Hi Guys,
I am giving a little teaching here about the furs and how to keep them.
There are two kinds of reindeer furs, dried and chemical tanned. Both are used in different way and the costs are different too. The UK import laws are different on both of them too.
I got just, via pm, news about the law, from a member here.
Chemical tanned are roughly double price as the dried one is. But the dried one will be stuck in UK customs and will have to wait to get green light from a vet, and there the price can go up.
I quote here from the pm:
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But the hides must be tanned or else they have to have a vetinary certificate from a Border control post .. which is slightly costly... the UK is very strict on imports so if you do a group buy be careful.
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You use the dried ones with direct contact on the ground, outside around the fire. You can use it one the snow-machine etc.
Here in use on the sleadge:
The backside of the fur is hard and stiff; one cant get it very small but you are still able to roll it up. They are better protected against moist from the ground because they kept a natural gum from the old skin, which got lost on the chemical tanned furs.
Here is a dried fur on the ground:
Here is the backside of the same skin, hard and stiff and you still can see the veins and dried up skin.
How long your fur will keep its fur and serves you well is depending how you take care for it.
The fur should never dry out, hanging on the balcony in summertime will surly kill them. Never store them in a plastic bag, keep them in a freezer in summertime or in a cool, dark and dry place. Winter here is strong so we keep them hanging on a rag outside our houses. In UK you will have to see that you provide them a cool and dry place. The dried ones have a strong smell; they smell like reindeer, so this is not a nice fur to have in front of your fireplace in your cabin. If you want to have a Reindeer fur inside your house or tent or cabin a tanned one is a better option.
The chemical tanned fur doesnt smell so strong and it is softer on the skin side. You get it smaller when you pack it.
The chemicals tanned dont get stuck in customs as far as I know; but we will have to check that out more. The only trouble with them is that you will have to work with a kind of nix wax solution on the skin side or rubber treatment to make it resisted to moisture from the ground. The tanned suck up the moisture from the ground if not protected. To put them with you in your hammock, in your tent, or if you cut spruce tree under the chemical tanned fur works well. If it happens that your fur gets wet, dry it slowly dont force dry it over a heater or fire. Reindeer furs are very very warm and there is no difference between the chemical tanned or the dried ones. I use the dried ones outside like on the sledge of the snow-machine and the soft tanned in my hammock.
cheers
Abbe
