Water Damaged Hackle?

[sirocco]

Hi everyone,

 

our basement flooded about 5 weeks ago and I only just yesterday had a look at my tying materials that had been sitting on the floor at the time of the flood. Although they were in ziploc bags, water managed to get into my two dry fly capes - a Howard Hackle brown cape and a Whitings half saddle. The cardboard backing was saturated and mold formed on both. I'm trying to decide if I should replace them or not. Could the feathers have degraded during the time since the flood, because the feathers don't degrade when you fish flies that use them (or do they?). I might replace them anyway because of the mold issue, but I was just curious if the feathers themselves might actually be compromised.

 

[SilverDoctor]

Wash them in soap and water really well rinse and air or use a hair dryer, They may be all right unless they've been wet for a long time and are starting to rot. It's not the feathers but the skin cape that may be damaged more quickly although the feather stems may also degrade. If the skin has gone bad but the feathers look OK, just pluck the feathers.

 

Hi everyone,

 

our basement flooded about 5 weeks ago and I only just yesterday had a look at my tying materials that had been sitting on the floor at the time of the flood. Although they were in ziploc bags, water managed to get into my two dry fly capes - a Howard Hackle brown cape and a Whitings half saddle. The cardboard backing was saturated and mold formed on both. I'm trying to decide if I should replace them or not. Could the feathers have degraded during the time since the flood, because the feathers don't degrade when you fish flies that use them (or do they?). I might replace them anyway because of the mold issue, but I was just curious if the feathers themselves might actually be compromised.