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Hello. I was wondering which leather is the toughest and can/will take the most abuse before wearing out? I still have cowhide that my grandfather had(just needs some new stitching).


Christopher

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A 9mm may expand...but a 45 will never shrink..don't know who to quote

Christopher,
Good 'ole quality cowhide is tough to beat if the holster is well constructed and properly cared for; and you don't want to pay a premium. The cowhide vs. horsehide debate will fill an entire post and if you ask ten different holstermakers you may get ten different answers. Hard-rolled horsehide is denser and thinner, less porous, and has greater tensile strength (less stretch/elasticity) than cow. I personally see no advantage to horsehide over quality cowhide for the actual holster body. I do use horsehide exclusively for the belt straps on my In-Cognito IWB. Both cow and horse will scuff/scratch if the wearer is rough on them.

As for exotics, elephant and shark-skin are very durable; both being very scratch and scuff resistant. I made my personal sharkskin belt over 6 years ago and it still shows no signs of wear on the surface. Stingray is covered with tiny hardened "beads", each of which is actually a calcium deposit (think fingernail here). It is like iron, very difficult to cut and will not scratch or burn. The only wear it may show in time is the dye wearing off of the surface beads making them white. It is a total pain to work with.

Keep in mind that all of the exotic hides are rather thin (2-4 oz.) while holster leather is generally 6-9 oz. depending on the maker and whether it's OWB or IWB. Therefore one cannot make a holster out of an exotic hide only. It is always laminated on top of a foundation leather; which I guess brings us back to the cow vs. horse debate. So all exotic holsters are cow or horsehide holsters covered with something else anyway.

The high price of exotics is based on their availability and difficulty to work with. On some exotics, such as alligator, I cannot even quote a price (unless I have some on hand) until I contact my suppliers and get "market price". The square foot price flucuates regularly like lobster at a fine restaraunt. Ostrich is high priced because there is a lot of waste. Priced by the sqaure foot and only sold in entire hides, only about 60% of the hide is the usable pocked-marked full-quill ostrich. The other 40%, though it does have a unique texture and grain, is basically scrap. It cannot be sold as ostrich and priced at a premium because when someone pays for ostrich they expect full-quill. (I use the scrap portion for contrasting mouthbands for customers who want such and don't charge any additional over standard cowhide price. It still looks cool and why waste it). The price of sharkskin and stingray (especially stingray) took quite a jump recently due to the Tsunami. Depending on the holster style and amount of shark used, I generally charge 2.5 x the standard cowhide holster price for full-coverage shark. Some other exotics, such as gator or elephant, can be 6 -8 x the standard holster price. The short answer to your question: this makes shark the most durable and least expensive of the exotics.

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http://www.garritysgunleather.com
"He who works with his hands is a labourer, he who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman, he who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist."
(St Francis of Assisi)

Mark - thanks very much for the tutorial on exotic materials. I was one email too late on getting your "Good Cause" In-Cognito IWB!

I discovered that I prefer good cowhide to horsehide for IWB wear as a function of comfort with my .45s, although I do have a Kramer horsehide pocket holster for my 642. After five years of fairly frequent wear, the pocket holster is still stiff as Kydex.

When I ordered a PCH from Lou Alessi (in cordovan with matching belt), we agreed it would sport brown shark belt loops as a nice dressy touch. Can't wait to see it!

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NRA Endowment Member

I may be wrong but maybe thinner exotic is commercial not necessarily as removed from the animal? What about customer furnished leather?

IIRC Don Hume did a Border Patrol rig for Bill Jordan from an elephant taken by Mr. Jordan and used the ears to get something thinner than the bulk of the hide?

I can imagine myself furnishing American Bison as a conversation piece for a cowboy rig and of course much of that is a real belting leather (how many have actually laced belts for machine drives?)

After reading Chic Gaylord long ago I thought about furnishing my own shark (then less common or at least so I thought) for a deluxe rig but today I'm happy with horsehide and loops that match rather than contrast - barbecue being an obvious exception.

Are there any true exotics - Musk Ox say to pull one from the air - that might make a superior belt or holster?

Mr. Myers,
I haven't heard of anyone using anything but cow or horse for actual holster leather. One would naturally assume that a large mammal like elephant or cape buffalo would produce leather thicker and tougher than cow, but all the elephant and cape buffalo I've worked with and seen has been thin 2-4 oz. hides. This is true with the other exotics as well. This is because the commercial exotics are primarily marketed toward the shoe and luggage manufactuers who need the hides thin. And cow is so plentiful and been in use for so long that I guess it wouldn't be cost effective for any tannery to try marketing a thicker leather from an exotic animal. I have a good customer who is a big game hunter and have made holsters, rifle slings, and knife sheaths for him from hides he has supplied from hunts (in cape buffalo and hippo) and these were tanned and skived to about 3-4 oz. as well.

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http://www.garritysgunleather.com
"He who works with his hands is a labourer, he who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman, he who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist."
(St Francis of Assisi)

Matter of fact, I had tanneries in both Cameroun and Morocco (the latter providing all sorts of fine leather products for major logos in Europe and the US) tell me they couldn't tan a red forest buffalo hide because it was too thick. And I had the connections at both places so that it would have been done had they known how.

When I had a stateside tannery who supposedly did a lot of work for returning tourist hunters from Africa take that hide and several others with the intent of having the buffalo vegetable tanned like skirting leather to make saddle scabbards and gun cases, they ended up making "a mistake" and cranked out their usual garment leather. Just destroyed some lovely hides.

No one seems to be set up for handling the really durable hides like buffalo and elephant or giraffe which is a perennial local favourite for sandals for the tribals. If they could manage it at full weight, it would surely be durable and, I'm sure, a lot of work for the leather craftsman. Too bad. Would think it would make some lovely, practical holster and belt rigs and gun cases. Mebbe a bit too heavy for saddle scabbards. Also, the tanneries don't want to vegetable tan it unless you really insist, and if it's used for weapons, the chrome tanned leather is deadly on the finish of fine weapon.

Most folks who've worked with elephant, for example, who use the natural weight rather than paring it down to cover boots and for garments, use the ears since it's more manageable, but then it's not suitable for weapons related use except as a covering as everyone does now.

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And unfortunately, in the final result it does not matter how brave a man is, but how closely he can hold.

fm SEW, THE LAND OF FOOTPRINTS

We used to be able to get African Water Buffalo hides that were veg tanned, and looked a lot like elephant on the surface. Very elegant!

These hides were 8 to 9 ounce weight, and perfect for belts, and holsters. The leather dyed, and molded the same way as cow, and was very durable, and somewhat stiffer than cowhide after drying.

The Tannery that made this leather was in the Boston area, and went out of business back in the 90's, and I haven't been able to locate any of that leather since. They were one of the sole tanners (shoe soles) for the shoe industry, which was at that time very prominent in the New England area.

I still see some of the holsters we made back in the 80's, and 90's that a few of the local cops are still using, and that leather still looks great.
I just refinished a belt for one of my customers. It looked like new with a re-dye, and finish.
Lou

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Alessi Holsters, Inc.
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