What a good use for an old beaver tail!

If you tan the tail and it gets soft, it may not hold up as an armguard. It’s a bit thin I think. Maybe you could overlay it onto a piece of cow leather to stiffen it up.

Beaver tail is good for grips because it is thin and can be worked to the curves of the handle. This same property will make it a poor armguard in the long run I am afraid unless you glue it to something stiffer…

I have done some alum tanning and it isn’t too difficult. If you want further details on that I can add some notes. Or you could just use it as raw hide. Since flexibility isn’t a requirement.

Scrape as much fat off the tail as you can. Wash the tail in some dawn dishwashing liquid to get the rest out. Soak the tail in a heavy salt solution for a few days. Pin it to a board till dry. Then cut out what you want for your armguard and you are good to go.

Once the armguard is done, apply some leather waterproofing to it.

Make a second armguard, and send to me.

I trapped my first beaver this winter, the tail is basically all fat and since I dont know what it is suppose to look like when it is done I had to wing it. I think I finally got it thinned down pretty good. It is a pretty light peice of leather. But your plan of putting it with some elk sounds fantastic. And Alum is a very easy tanning method. HOWEVER Alum is not water resistant at all, if the leather gets wet it will eventually rot. If you want something that will be resistant to water go with chrome tannage. It turns leather a blueish tint but it did not turn my beaver tail any color at all. Completely water proof leather. Meaning it will not rot, but it still gets stiff when wet like all leather. So oil is still a must.

I would def. check out Van Dykes taxidermy, and Wasco, they are both suppliers that sell a variety of tanning chemicals! I hope this helps! And good luck

Wildschwein wrote: I currently have a Beaver tail in my freezer that I would like to make into an armguard. Anybody here know how to do a home tan job, or have any links to the information?

If you can wait until the next issue of TBM comes out, Krista Holbrook has an article on making a beaver tail handle. She explains how to prepare the tail.

Oct/Nov will be available to Premium Members August 15th, the same day it will be mailed to subscribers. If you are a newsstand shopper it will be in the stores around September 10th, give or take a week. 😆