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Thoughts on warmest fur


dmaninfur

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Of the longer coats I already own, seal, mink, raccoon, (swakara isn't that warm, so leaving it out), and the nutria I treat like my very own personal fur bathrobe and since it's floor length, will never wear it out.

 

Which is likely the warmest for a trip quite literally nearly to the north pole?

 

I really want to use this trip as an excuse to buy a fox, but I am not sure if I am better off buying now or waiting until I get to Iceland and Svalbard to purchase.

 

Thoughts?

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For climates like the north pole I would imagine only wolf fur coats, fox coats and bear hides will do. Nothing else would provide enough insulation for those kinds of temps. Especially this year where polar vortexes are expected to return.

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Personally, I would recommend AGAINST bear as usually the hair is rather thin without a true underfur. Bears use their fat as insulation as well as food in the cold months. Aside from that, I generally agree with the previous post.

 

Coyote is another long haired fur that could be good in arctic temps. The native peoples of northern Alaska also use a thick quilted lining in their parkas for additional insulation.

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sure you'll have warm coat are the reindeer and opposum you'll have. The reason for this is that both expensive species have holes hair. possum fur is most used as a linid to man. and reindeer are the most common Sami peoples who use. have had the possum of in a jacket that it was very hot. reindeer I use in winter to sit on the snow. I live almost up under the polar circle in Norway. even have a wolf coat

I use when I go out to smoke my signings. t shirt only wolf when it can be -20-25 celsius. have a nice trip to iceland and Svalbard.

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Thanks! I don’t even know where I would buy bear fur! I thought the seal since it’s the most waterproof but it’s also th thinnest fur. Or the raccoon.

 

Where does one get a reindeer fur and opossum I’ve never tried as a coat. I’ve seen it sheared as the lining in an Hermès coat I tried on years ago.

 

I’m not seeing much in wolf. I looked at some coyote and while I’ve always wanted an excuse for Lynx, I’m allergic to cats and the one time I touched one for more than a few minutes I found it itchy. I would have thought any dander is removed, maybe it was in my head.

 

Likemyfur, are there good stores to purchase fur up there and in Oslo? I’m there for a day too.

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Thanks! I don’t even know where I would buy bear fur! I thought the seal since it’s the most waterproof but it’s also th thinnest fur. Or the raccoon.

 

Where does one get a reindeer fur and opossum I’ve never tried as a coat. I’ve seen it sheared as the lining in an Hermès coat I tried on years ago.

 

I’m not seeing much in wolf. I looked at some coyote and while I’ve always wanted an excuse for Lynx, I’m allergic to cats and the one time I touched one for more than a few minutes I found it itchy. I would have thought any dander is removed, maybe it was in my head.

 

Likemyfur, are there good stores to purchase fur up there and in Oslo? I’m there for a day too.

 

Didn't realize bear was thin. My bad. But yeah stick with long haired coats like wolf, coyote, fox and maybe even Alpaca. I sold some Alpaca coats years ago that were absolutely massive in size. The only downside was that it was awfully smelly.

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I would not generally recommend reindeer as it can be quite heavy and if the pelts were not tanned properly, can have a lot of loose hairs. To my knowledge not many furriers will make reindeer garments as it is more labor intensive due to the dense hair and thick leather. I believe Oliver Furs has a reindeer coat or 2 on their ebay website.

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Fox, especially blue fox fur, would be my recommendation just because it's a personal favorite! I completely agree with other folks' advice on coyote and wolf.

 

As for buying fur in Iceland, I only had the chance to stop by Eggert's when I was there (It's in Reykjavik right by the Hallgrímskirkja cathedral downtown) They didn't have a lot of long-hair coats but still, the shop is a good one to check out because it's quite possibly the most well designed furriers I've ever visited. It might just be the Scandinavian design influence, but it was just a lovely shop compared to those here in NYC that seem to have no consideration for their interior design at all. There were other's in Reykjavik but they were further from where my husband and I stayed so we didn't get the chance to stop in.

 

I do have some thoughts on wearing fur there in the winter, having just gone last January. I was hoping to bring my silver fox or coyote parka on the trip, but we were spending time on the Southern part of the island and it ended up being a lot warmer and wetter than we expected. Reluctantly, I only brought my my black fox fur trooper hat and a waterproof parka. Our last two days ended up being a lot colder and drier, comparable to some of the colder days here in NYC in January, and my fox would've been perfect. Thankfully I had the hat!

 

Enjoy your trip

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Ok, so some advice needed, I went to the furrier to try on some furs, I tried fox, coyote and a lynx. I did not love any, and there were many on me, LOL.

 

I feel like the bigger fluffy furs are just not me, my taste is usually in the more understated, or smoother, flatter furs. I love me some Persian lamb, though on here it's gotten some hate, my seal, mink, etc.

 

So I turned to Ebay and now I am overwhelmed. How does one choose? I figured it was worth a shot since I didn't want to spend too much on this coat, since the unless I fall in love with wearing fox or coyote while away, this is one that's going to be living at the furrier more often than not.

 

How do I even know what I am looking at? And what the hell is an arctic beaver?

 

Thanks!

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I feel like the bigger fluffy furs are just not me, my taste is usually in the more understated, or smoother, flatter furs. I love me some Persian lamb, though on here it's gotten some hate, my seal, mink, etc.

 

Judging you for this!!! Jk not really, lol, the bigger furs are definitely not for everyone. You might try fisher fur? It’s a bit bulkier, and warmer I’ve heard, than mink but is still a nice and understated piece. Perhaps a beaver, either sheared or long-haired could be nice as well.

 

Of course with any fur, color can make a huge difference in helping you achieve an understated look. I’ve often thought about having a sheared beaver parka done in a warmer grey that might appear like a regular coat from a distance until one gets close.

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I can't believe you don't like fox. When it comes to men's furs that is usually a guaranteed hit. And honestly when it comes to a trip to the arctic circle, the more insulation the better. And fox is actually the smoothest/silkiest of the long haired furs so its not only bulky but very soft to the touch. Thinner furs like minks and seal just don't cut it in temps that can get up to -60 degrees Fahrenheit. So if you insist on going to the Arctic, I'm afraid that your choices are limited to either a long haired fur like fox or risk freezing to death.

 

Regarding fox types though I would stick with blue, black, golden island, arctic marble, blue frost, indigo, golden cross, crystal and finally silver. Of all the different fox types these tend to be the bulkiest and provide the most insulation. And they are all species that tend to be raised in northern climates so they are perfectly adept to the icy winters of the arctic circle.

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I would think your raccoon coat would be the warmest of the ones you listed. I assume your seal coat is northern fur seal from the Pribilof Islands. Am I correct? Or is your coat made of harbor seal, ringed seal, or harp seal?

 

Arctic beaver is a term that you will find in certain listings by oliverfurs. On eBay, there are certain restrictions on what furs can and cannot be offered for sale. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act bans the sale of most items made from marine mammal parts in the USA. Included in the ban is fur seal, harp seal, harbor seal, ringed seal, sea otter, sea lion, walrus, etc. There are exceptions for items made by Alaskan Natives, who are the only people in the USA who can legally kill marine mammals and turn their body parts into saleable items. These items have to be first turned into genuine native handicrafts. A genuine native handicraft could be a sculpture of a musk ox made of walrus ivory or a pair of sealskin slippers with sea otter fur trim (the sealskin being harbor seal or ringed seal). Even a king-sized blanket made of sea otter fur qualifies as a genuine native handicraft since it is made by an Alaska Native. oliverfurs, a seller based in Canada, gets around these restrictions on selling marine mammal fur in the USA by creatively using terms like Arctic beaver and Arctic coyote. Arctic beaver usually refers to fur seal although sometimes oliverfurs uses it to refer to sheared river otter, which can be mistaken for fur seal. Arctic coyote refers to both timberwolf and Arctic wolf.

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<<

oliverfurs, a seller based in Canada, gets around these restrictions on selling marine mammal fur in the USA by creatively using terms like Arctic beaver and Arctic coyote. Arctic beaver usually refers to fur seal although sometimes oliverfurs uses it to refer to sheared river otter, which can be mistaken for fur seal. Arctic coyote refers to both timberwolf and Arctic wolf.

 

So interesting, I had no idea Oliverfurs did that!

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I had no idea you could still buy seal fur, I thought that was banned a long time ago. That is a creative way of doing it, and an explanation of why the arctic beaver looked so velvety in a picture.

 

I do believe mine is fur seal, it’s softer than the slick hair seal types, though those are nice, just not at all warm.

 

I finally ordered a Fox on eBay. We’ll see how it turns out when I get it. I just think I can’t get used to the largeness of the long furs. Probably because I’m self conscious about my size and in a large fur I worry that it may be unclear how much of it is fur!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Interesting thread: when Amundsen was preparing for his attempt on the South Pole, (118 years ago?) he spent time with the Esquimaux/Eskimo/Inuit people and was educated by them concerning wearing -faced furs, ie fur garments reversed and worn inside outer fur garments!

 

I seem to remember that reindeer was one of them; but can remember no more.

 

Obviously, his preparations were worthwhile, for he beat Scott to the goal -- and survived! Scott's team were (as we surely all know?) unsuccessful and their canvas outer garments must have had lots to do with this...

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On -40 days in Winnipeg... sometimes -50 with the windchill.. I personally find coyote to be warm... probably the warmest and heaviest coat I have is a full length silverfox... I find raccoon is awesome as well... was -28 a week ago raccoon coat and hat and didnt feel a thing! Also find beaver to be warm as well... its very dense... mink as mentioned not so much... The mink I have is big enough I could wear it over another coat though

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Sea otter is known for being a very warm fur. The sea otter has the densest fur of any mammal on earth. It has no blubber layer so it must rely on its very dense coat for protection against the frigid waters of the North Pacific.

 

Russian sable is also very warm. Keep in mind that sables live in some of the coldest parts of the Northern Hemisphere. There are parts of Siberia that are colder than the Arctic.

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I ended up getting an arctic fox. I’ll wear it but I don’t love it.

 

Arrived in Svalbard today, a lot of furs! And stopped in a fur shop to see what they had. Apparently no fears of selling seal!!! And they’ll provide a letter to bring back with you to show it’s an Inuit craft. I did not ask where said letter comes from considering there are no Inuits here, nor were there ever. But if it works it works.

 

What I need is that full skinned polar bear.

 

I did buy a seal fur hat. Just not the one with the fox trim. Mine is all seal and leather. I’ll take another pic later. My hands are freezing so I’m going to put on these new seat fur mittens!

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I think some might be local to here. They eat a lot of seal meat though. Also I went to buy something and they told me I can’t bring it back to the US with me. Only some of the smaller items that they had from Canada. I want that polar bear though!!!!

 

Here’s me in -35F wind chill in my fox not even feeling it other than on my face and legs. Next time I’m going full length.

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