S
Spydeyrch
Ok, so I had to tell you all about this because it really got on my nerves even though it happened a few weeks ago.
As many of you know, there is a new craze going around involving hackle. The same hackles that we use to tie our flies. The same hackle that we pay top dollar for. Yes, those hackles.
The craze, which is absurd in my opinion, is taking a single hackle feather and using it as a hair extension.
Women are doing it all across the US and Europe. There are even some men, such as Steven Tyler, from the band Aerosmith, that are doing it.
So I knew about this but never thought I would actually run into someone that participated in such ..... such ....... hhhhmmmmmmm....... :think: ........ an abomination against all that is true to fly fishing!!! :shock:
And thus begins my story.
Last month, the 25th of September was my Brithday. I turned a whoppin' 29 years young. As a birthday present, my dad drove me up to Cabela's in Olympia, WA. I hadn't ever been there yet and so it was nice. Plus we were able to discuss the finer points of life. Such as remembering about our hiking, climbing, camping, small plane flying adventures. Like the time we flew a small Cesna 172R from Hillsboro, to Pendelton, OR to Salt Lake City, UT (to pick up my brother) to Moab, UT. We stayed a few days in Moab mountain biking and having a blast. Oh, and we carried all out gear in the plane!!! That was crazy trying to get over the Rockies around SLC!!!! But what a blast!! So we had a fun time catching up and enjoying ourselves.
We eventually arrived at Cabela's and I was thoroughly impressed. It was a very nice store. The service reps were nice but not all of them really knowledgeable, but that is to be expected.
I really enjoyed looking at everything and eating lunch in their bistro. a lot of the things there reminded my dad and I about many of our adventures. Like the time we got stuck up on the summit of a mountain we had just climbed. It was getting too dark to climb back down so we built a little shelter out of some rocks to sheild us from the wind. We were lucky it didn't snow that night. We had two emergancy blankets, one for out canopy and the other we took turns sharing. We took all of our slings and ropes and softer gear and used them as bedding. There were no clouds in the sky, the moon was full, and you could see all the way to Port Angeles, WA on one side and the Pacific on the other. It was magnificent!!!!
Anywho, we eventually made our way to the fly fishing section, which was going to be the highlight of my trip. I was wanting to possibly pickup an 8wt rod for steelhead and salmon this year or next. I was excited to see the offerings that they had.
I talked to the employee there about different trips, and fish, and techniques. The different rods. We basically were shooting line (hahahaha, instead of shooting the breeze, we were shooting line, hahahahah :lol:!!!) Sorry about that lame pun.
Anywho. As I was looking at some different rods and products, this lady approached me. She said, "Excuse me, do they always come like this?"
I didn't realize that she was talking to me for a split second. I lifted me head to see who was talking to me and what she was asking about. She was a mid-aged woman who I bet had never touched let alone cast a fly rod in her life!!
I then looked at the object that she had in her hand. It was a small grizzly hackle cape in a plastic bag. I didn't quite understand what she was asking about. What did she mean do they always come like that?
So I looked at it to see if I could spot any peculiarities or problems with it but didn't see any. It was a nice looking cape and at a decent price too. I told her no but asked what she meant?
She turned over the bag and pointed, with a scowl and disgusted look on her face to the skin and beak of the bird that were still attached. I looked at it and told her that yes, some of the do come like that. It just depends on where the cape was taken from the bird.
I then commented to my father, who had been right behind me the whole time, about an article that I had read a while back about how designer salons and jewelry makers where raiding fly fishing shops for their hackle capes and other feathers to make hair extensions and different jewelry accessories. I laughed, my dad laughed, the store employee laughed, then we stopped laughing when we heard something.
The woman, with a joyous and shining smile stated that that was why she was there. To purchase the capes because she was the owner of a hair salon and need the hackle capes for her client's hair and she was going to start a jewelry line. I stood there in shock!!! :shock: Thoughts of a barren fly shop ran through my mind. Of fly tiers kneeling on the floor in tears and weeping over the loss of such good material.; and to be used in what!!! HAIR of all things!!!!
I thought to myself, GOOD!! I am glad you got disgusted by that little piece of skin and the beak. I hope you don't buy it!! :naughty: HHHHHMMMM!!!!
But she did.
After she left, the employee said that he had been raided a few weeks back and that the walls were completely bare!!! Several different hair salons came in and bought all is merchandise. Good for business, bad for the fly angler and fly tier.
I left that store that day saddened that things of beauty were being used as a fashion fad. Something that will fade out of existence in a few months or years. But sadly takes away from our materials to tie flies. One would never had thought that something as small and insignificant as a hackle cape would allow one to enjoy the beauty in nature. But think about it. With the hackle, and other fly tying materials, we tie or buy flies. We use those flies to go fly fishing. Where do we fly fish? In some of the most pristine and beautiful areas of the world. Granted we could probably still enjoy those areas without the need to fly fish, but we would be missing a key ingredient to our sanity.
Thus I state, based upon my own person opinion that
Hair + Hackle = a WASTE of a good thing!!!!!
Take it as you will, perhaps your opinion is different than mine, but perhaps it isn't. I didn't write this to persuade you one way or the other but to merely share my experience and the bad taste that it left in my mouth. Plus I do it in somewhat of a jesting nature.:dance: So no hard feelings.
I just found it jaw dropping that someone would actually use feathers in their hair. Sad, just sad.
Take care ya all.
-Spydey
As many of you know, there is a new craze going around involving hackle. The same hackles that we use to tie our flies. The same hackle that we pay top dollar for. Yes, those hackles.
The craze, which is absurd in my opinion, is taking a single hackle feather and using it as a hair extension.
Women are doing it all across the US and Europe. There are even some men, such as Steven Tyler, from the band Aerosmith, that are doing it.
So I knew about this but never thought I would actually run into someone that participated in such ..... such ....... hhhhmmmmmmm....... :think: ........ an abomination against all that is true to fly fishing!!! :shock:
And thus begins my story.
Last month, the 25th of September was my Brithday. I turned a whoppin' 29 years young.
As a birthday present, my dad drove me up to Cabela's in Olympia, WA. I hadn't ever been there yet and so it was nice. Plus we were able to discuss the finer points of life. Such as remembering about our hiking, climbing, camping, small plane flying adventures. Like the time we flew a small Cesna 172R from Hillsboro, to Pendelton, OR to Salt Lake City, UT (to pick up my brother) to Moab, UT. We stayed a few days in Moab mountain biking and having a blast. Oh, and we carried all out gear in the plane!!! That was crazy trying to get over the Rockies around SLC!!!! But what a blast!! So we had a fun time catching up and enjoying ourselves. We eventually arrived at Cabela's and I was thoroughly impressed. It was a very nice store. The service reps were nice but not all of them really knowledgeable, but that is to be expected.
I really enjoyed looking at everything and eating lunch in their bistro. a lot of the things there reminded my dad and I about many of our adventures. Like the time we got stuck up on the summit of a mountain we had just climbed. It was getting too dark to climb back down so we built a little shelter out of some rocks to sheild us from the wind. We were lucky it didn't snow that night. We had two emergancy blankets, one for out canopy and the other we took turns sharing. We took all of our slings and ropes and softer gear and used them as bedding. There were no clouds in the sky, the moon was full, and you could see all the way to Port Angeles, WA on one side and the Pacific on the other. It was magnificent!!!!
Anywho, we eventually made our way to the fly fishing section, which was going to be the highlight of my trip. I was wanting to possibly pickup an 8wt rod for steelhead and salmon this year or next. I was excited to see the offerings that they had.
I talked to the employee there about different trips, and fish, and techniques. The different rods. We basically were shooting line (hahahaha, instead of shooting the breeze, we were shooting line, hahahahah :lol:!!!) Sorry about that lame pun.
Anywho. As I was looking at some different rods and products, this lady approached me. She said, "Excuse me, do they always come like this?"
I didn't realize that she was talking to me for a split second. I lifted me head to see who was talking to me and what she was asking about. She was a mid-aged woman who I bet had never touched let alone cast a fly rod in her life!!
I then looked at the object that she had in her hand. It was a small grizzly hackle cape in a plastic bag. I didn't quite understand what she was asking about. What did she mean do they always come like that?
So I looked at it to see if I could spot any peculiarities or problems with it but didn't see any. It was a nice looking cape and at a decent price too. I told her no but asked what she meant?
She turned over the bag and pointed, with a scowl and disgusted look on her face to the skin and beak of the bird that were still attached. I looked at it and told her that yes, some of the do come like that. It just depends on where the cape was taken from the bird.
I then commented to my father, who had been right behind me the whole time, about an article that I had read a while back about how designer salons and jewelry makers where raiding fly fishing shops for their hackle capes and other feathers to make hair extensions and different jewelry accessories. I laughed, my dad laughed, the store employee laughed, then we stopped laughing when we heard something.
The woman, with a joyous and shining smile stated that that was why she was there. To purchase the capes because she was the owner of a hair salon and need the hackle capes for her client's hair and she was going to start a jewelry line. I stood there in shock!!! :shock: Thoughts of a barren fly shop ran through my mind. Of fly tiers kneeling on the floor in tears and weeping over the loss of such good material.; and to be used in what!!! HAIR of all things!!!!
I thought to myself, GOOD!! I am glad you got disgusted by that little piece of skin and the beak. I hope you don't buy it!! :naughty: HHHHHMMMM!!!!
But she did.
After she left, the employee said that he had been raided a few weeks back and that the walls were completely bare!!! Several different hair salons came in and bought all is merchandise. Good for business, bad for the fly angler and fly tier.
I left that store that day saddened that things of beauty were being used as a fashion fad. Something that will fade out of existence in a few months or years. But sadly takes away from our materials to tie flies. One would never had thought that something as small and insignificant as a hackle cape would allow one to enjoy the beauty in nature. But think about it. With the hackle, and other fly tying materials, we tie or buy flies. We use those flies to go fly fishing. Where do we fly fish? In some of the most pristine and beautiful areas of the world. Granted we could probably still enjoy those areas without the need to fly fish, but we would be missing a key ingredient to our sanity.
Thus I state, based upon my own person opinion that
Hair + Hackle = a WASTE of a good thing!!!!!
Take it as you will, perhaps your opinion is different than mine, but perhaps it isn't. I didn't write this to persuade you one way or the other but to merely share my experience and the bad taste that it left in my mouth. Plus I do it in somewhat of a jesting nature.:dance: So no hard feelings.
I just found it jaw dropping that someone would actually use feathers in their hair. Sad, just sad.
Take care ya all.
-Spydey
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