Tortoise shell handles

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I don't like inhumane treatment of annimals at all but I do like ivory, tortoise, stag etc.
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When did killing animals for their by-products become "inhumane"?
Killing animals has a pretty long track record among humans.

Is a black angus steer's life less valuable than a tortoise? Not to the Hindu...
 
I have seen Sambar Stag covered in blood that was obviously removed "green" rather than cast off sheds picked up off the Indian forest floor.

Maybe we should all use Micarta?
 
Coop,your pictures are wonderful as always.Thanks for posting them.That Charles Bennica folder is beautiful.I like the shell in that.The colours are really vivid.The one you own is not very shabby either:) .
 
I don't think killing animals for their by products is immoral. I do choose not to contribute to the endangerement of animals such as elephants and sea turtles. As such, I would also want to be confident a given item is antique.

Given the (low) price of gold foil, the (high) price of antique turtle shell, and the (amazing) effect one has on the other, I would hope all makers use gold foil backing. With this said, I suspect that there's more than gold foil that explains the difference in color in those 2 folders, Coop.
 
I remember seeing a whole tortoise shell on ebay once. When I went back to check on it the next day, the auction had been removed. Ebay caught that one really quick.
 
"I don't think killing animals for their by products is immoral. I do choose not to contribute to the endangerement of animals such as elephants and sea turtles."

I guess Joss put my sentiments in better words than I did. There are still a lot of atrocities being done to animals that I object to. Humans too for that matter!

Peter
 
Joss said:
Steven - why would you need proof for the Bennica and not the others?
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Europe has different laws concerning such things than the USA.

As I don't know what those laws are, I would want that piece of mind.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Joss said:
I don't think killing animals for their by products is immoral. I do choose not to contribute to the endangerement of animals such as elephants and sea turtles.
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I can't really say I disagree with this philosophy, which was also voiced by others. At the same time, sometimes I wonder whether we're really doing the right thing. For example, take ivory. Bans have been imposed on the modern ivory trade to prevent killing endangered elephants, so we've switched to mastadon/mammoth ivory instead, since it is not covered by the Endangered species act. A critter can't be endangered if it's been extinct for thousands of years. So we cut up fossil remains of critters long gone. While elephants may be endangered, there sure ain't gonna be any new mammoth ivory grown ever again.

For some reason I was just reminded of the stories from the Indian continent... The people always got very excited when a dragon and elephant decided to fight. Usually both died, and the people could come collect their precious natural materials.
 
Anthony Lombardo said:
When did killing animals for their by-products become "inhumane"?
Killing animals has a pretty long track record among humans.

Is a black angus steer's life less valuable than a tortoise? Not to the Hindu...
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1. I am hardly a tree-hugger, no do I think that most of us here are.

2. I don't want to contribute to the extinction of creatures that have every right to be here, and are slaughtered for "by products". Using the whole "hog" is one thing, tearing antlers, tusks or fins off not-yet dead animals, and leaving the rest to rot strikes me as about as inhumane, wasteful and immoral as you can get(to my non-Hindu sensibilities)

3. If they started "farming" turtles and elephants, and selling the meat, and other products, I would have me some turtle soup, and a pair of tortoise shell eyeglasses, and some ivory ferrules for my pool cues, but that ain't happening, so I say no.

4. I don't do mink, or ocelot either. I have worked in a slaughterhouse, I know where my meat comes from, I know what the cow looks like when it is alive, have looked it in the eye, and when it is a processed side of beef. I never saw any animals "tortured" when we were processing them. From live cow to side of beef in about 10 minutes. About 10 seconds in the kill pen, with a .22 blank driven spike into the cerebral cortex.

I'm cool with rabbit, though. I've eaten rabbit, have a rabbit skull, and a hat. Plus, I can't stand rabbits when they are living.

There is a difference, I don't pretend that it needs to make sense to anyone else.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
The broccoli screams too.
We just can't hear it.

I have no problem with Tortise shell from old stock.
And...there are other options...
myrtle.jpg

Faux-Tortise by Bruce Evans.
 
I thought that Steven's reasoning was logically consistent.

Of course, he will have a real moral problem if tobacco ever finds itself on the endangered list.:D
 
I recall reading about a huge stockpile of ivory (presumably through natural death of elephants) in Africa since the ban has been in effect. Supposedly, at some point it was to be sold and the proceeds were going to be used to help the poor in the region it came from.

Haven't heard anything more about it lately though?
 
There are also elephants that are legally culled from game reserves, etc. My understanding is that in countries with a good tourist infrastructure and enough means, elephants are plentiful and sometimes have to be eliminated.
 
There are over 600,000 elephants in Africa. In most places hunting is required to manage the herd.

I love elephant ivory but it really isn't quite stable enough for a knife handle.
 
I realize this is an old thread, but I need to find an excellent alternative to real tortoise shell. Is there another material besides kirinite that captures the look or is not as prone to breaking as kirinite?
 
you could ask this question in Shop Talk without resorting to necromancing an 11 year old thread, which is now closed.
 
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