Since @John Brunner brought up the issue with beaver pelts, I thought I would post some things about using fur for real, not decorative purposes. In the North, fur is used for a lot of clothing, and, despite what PETA says, there are things for which there are no synthetic substitutes. One of those is the fur in ruffs for parkas. Wolverine fur is the fur of choice for those ruffs, but wolf can be substituted if no wolverine is available. The fur ruffs keep one from getting a frozen face in the wind and cold of the far north. Synthetics collect ice on the "fur" and cause numerous issues, but ice doesn't cling to wolverine fur.
The environs in which humans exist is astonishing. There's certainly no substitute for that which has been designed to thrive in those conditions. Of course you would adapt whatever nature has provided to your own needs. But it's still a fragile naked ape under that borrowed coat.
Great subject Don! I find it interesting and I reminisce about tanning hides and making buckskins. There is no substitute for a 100% beaver "felt" hat. It can be worn all season and provide protection even in climates with harsh extremes. I am saving for a custom 100x mountain ranch hat that a couple in Colorado make. You can wear it in the rain and it puts a duck's back to shame, wear it to block the sun on a hot day or cold day and it works as a regulator. No other felt hat has those properties. All-wool works better than synthetics but still cannot compare to the 100X beaver. Even a real 100% straw hat puts the synthetic straw ones to shame. Here is the hat I am planning to get when I have $625 that isn't tagged for another purpose. I think I will let my hair get longer, but go for the single braid as it looks best with a western-style ranch hat.
Thinking about far north stuff and another topic being discussed on this forum about what constitutes life, I find the arctic frozen frog interesting. No breathing and no heartbeat means death right? So is the frog dead for 7 months? For as long as seven months, up to 60 percent of their bodies freeze solid. They stop breathing. Their heart stops beating. This semi-frozen state allows them to survive temperatures that that dip below zero, explains Brian Barnes, researcher, and director of Arctic Biology at the University of Fairbanks, Alaska. Come spring, they thaw out and come back to life.
Doesn't the structure of their cell walls have something to do with this? Or perhaps it's how the liquids in their bodies do not fully form crystals. In any event, there is something that prevents their cell walls from rupturing when frozen, which would otherwise cause them to die. It truly is amazing.
When I was in the Air Force in the ‘60s I spent time in Greenland. The first thing they did was issue us cold weather gear which included parkas with fur ruffs. ( I didn’t know they were called ruffs). I can’t say for sure if they were wolverine or not.
The same happens to the arctic ground squirrel. They are the only mammal (supposedly) that allows its body to go below freezing except for its brain then awakens in the spring. link