Pearsall's Thread

[Jim Slattery]

FYI.
Seems as if it is now official. Pearsall's is no more. That is the word that came from Pearsall's to Hareline Dubbin, they can get no more except for some Naples in very limited colors. I know someone who bought the last of the remaining stock., Some 3200 spools of gossamer sprinkled in with naples and marabou. I would advise ALL to buy what you need and can on ebay and the internet while the price is still relatively cheap. You can get it from England for about $9.30 a spool + shipping while that supply lasts.
Of the last remaining stock the highest number of spools of one color ( Highlander Green Gossamer) is 240. For some perspective Hareline would sell 1000 to 2000 spools of 1 color a year. 240 is not a lot. Some colors only have 17 spools left. Black, White and Purple are sold out. Primrose and Hot Orange are at about 220 spools each.
Happy Hunting.

[paparex]

So, Jimmy, what are the replacements available? Is Hareline going to step up to the plate and have the line continue or have a mill maintain a supply of an alternative? It sounds very similar to the pharmaceutical industry. There is a small but loyal market for a product that doesn't internally compete with other products for the company. The company drops production. If it is picked up by another the price is greatly increased to make it competitive for resources within the corporate umbrella. It feels like killing off all of the peacocks.

Rex

[Roadkill]

Thanks for the heads up Jim!

[tie2fish]

Sorry to hear the death knell, Jim. I've been caching my favorite colors for the last few years in expectation that this would eventually happen.

[wsbailey]

This is one possible solution; especially for someone just starting out.

http://www.54deanstreet.com/en/silk-thr ... ction.html

[joaniebo]

Quite a few years ago, I was introduced to Alec Jackson, the famous Salmon and Spey fly dresser, and I was able to order my Pearsall silks threads, flosses and Alec's North Country / Spider hooks directly from Alec as he was the North American importer and distributor for the Pearsall silks from Pearsalls Ltd. I today learned from another Forum (http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/for ... on.125360/) that Alec Jackson passed away several months ago, thus, possibly why the limited supply of Pearsall silks in the US.

"Pearsalls Embroidery" (not to be confused with Pearsalls Ltd.) has a line of Langley Superfine silks available:

http://www.pearsallsembroidery.com/inde ... 94a0f05a32

As does another UK company known as “FlytTyingOnline” who have developed a line of silks dyed to match many of the old silk colors.

http://www.flyonlyonline.co.uk/gossamer ... silks.html

I have ordered and use silks from both of these UK companies and the prices, including shipping costs, are quite reasonable.

Bob

[Jim Slattery]

From what I understand it is health issues mainly is the demise of Pearsall's. Hareline looked into perhaps having VeeVus making the thread but at 2000 spools and less a year for the various colors it is just not worth it to them. This is true of most other manufacturers. One alternative is SemperFli out of the UK. Unfortunately their colors for the most part do not match the current Pearsall's colors. The orange is supposed to match the old orange most rest of the colors seem to match the new nylon and other modern threads. I think they have 12 or so colors, it's nice thread. What is cool about the thread is that it is spooled on regular sized spools so no need to use a special bobbin. SemperFli also has Picric dyed Hare's masks, Mole skins and deer hair. The hares mask seem to have 2 colors, one is a golden olive while there are a few that lean in a more amber/orange color, I'm sure this is a natural phenomenon The mole skins are a lighter shade of olive than the the typical olive mole skin. Another interesting product is called Nano Silk, it is 6/0 100 denier that has a little stretch to it as it is not pure silk but a blend of real silk and a synthetic material, of which the name escapes me at this time.
SemperFli has a distributor here in the states in Shelley Idaho, a friend of mine Gary Barnes is the sales manager and he also is the US sales manager for Loop.
Jim

[letumgo]

Jim - Do you carry any of the Picric dyed materials mentioned above. I would be interested in buying one of each of the dyed hares masks and mole skin colors. Do you know what type of deer hair he carries? Is this suitable for something like an Elk hair caddis pattern? If so, I'd be interested in a piece of the deer hair too.

By the way, the hen necks I bought from you earlier this year were fantastic! Thank you for picking out such nice necks. I am very happy with all of them.

[Theroe]

Pearsalls is lovely material to work with.
HOWEVER
there are many, many alternatives. one of the good things about being in NYC is the abundance of stores, shops & vendors of all sorts. In the garment district(where I have my office)there are a TON of bead/sewing shops that carry every type of thread,tinsel, bead, feather and silk one could imagine. I will take some pictures & post them in a new thread.

BTW - if anyone is in need or looking for something odd or special, drop me a line - if I can find it I will send it to you. Gone are the days of mail order from Reed Tackle or Universal Vise!

[Smuggler]

Jim is correct, Pearsall and Langley Thead Co will no longer be producing the gossamer silk we all know and love. This morning I emailed them about it and Carol notified me that she has 11 Kilos undyed. Then that's it.

The post that Karsten posted about the Semper_Fli product "Pure Silk" looks intriguing. That might be a good alternative.