Provided that they are stored in a dry, bug free enviroment, how long will a salted, dried hide from africa last before tanning.

I have heard every where from a few months to infinity.

My taxidermist once told me that if you freeze them that they could possibly last for a lifetime.

The short answer to your question is: I do not know. They should last for a long time. I have seen capes that were store in this condition for three years that were fine. However, I do not think that storing them for a long time in this condition is the best choice. Raw, dry salted skins are not normally stored in a freezer. This may cause some problems with them not freezing or becoming freezer burned which could lead to them not rehydrating properly.. I am of the opinion that you are better off by tanning the skins as soon as possible.

Tan them first, then freeze. If they are for taxidermy purposes, have them wet tanned by a good tannery, wrap them tightly in a plastic bag, label and freeze. Tanned capes take up less than half the room of dry salted capes. Some capes may have codition problems that will only be discovered when they are reydrated before tanning. Why store a folded up salted cape for years that may be trash. Tanning is a very small part of the cost compared to the hunt/shipping/taxidermy etc..
I hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

My wife made a rug on a blackbear hide that was salted and in the freezer for around 10 years. She was hesitant but it came out pretty nice. The sealing tag on it was from 1994 (IIRC).

quote:

stored in a dry, bug free enviroment

There are a lot of parameters and beyond bug free; dry + (constant or stable environment) are 2 of the biggest. Once the salt removes the moisture from the hide if no moisture is reintroduced the fibers will not flex, the gluten, hair follicles and other viable material will stay stable.

The reintroduction of moisture will swell the fibers and if surface layers become moist and thus move, well in advance or repeatedly without the inner layers softening and following the movement then you can get a stretching, tearing or flexing and weakening of the fibers in that middle medium which may result in sloughing off of hide layers in the soak down process.

That being said some hides are pretty tough, we successfully had a crocodile tanned and did the mounting in 1999 from a specimen that had been taken and salt dried in 1966. Its owner died and the spouse was busy hunting the world over and if lay in a warehouse with no special considerations for 33 years.

So sometimes you get lucky!

Best regards

Mike O