Reliable tannery in Namibia?

[Samantha]

Hello,

Could anyone pass on the name of a reliable tannery in Namibia please?
I've been told a few horror stories about a few already.
Dip and pack is not an option.
Traveling in June this year.

 

[johnnyblues]

SIMPLY PUT...Don't have it tanned in Africa. That is the common consensus from US taxidermists.

 

[billc]

Hello,

Could anyone pass on the name of a reliable tannery in Namibia please?
I've been told a few horror stories about a few already.
Dip and pack is not an option.
Traveling in June this year.

I see your from Australia and may need the stuff done a certain way I would tell you to send Ingwe taxidermy an email. They are doing work for me now but all mounts. I know they can get you on track with the tanning.

I have been in the shop and seen there work first hand but first time I am having them do work for me but have been very happy so far. I have a post started in taxidermy section and you can see the work they are doing for me now.

 

[Samantha]

Thank you Billc, I'll do that.

Yeah after tanning as dip n pak, attracts so many fee's once it hits OZ and currently only 1 quarantine depo here.. not a lot of choice for us here.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Ask @blacks Should be able to give you all the ins and outs.

 

[Samantha]

Found a company myself , thanks for the help ..

 

[Northwest9]

Found a company myself , thanks for the help ..

Samantha, who did you end up going with?

 

[Samantha]

Ingwe, Namibia.

Picking up my crate tomorrow

 

[Sitting Bull_Chris]

Very interested to hear how they turn out. I have a friend of mine who had his capes tanned with Ingwe as well. He received them a week ago. I'll be mounting them but haven't had a chance to look at them yet. Will know soon enough!

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Hope all is well Sam. I've just been rehydrating a second client shipment from Ingwe and the capes are excellent. As good as I've seen from Africa. I hope yours are just as good. I will certainly use them when I get back to Namibia.

For the purpose of this thread, my advice through personal experience is NOT to use Trophaendienste at any costs.

 

[Philip Glass]

Hope all is well Sam. I've just been rehydrating a second client shipment from Ingwe and the capes are excellent. As good as I've seen from Africa. I hope yours are just as good. I will certainly use them when I get back to Namibia.

For the purpose of this thread, my advice through personal experience is NOT to use Trophaendienste at any costs.

Ditto that

 

[Philip Glass]

SIMPLY PUT...Don't have it tanned in Africa. That is the common consensus from US taxidermists.

May be true for taxidermy tanning. However I had my hippo tanned and finished in two colors in Zim and Dick Murray said it was very well done. There is so much variation over there I think that is the problem. AH helps us all sort it out and get references!
Philip

 

[Samantha]

They certainly look very good. Wont have a problem with these. Warthogs and jackals are degreased and thinned beautifully and no horns are blackened, misshapen-ed or burned.
Appear to be in better shape than some American skins I've had in over the years.
It will be sometime before they are re hydrated, to busy with other peoples work at the moment and I need to empty the freezers a fair bit.

I agree Blacks, I wouldn't use those other guys either from what I personally saw. Flat skins is different, chrome is chrome, but for taxidermy - nope.

 

[JPbowhunter]

My friend recently got some heads back from a SA hunt. I was too polite to tell him what i really thought of them. All the mounts had hair patches missing, rough seams and not much detail. The skull mounts genuinely looked as though the horns had been removed and the whole skull dunked in a tin of paint. Didn't get the name of the taxidermist but I was surprised, I thought Australia had some shocking taxidermy going around!

 

[Hunter4752001]

Hi Samantha
Given that you're from Australia I'd recommend that if at all possible get the skins tanned O/S. Tanned hides get through Australian Quarantine easily, however dip and pack only enter if specific processes are followed and the overseas paperwork is done in a particular way.
I made the mistake of having my trophies dip & pack only. Problem is that African processes and paperwork are designed to meet US and EU requirements. They aren't flexible enough to cater for Australian requirements and Australian officials aren't flexible enough to accept anyone else's processes. Its likely that the processes and documentation will be such that Quarantine will either reject the skins or require them to under go gamma radiation treatment (which often turns them to an unusable rubber like state). Don't risk it, I lost my Kudu skin because of the associated problems.

 

[Samantha]

Hi Samantha
Given that you're from Australia I'd recommend that if at all possible get the skins tanned O/S. Tanned hides get through Australian Quarantine easily, however dip and pack only enter if specific processes are followed and the overseas paperwork is done in a particular way.
I made the mistake of having my trophies dip & pack only. Problem is that African processes and paperwork are designed to meet US and EU requirements. They aren't flexible enough to cater for Australian requirements and Australian officials aren't flexible enough to accept anyone else's processes. Its likely that the processes and documentation will be such that Quarantine will either reject the skins or require them to under go gamma radiation treatment (which often turns them to an unusable rubber like state). Don't risk it, I lost my Kudu skin because of the associated problems.

I never get dip & pak for those reasons, and only 1 quarantine facility now. So much easier with tanned skins but it is sometimes risky if they are not tanned properly and importantly, degreased where necessary, and thats why i did my research after hearing about a couple of bad imports.

JP - mounted in Africa or here? Ingwe does a great job on mounts too.
The shop i was walked through in Namibia however appeared to have too many hands involved in the work and watching some of the finishers doing their job, well, made me walk away.

 

[RBurg44]

@Samantha glad you went with ingwe and listened to @billc hes been right on with so many of his suggestions. A few other members i see has taken his advice on them and all are happy. Such a shame he no longer posts anything. He was a valuable member of this forum imo.

 

[Sitting Bull_Chris]

Hi Samantha and Blacks, any idea what tanning agent they are using at Ingwe?

 

[Silke Bean]

Hi Samantha and Blacks, any idea what tanning agent they are using at Ingwe?

We use Lutan FN for capes.

 

[meigsbucks]

Welcome Samantha.
Last year, while in Namibia, I saw a lot of the work King’s taxidermy has done. I don’t know how they handle their tanning, but the end results are very good.