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Decided to bump this thread after returning to my local Tandy Store yesterday and checking a few things out more thoroughly. This information may prove useful to you and others who are new to making shooting pouches/bags.
I know when I began making leather items, I was not prepared to buy a half or whole hide of leather. I wanted to try my hand at one or two shooting pouches/bags for myself. The problem when buying smaller amounts of leather, though, is that often you don’t get a piece that is long enough to cut the shoulder strap from, as mentioned before in this thread. I wanted to make sure some information I gave above on buying a separate strip for the shoulder strap from Tandy was still current and perhaps offer some other options.
Since the length of the leather for the shoulder strap is important for a single strap on the pouch/bag, I wanted to reiterate just how important it is to actually measure it on your body and in the clothing you are going to wear. Since we are all so different in how slender or thick we are, how long of body torso we have and how low we want the pouch/bag to lay along the torso; it would be best to work with a strap that is TOO long and then cut it to the size of the person who is going to use it. NOTE: Don’t forget to add 2 inches or slightly more to this measurement for the ends of the strap that you will sew to the pouch/bag. Of course most of us won’t have a leather strap that is too long until we buy it and we won’t know how long will be too long. So if one already has a shooting pouch/bag that fits well, the measurement can be taken from that. If not, a cloth measuring tape from the sewing section will work for rough measuring, but realize you want the uncut strap to be longer ”“ just to be sure it is long enough.
Many of the blank strips Tandy carries are intended to make leather belts and the thickness of that leather is often too thick for a Shot Pouch/Bag. I wanted to look at some lighter weight veg tan leather strips to use for shoulder straps for Shot Pouches/bags. My store no longer hangs them on the wall to feel the thickness and temper as the strips come wrapped in plastic from Tandy now and the ones I looked at don’t mention the thickness/weight of the leather. That was disappointing. Not sure if every store does it that way, but if so, this information may be even more valuable to a new leather worker.
Tandy lists their “Lightweight Cowhide Leather Strips 50" (1.3 m)” as “Cut from 4 to 5 oz (leather).”
These strips would be TOO thick to go along with a pouch/bag made from 3 ”“ 3 ½ Oz. leather. However, the strips that are on the thinner side of this weight/oz. would work well for the thinner 4 ”“ 5 Oz. Single Shoulders mentioned above. I did ask if these came in the longer 60 or 72 inch lengths, but was informed they are no longer available in those lengths. So if you want to use a Single Strap on your pouch and the measurement you need is longer than 50 inches when you add in the 2-3 inches for the ends sewn to the pouch/bag ”“ these strips won’t work for you. https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/lightweight-cowhide-leather-strips-50-1-3-m
Personally, I strongly prefer to make my Shot Pouch/Bag Shoulder Straps out of TWO pieces of leather. That way I can “build in” one strap with a buckle and the other as adjustable strap for when you wear just a single shirt during summer and be able to adjust it longer for heavier clothing in the winter. The above straps are PLENTY long enough to do that, if you cannot cut the straps from the piece of leather you already have. Again, I found that by going through a stack of the Single Shoulders on sale, that I found quite a few that had enough leather for the straps and the body parts of the pouch/bag.
The bad news is that the other “Economy” or “Craftsman” or “Veg Tan” strips that Tandy sells are too thick for shoulder straps for a Shot Pouch/Bag. However, they are still more than eager to custom cut a strap for you out of thinner leather to match the leather you have and as long as they can get it out of a hide. The problem with that, though, is the cost will be a lot higher than the “Lightweight Cowhide Leather Strips” mentioned above, that are often on sale. What MAY happen by paying that extra cost for a custom cut strap, the cost of it and the other leather for your project may go higher than if you used a different piece of leather for your pouch/bag that you could also cut the strap from. (When one is as thrifty or downright cheap as I am, I consider these things.)
Since most of us are not professional leather workers, it is not hard to be confused by the common terms for leather pieces. So I don’t mess up or lose anyone reading this, please look at the link listed below: https://www.tandyleather.com/en/leather-buying-guide.html
Something else to consider is WHERE the leather for the strap is cut from the hide, because that will be very important, especially when you go to the thinner Oz. leather. The best leather for belts and straps is along the top of what was the animal’s back, because it has the least amount of stretch. Normally the least desirable area for belts/straps is from the belly leather, which is on the outer left and right sides of the hide. There is an old joke that if you make a shot pouch strap out of belly leather and you don’t wet and pre-stretch the hide before cutting it, you can wind up with a strap that is initially the right length, but it will stretch down to your knee’s with wear and especially when it gets wet. While that is an exaggeration, it is not off a whole lot from the truth.
There have been times I found “belly leather” in the correct thickness for a shot pouch strap and often being the least desirable portion of the hide, I got them cheap, if not on sale. What I learned to do with that leather was soak it in water and stretch the living daylights out of it along the length and allow it to thoroughly dry, BEFORE I cut straps from it. That actual works pretty well for straps for shot pouches/bags as the weight of the bag is not extremely heavy. It therefore is an option to get longer pieces of leather for shoulder straps. Sometimes you can get a belly piece of leather that is wide enough for the strap and the pieces for the body of the pouch/bag and will be cheaper/on sale as well. When that is the case, I still suggest you wet and stretch it and dry it, then cut the strap first before you cut out the rest of the pieces for the pouch/bag. Just make sure you cut the strap on the side closest to the back of the hide.
Even if you don’t buy belly leather for your straps or craft projects, it is good to know the leather will stretch more the further away it was cut from the center of the back of the hide. So keep that in mind when/if you buy a larger piece of leather like a bend or a half side.
Gus
I know when I began making leather items, I was not prepared to buy a half or whole hide of leather. I wanted to try my hand at one or two shooting pouches/bags for myself. The problem when buying smaller amounts of leather, though, is that often you don’t get a piece that is long enough to cut the shoulder strap from, as mentioned before in this thread. I wanted to make sure some information I gave above on buying a separate strip for the shoulder strap from Tandy was still current and perhaps offer some other options.
Since the length of the leather for the shoulder strap is important for a single strap on the pouch/bag, I wanted to reiterate just how important it is to actually measure it on your body and in the clothing you are going to wear. Since we are all so different in how slender or thick we are, how long of body torso we have and how low we want the pouch/bag to lay along the torso; it would be best to work with a strap that is TOO long and then cut it to the size of the person who is going to use it. NOTE: Don’t forget to add 2 inches or slightly more to this measurement for the ends of the strap that you will sew to the pouch/bag. Of course most of us won’t have a leather strap that is too long until we buy it and we won’t know how long will be too long. So if one already has a shooting pouch/bag that fits well, the measurement can be taken from that. If not, a cloth measuring tape from the sewing section will work for rough measuring, but realize you want the uncut strap to be longer ”“ just to be sure it is long enough.
Many of the blank strips Tandy carries are intended to make leather belts and the thickness of that leather is often too thick for a Shot Pouch/Bag. I wanted to look at some lighter weight veg tan leather strips to use for shoulder straps for Shot Pouches/bags. My store no longer hangs them on the wall to feel the thickness and temper as the strips come wrapped in plastic from Tandy now and the ones I looked at don’t mention the thickness/weight of the leather. That was disappointing. Not sure if every store does it that way, but if so, this information may be even more valuable to a new leather worker.
Tandy lists their “Lightweight Cowhide Leather Strips 50" (1.3 m)” as “Cut from 4 to 5 oz (leather).”
These strips would be TOO thick to go along with a pouch/bag made from 3 ”“ 3 ½ Oz. leather. However, the strips that are on the thinner side of this weight/oz. would work well for the thinner 4 ”“ 5 Oz. Single Shoulders mentioned above. I did ask if these came in the longer 60 or 72 inch lengths, but was informed they are no longer available in those lengths. So if you want to use a Single Strap on your pouch and the measurement you need is longer than 50 inches when you add in the 2-3 inches for the ends sewn to the pouch/bag ”“ these strips won’t work for you. https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/lightweight-cowhide-leather-strips-50-1-3-m
Personally, I strongly prefer to make my Shot Pouch/Bag Shoulder Straps out of TWO pieces of leather. That way I can “build in” one strap with a buckle and the other as adjustable strap for when you wear just a single shirt during summer and be able to adjust it longer for heavier clothing in the winter. The above straps are PLENTY long enough to do that, if you cannot cut the straps from the piece of leather you already have. Again, I found that by going through a stack of the Single Shoulders on sale, that I found quite a few that had enough leather for the straps and the body parts of the pouch/bag.
The bad news is that the other “Economy” or “Craftsman” or “Veg Tan” strips that Tandy sells are too thick for shoulder straps for a Shot Pouch/Bag. However, they are still more than eager to custom cut a strap for you out of thinner leather to match the leather you have and as long as they can get it out of a hide. The problem with that, though, is the cost will be a lot higher than the “Lightweight Cowhide Leather Strips” mentioned above, that are often on sale. What MAY happen by paying that extra cost for a custom cut strap, the cost of it and the other leather for your project may go higher than if you used a different piece of leather for your pouch/bag that you could also cut the strap from. (When one is as thrifty or downright cheap as I am, I consider these things.)
Since most of us are not professional leather workers, it is not hard to be confused by the common terms for leather pieces. So I don’t mess up or lose anyone reading this, please look at the link listed below: https://www.tandyleather.com/en/leather-buying-guide.html
Something else to consider is WHERE the leather for the strap is cut from the hide, because that will be very important, especially when you go to the thinner Oz. leather. The best leather for belts and straps is along the top of what was the animal’s back, because it has the least amount of stretch. Normally the least desirable area for belts/straps is from the belly leather, which is on the outer left and right sides of the hide. There is an old joke that if you make a shot pouch strap out of belly leather and you don’t wet and pre-stretch the hide before cutting it, you can wind up with a strap that is initially the right length, but it will stretch down to your knee’s with wear and especially when it gets wet. While that is an exaggeration, it is not off a whole lot from the truth.
There have been times I found “belly leather” in the correct thickness for a shot pouch strap and often being the least desirable portion of the hide, I got them cheap, if not on sale. What I learned to do with that leather was soak it in water and stretch the living daylights out of it along the length and allow it to thoroughly dry, BEFORE I cut straps from it. That actual works pretty well for straps for shot pouches/bags as the weight of the bag is not extremely heavy. It therefore is an option to get longer pieces of leather for shoulder straps. Sometimes you can get a belly piece of leather that is wide enough for the strap and the pieces for the body of the pouch/bag and will be cheaper/on sale as well. When that is the case, I still suggest you wet and stretch it and dry it, then cut the strap first before you cut out the rest of the pieces for the pouch/bag. Just make sure you cut the strap on the side closest to the back of the hide.
Even if you don’t buy belly leather for your straps or craft projects, it is good to know the leather will stretch more the further away it was cut from the center of the back of the hide. So keep that in mind when/if you buy a larger piece of leather like a bend or a half side.
Gus
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