A brushtail possum skin cloak, tanned with Mimosa tannin powder & softened with tallow. Each individual skin is then oiled with tallow, heated up near a fire, softened & sanded by hand. Brushtail possum fur is some of the highest quality & softest fur in the world. As in the fur fibers per sq inch is extremely high, but each fiber is hollow making it extremely soft.
Bark tanned skins are permanently transformed into a bio-logically stable leather. This strong bind that occurs between the tannin particles & collagen fiber structure, alongside the oil imbued into the skin make it water proof. It smells similar to wood, but does not have the usual stinky possum smell or greasy skin. Nice, dry & smooth. After it dries when it gets wet, it will either go back to being soft, or will go slightly stiff. Returning back to its soft state after some use.
I am one of the only people in New Zealand who does & plans on continuing to produce these exceptionally rare cloaks/garments/blankets. Item details are below. Most of the skins are 1st grades, some are 2nd grade. Few of them have small holes or patches of re-growth. Nonetheless, this does not affect the quality of the cloak, only the aesthetic on the “flesh side”.
Note: This is un-lined, keeping it in the style of a traditional brushtail possum skin cloak like Australian Aboriginal Natives would do. If you want a custom one made, with or without lining, please contact me & I will put you on a list. Don’t hesitate to contact me to organize & get an estimation of pricing as the list is already 4-6 people long. Will take me about 1-3 weeks to process each one. Thanks.
Dimensions: 107cm x 141cm
Weight: 1.63 KG
Tan: Mimosa Tannin Powder (Black Wattle/Acacia Mearnsii)
Average Skin Size: Medium, making this cloak $52 per skin.
A brushtail possum skin cloak, tanned with Mimosa tannin powder & softened with tallow. Each individual skin is then oiled with tallow, heated up near a fire, softened & sanded by hand. Brushtail possum fur is some of the highest quality & softest fur in the world. As in the fur fibers per sq inch is extremely high, but each fiber is hollow making it extremely soft.
Bark tanned skins are permanently transformed into a bio-logically stable leather. This strong bind that occurs between the tannin particles & collagen fiber structure, alongside the oil imbued into the skin make it water proof. It smells similar to wood, but does not have the usual stinky possum smell or greasy skin. Nice, dry & smooth. After it dries when it gets wet, it will either go back to being soft, or will go slightly stiff. Returning back to its soft state after some use.
I am one of the only people in New Zealand who does & plans on continuing to produce these exceptionally rare cloaks/garments/blankets. Item details are below. Most of the skins are 1st grades, some are 2nd grade. Few of them have small holes or patches of re-growth. Nonetheless, this does not affect the quality of the cloak, only the aesthetic on the “flesh side”.
Note: This is un-lined, keeping it in the style of a traditional brushtail possum skin cloak like Australian Aboriginal Natives would do. If you want a custom one made, with or without lining, please contact me & I will put you on a list. Don’t hesitate to contact me to organize & get an estimation of pricing as the list is already 4-6 people long. Will take me about 1-3 weeks to process each one. Thanks.
Dimensions: 107cm x 141cm
Weight: 1.63 KG
Tan: Mimosa Tannin Powder (Black Wattle/Acacia Mearnsii)
Average Skin Size: Medium, making this cloak $52 per skin.