Semperfli Kapok Dubbing

Kapok Dubbing is the ultimate in dubbing for your fishing flies as it is very buoyant – indeed it is known as life jackets for flies! Kapok is a natural hollow fibre that when Kapok Dubbing is dubbed into split thread it retains its buoyancy and will help your dry flies float better than any other natural dubbing- it is half the thickness of superfine dubbing!

Some tyers refer to it as ‘instant moles fur’ or ‘moles fur in different colours’ as its rather similar with a very short fibre. It is absolutely ideal for tiny driy flies and great for nymphs. It provides perfect definition on small flies instead of an ‘explosion’ of bulky traditional dubbing on a small hook.

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) is a natural fibre, it has been available for many years growing throughout the tropics where it is cultivated for its fibres. It is a moisture-resistant, quick drying, resilient, and buoyant fibre and weighs only one-eighth as much as cotton. Kapok has historically been used in life jackets and life boats, supporting as much as 30 times its own weight in water.

Traditionally Kapok is very difficult to dye however the team at Semperfli have been working with computer based dying machinery which has enabled it to bulk dye Kapok Dubbing with repeatable colours every time. With Kapok Dubbing buoyancy is lost slowly, tests have left it for days in test baths and it very slowly over days absorbs water.

Our Kapok dubbing is available in a range of very natural / earthy dubbing colors have been defined to produce the best dry fly dubbing available in the market.

Individual Kapok Dubbing fibres are on average 1.8cm/0.7”, with diameters of 30 to 36 micrometres (a micrometre is about 0.00004 inch) making it finer than even the smallest superfine dubbing, indeed HALF the thickness of superfine dubbings on the market but with its unique extreme buoyancy.