use mostly natural dub.. but wld like a chance to try new product.
Greg @ flyfishingcapecod12@yahoo.com
I mainly use semi-seal but this looks really nice. Tiredtridude@mortensenplace.com
never tried seal dubbing but is deffinately on the list. great review again. following you on facebook
Imi-Seal works great for me
brown.g.andy@gmail.com
andy
I very often use seal fur for my classic salmon flies, it's a great material for those old flies.
Some of the old patterns call for pig's wool, but the rest are seal fur flies.
Bo
laxmink@mail.dk