Love the scuds and really like the red (orange?) ones. Have you ever tried just palmer hackle for the body then over-lay with the back material? It doesn't seem to get ragged as quick, but then again, sometimes the more ragged the better. Those will catch some fish for sure!

For shellbacks, I used pheasent and turkey for a long time, but have switched to using raffia - works well and lots of color choices.