Alpaca etc

[DNicolson]

I have recently been searching for Camel Dubbing on the net.
I found two sources, one of the sources also supply Alpaca and
several rare sheep breed wools - Hebridean, Soay, Manx and
Gotland.
Has anyone experience using Alpaca or the rare sheep wools?

[Old Hat]

I have found Alpaca to be similar to mohair wool. I don't know about the others you mention.

[Johnno]

Alpaca = Very expensive mobile garden ornament. Furs quite nice. Used it fairly often in the past for nymphs. The fur is Browns, Tans and Whites mostly. No idea how well it takes dye.

[DNicolson]

I have not used any of these furs/dubbings yet, although I have used Camel
and liked it. Here is the address of the site with the biggest variety.
http://www.lochsunart-yarns-buttons.co. ... yarns.html

[tbc1415]

I have and have used both Baby Camel and Alpaca. A friend is an Alpaca breeder. Both are long and soft fibers. Both fibers have been used for thousands of years in both twisted and felted form.

I have only seen baby camel in one color, a medium tan. This color is so consistent as to be generally understood as a color name (Camel).
Alpaca comes in about every color imaginable. Alpaca fiber is judged on three primary criteria. Length, diameter (measured in microns) and crimp.
Maximum length, minimum micron count and maximum crimp all contribute to how soft the fiber feels.

Both fibers and especially camel have enough fiber length to allow the tier to pull out a pinch of fiber, give it a bit of a twist, tye in one end of the pulled pinch then twist and wrap as desired to form a fly body. It can also be chopped and blended with other fibers and hairs for dubbing. Either way works really well due to the fine diameter and softness.

TC