Buoyancy of Deer Hair Types

[Bobfly]

This may well have been covered previously but I have not picked it out from the Search system as a topic.

Coastal Deer Hair seems to be quite often quoted as being user friendly to tie with and also perhaps the best for buoyancy. However, reading up a bit about deer hair it seems that the hair often quoted as hollow is not except down at the base and virtually all deer hair is solid in structure going towards the tips. Also, hair which is "hollow" is not tubular hollow but cellular hollow rather like the linked cell structure of timber. If you are tying muddler heads then a hollow cellular would work fine. When you tie small sedgehogs or caddis then maybe there is not a hollow benefit and it is down to plenty of surface on many fibres (a dab of Gink if used).

Do folks have a personal ranking list for buoyancy for what they would say best suits what purposes ?

[Fishtales]

I'm also sure I read somewhere that body hair, especially from the belly, is the most buoyant and the leg hair the least.

[Robbie]

My choice in deer hair is often driven by the colour. For instance when tying dries for use on river I will tend to use a light coloured hair, usually coastal deer. For lochs I will also use a dark roe deer hair, always use roe for Sedgehogs and the like. I have noticed some difference in buoyancy between different hairs but not often a huge difference.

[Wildfisher]

I reckon the coastal is less buoyant because it is finer, softer and wets much more readily. Dark stiff roe deer and elk seem to float better.

[Bobfly]

The patches of deer hair being sold do not say when in the year they were taken and, like dogs and other animals the hair varies during the year. Winter samples would be of a thicker and more hollow structure and belly hair more suited to muddlers. What you get is just a patch of "deer hair" and some are just labelled as "Deer Hair - Short/Fine" without even saying what kind of deer.
The longer the hair the thicker at the base and so the better for muddlers would perhaps be a fair guide. For smaller caddis and suchlike probably anything of the right colour is quite OK since it is hair tips?

[Wildfisher]

I recall an article in one of the monthly fishing rags that debunked the notion of hollow deer hair. This guy  included microscope photos of cross sections of deer hair. The bits we use for wings etc - that is the tips -  are most certainly not hollow.

[corsican dave]

just use foam, Vaughan  :

[Wildfisher]

just use foam, Vaughan

Philistine   :lol:

Actually I agree and use synthetics whenever possible. It's not always possible of course, but very often it is and it is more a matter of establishing confidence in using and fishing with  something different from the established norm.

I am pretty sure now that Aero Wing is superior in just about every way for winging small flies  compared to  fine deer hair.

[Bobfly]

I do use foam, good for beetles and bibio types too and all sorts but for hogs or DHE and EHC its different. It just seems that the sellers of these materials are not very bothered about the variation that there is. Most of what I use is roe deer and some that is elk and some which is labelled "Bleached deer hair"..... :?