Hosting a Hide Camp in Your Community
Thank you for arriving here, as a potential hide camp host. We know that bringing hide tanning into your community is no small feat!
We teach hide tanning on-the-road between Vancouver Island and southern British Columbia + we would love the opportunity to travel to work with you and your group.
To look at our current public courses available to all, go here.
Con’t below
About us:
We are Fern + Roe, a natural hide tannery based on the WSANEC Peninsula on Vancouver Island, BC. We travel to teach hide tanning in small community groups in southern and coastal BC.
What to expect in a hide tanning camp:
Hide camps are multi-day, all day events. We arrive on site a day early for setting up equipment, then welcome the group with an opening circle and introductions on Day 1, and keep on working the hides (which we provide) until the end.
Hide tanning is hard work, and rich reward. New tanners usually pair up two people to a hide. We ensure every new tanner has thorough instruction and guidance.
Participants are required to attend each day of the hide camp to ensure they finish their hide. At the end, everyone takes home the leather, buckskin, or rug they created.
For more about us, go to Fern + Roe's main website.
Hide Camp options
Three-day hide camp:
Small-size hides (sheep or deer) tanned into buckskin, fur-on rugs, or rawhide
$425 per person (includes one hide)
$625 per pair of people (includes one hide shared between two people).
Four-day hide camp:
Large to extra-large hides (i.e. suitable for moccasins, clothing-making)
$450 per participant (includes one hide per person)
$650 per pair (includes one hide to share by two people - recommended for beginner tanners)
Five-day hide camp:
Includes two hide projects: rawhide + buckskin, sheepskin, or barktanned leather
$550 per participant (includes two hides per person).
$700 per pair of people (includes two hides to share).
Please read the following carefully + in full before placing your booking deposit.
We bring all the hide items needed. This includes equipment, tools, and of course the hides themselves. A lot of preparation goes into the hides before we arrive, in fact, most of the labour of hide work and teaching happens before a hide tanning course begins. For this reason, we ask organizers to be mindful of:
(1) payment due dates
(2) ensuring each item on your hosting checklist is met
(3) organizing participants well ahead of time, including starting a waitlist for when plans change last-minute.
As a hide camp host, you are a collaborator. It is your role to make sure communication between us and your organization or community flows accurately and in a timely manner; to put in place all the venue amenities needed for a hide camp (see the checklist here); and to provide us with the details we need so that we can prepare our travels accordingly.
We receive a high volume of course requests and can offer a limited number of hide camps each year. Our booking system (hopefully!) ensures a smooth process for everyone and honours those communities who request us back year after year:
Booking Deposit
This $50 deposit is your guarantee that we will set aside hides for your group. It is an admin fee that is separate from the class price listed above.
This fee is 100% refundable if we cannot find dates that work for both us and your group - or if you are relying on specific funding such as grant and it does not come through
This fee is non-refundable if: (1) we do not receive full payment within 2 weeks of agreeing on dates, or (2) the hide camp hosting checklist is not honoured.
Payment
After paying this booking deposit, we will reach out to you to determine the dates for a hide camp and the class size. Large classes will have 2 instructors. We tend to book 3 months in advance.
Payment for all hide camps is due within 2 weeks of booking dates.
We prefer payment by electronic deposit, credit card, or E-transfer. A $50 cheque fee will apply for payment by cheque.
Travel fee: your invoice will show a travel fee reflecting the costs of fuel and ferries to reach your community from Victoria, BC. This fee is non-taxed.
Accommodations: your invoice will also reflect local accommodations that we book in advance. This fee is non-taxed. If you prefer to set us up yourself, let us know! We ask for pet-friendly accommodations with access to a kitchen and shower.
Optional take-home hide tanning toolkits: $200 (includes wet-scraper, awl, needle, pumice stone, and artisan-made dry scraper).
Prices exclude GST + PST. If your organization is exempt from these taxes, please let us know in advance, thank you.
Hosting responsibilities
Please ensure the hide camp hosting checklist is completed at least one day prior to hide camp beginning. Please note that if we arrive and find a hide camp venue is missing these checklist amenities, we may not be able to offer a course. For example, we cannot tan hides with insufficient warmth on a cold day. There are no refunds for this checklist not being honoured.
Make sure that a venue is available to use the day before a hide camp begins, for set-up
If we are using an outdoor fire-pit or smoking hides, it is the responsibility of the host to ensure any fire permits are secured in advance. If these are not secured and a local fire prevention team fines Fern + Roe, the host organization will reimburse us for these costs.
The host will inhabit the role of organizing participants and ensuring the class is filled. Please note, there are no refunds for “no shows.” Any hides not tanned by participants will go into Fern + Roe's scholarship base.
It is Fern + Roe's responsibility to communicate the dates, schedule, gear list, and details about hide tanning to your group. Please email us the name and email address of each participant 2 weeks prior to a course.