A World Without Leather

There are many synthetic products out in the market these days, that seem to be putting leather on the back-burner. There are some good reasons for this, as some items, such as holsters, may be better in kydex or other synthetic material. Some of the benefits are undeniable. 

However, some negative statements that are made about leather, mostly from competitors who are trying to sell their "better" product, are just not accurate. For example, I just saw a kydex holster website saying that leather holsters "always collapse closed when you draw the gun and you have to hold it open with the other hand to re-holster", and "leather is extremely difficult to maintain", and "leather is outdated". These type of statements are simply not true.

I'd like you to use your imagination.....imagine a world where leather never existed. (Visualize this a moment, before reading the rest of the article.)

There is so much leather around us. The history and use of leather, is as old as mankind. I would argue that without leather, people may have not even survived or had a difficult time surviving this long, and you would not be reading this.

 

* Primitive people use leather to clothe themselves.....even to this day!  Without those hides, people could have easily frozen to death. 

* Leather was and still is used in weapon making and accessories to go with those weapons.......slings (David and Goliath), bow scabbards, sword and knife sheaths, pistol holsters, rifle slings, etc. (Could you imagine a western movie with no leather holsters?!?! )

*Leather has always been used in tack, for riding and working with animals.

We use leather to keep our pants up, to cover furniture, to keep our money in, to make jewelry, for book covers, shoes and boots, gloves, protective clothing, and so many other things that I don't have the time to list them all !! 

 One great thing about hand crafting leather items, with 200+ year old traditional methods as I do, from a self reliance and preparedness standpoint, is that there is not much that can completely halt this work. It can continue with grid-down, economic collapse, civil unrest, etc.. As long as I can still obtain hides, I could tan them myself, produce leather, and make items that other people need.....not the case for the mass produced, just-in-time, synthetic market!

So, yes there are some things that just do certain jobs better than leather in some way or another. There are also things that leather does better. (Besides, you just cant beat the look, smell, and feel of a good leather product.) But, a world without leather would definitely be a very different one!