# Pelts. Rabbit pelts.



## Mid (Sep 28, 2010)

So my neighbor is raising rabbits just for the meat and kicking down the pelts. 

I've looked up ways to cure them, but when I'm done I'm just going to have a shit load of pelts. 

Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking about making a blanket.


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## Ean (Nov 2, 2011)

I have always wanted to sew them fur side out to a hoodie or a thick shirt. Just cause they are sorta easy to tear.


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## Vonuist (Nov 2, 2011)

The easiest way would probably be brain-tanning.
Scrape off the fat from the hide, peg it out somewhere to cure, crack open the rabbit's skull and then rub mashed brains into the wet side of the skin.
Let it dry again and repeat until it's strong and supple.
When stitching it you need to make a hole with an awl and then fasten it together with sinew or twine, that way it won't be as prone to tearing as it would be if you used a needle and thread.


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## Cosmo (Apr 12, 2012)

There is a booming fur trade going on all around the globe. In addition to this furs lend themselves quite well to folk-art, and to be stitched on as bits of clothing. Whole blankets can be difficult and take skill to weave properly. Do some thinking on it.


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## roadohio (Apr 12, 2012)

There are or used to be a lot of people who would be willing to trade stuff for pelts, so check out the blackmarket on this site.


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## joaquim33 (Apr 12, 2012)

makin a blanket is an awesome idea! i just read a anthropologists book about indians in northern california near mt, shasta who used to make blankets out of rabbits. each blanket would have 100 - 300 pelts! you could make it double sided.

ive done a lot of brain tanning but never had a lot of luck with rabbits, i think the key is being gentle because the hair will tear so easily. make sure you cure them with smoke after you tan them so bugs and dogs dont eat them..thats what happened with mine, i left it in a cabin and when i came back bugs had devoured it. i always wanted a couple pelts to sew into a hat with ear flaps..did that this year with some deer fur but it really is nowhere near as soft. you are lucky!


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## Cosmo (Apr 12, 2012)

Yeah rabbit pelts are better than gold.


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## uncivilize (Apr 14, 2012)

joaquim33 said:


> makin a blanket is an awesome idea! i just read a anthropologists book about indians in northern california near mt, shasta who used to make blankets out of rabbits. each blanket would have 100 - 300 pelts! you could make it double sided


 
The domesticated rabbits we are familiar with have thicker skins than their wild relatives, making them better suited for fur-on tanning. With smaller game/thinner hides, some cultures would case skin the animal (removing the skin from the animal in a way similar to pulling a sock off from the top, so that you remove it inside out and have a hide "tube"), then they would cut around it in a spiral, creating a long narrow strip with fur on one side and skin on the other, they would then twist it, so that the skin side turned in on itself and dry it (it isn't tanned, essentially it is a rawhide process, but because it is so thin, it remains pliable/workable, and the skin is twisted in on itself so when it dries it kind of "glues" itself together). They would cut it so that the tail is left on one end and the eye holes are lined up on the other, so the threads could easily be strung together, tail to eye holes, to make a very long rope of fur that could then be used to make a loose knotted blanket/robe/etc. I've done it with several gophers we trapped when I was living on a farm, works well, I could see how with more practice one could make some incredible pieces.

For fur-on tanning, bark tanning is a good process because it will constrict the follicles, preventing the hair from slipping. What is more common is using a salt and alum solution for soaking before braintanning. Alum is a naturally occurring aluminum salt (there's a big mine in the south SF bay area) that helps to tighten up the follicles and cure the hide, but I don't remember very much about the whole process, and have never used it myself.

Could you name the book joaquim? I'm really interested in that type of thing. Survival Skills of Native California by Paul Campbell is a great book. Ishi is fascinating as well, though I haven't delved much deeper into the anthropological material yet. If you're ever passing through the bay area, the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley is free and has a small continuing exhibit of Native Californian artifacts, including much of Ishi's material culture. It's definitely worth checking out.


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## joaquim33 (Apr 15, 2012)

uncivilize said:


> Could you name the book joaquim? I'm really interested in that type of thing. Survival Skills of Native California by Paul Campbell is a great book. Ishi is fascinating as well, though I haven't delved much deeper into the anthropological material yet. If you're ever passing through the bay area, the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley is free and has a small continuing exhibit of Native Californian artifacts, including much of Ishi's material culture. It's definitely worth checking out.


 
hey uncivilize. the book was either Ishi or "indians in overalls" by jaime de angulo. i read them both at the same time so i cant remember. probably was the latter.
that is a pretty interesting idea, knotting the furs together like that. i wish i had known about that museum. last time i was in oakland i was looking for something to do in berkley but just wandered around looking at the weird california plants and trees.

i recently made a deer head decoy just like the one in Ishi. pretty cool. my friend came up with a good term for punks who are into brain tanning. "taxidermy bums"...really shittily thrown together taxidermied squirrels stuffed with socks all over the fucking place...hahahahaaa. am actually recovering from a brain tanning work party yesterday/last night. was the second official meeting of the franklin county brain tan club. quite a success. where are you based out of? come to a club meeting sometime!


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