Buffalo ( Bison) Leather

[oldtimer]

I have a friend who has a small herd of buffalo here in Sweden and he has plans to slaughter a couple this autumn. He plans to send a couple of hides to the tannery to make veg tan leather.

He asked me if buffalo leather will do for a western saddle, and I have no experience of buffalo so he asked me to pass that question to LW-members and US saddlemakers .

What do you think?

/ Knut

[Tinneal]

The only bison leather I've handled is what is at my local Tandy. It is only a 3/4 oz weight, and extremely soft and supple. Beautiful for bags and such, but Im not sure that it would be thick enough for a saddle... But I suppose it depends who tans it. If you would be taking the hides to a tannery, I'd suggest asking them.

[Mcox]

It depends on the thickness of the leather you typically use for your saddle. I have seen Bison skirting which was 13 oz in the butt and around 7oz in the shoulder. So yes you could make Bison for a saddle, but you have to have enough hides to sort or enough leather to sort for thickness. Also something to consider, bison have terrible cutting yields due to holes and scratches in the leather. If your friend does not mind this and his hides are big enough than yes it should work if you have a tannery willing to do the work.

[douglais]

I've made some medieval shoes and knife sheaths from buffalo leather, and I find it to be too soft , and it stretches a lot, even the 12 oz parts of the hides I've had. Maybe my hides were tanned differently than others, and I've never made saddles, but I'd say that buffalo for saddles might be risky.

Doug

[oldtimer]

I've made some medieval shoes and knife sheaths from buffalo leather, and I find it to be too soft , and it stretches a lot, even the 12 oz parts of the hides I've had. Maybe my hides were tanned differently than others, and I've never made saddles, but I'd say that buffalo for saddles might be risky.

Doug

Thank´s for the info.

We have cancelled the buffalo leather saddle project,and the saddle will be made from cow leather. The buffalo hides will be tanned into buffalo robes. One robe for my coach is part of the deal!

/ Knut

Edited December 17, 2011 by oldtimer

[Suicide]

I am a bit late on this but anyway wanted to stick my 2 cents into bison/bufalo.

I am using a lot these kind of hides.

Usually they are soft, stretcheable, pliable, EXTREMELY durable and easy to work with. Even being thick enough (8-10 oz) it can be sewed on domestic home sewing machines having just walking foot adapter or roller foot and leather needle.

Being conditioned and waterproofed it has nice attractive grainy and shiny surface.

Moccasins, wallets, purses, bags, garment stuff like vests, jackets etc, upholstery, decorative belts etc etc etc.

As for saddles, basically it can be used everywhere where (and IF ) you used to use saddle sheepskins. The first saddle with buffalo made by one friend of mine now is about 10 years old, heavily used almost on the daily basis and still shows no wearing at buffalo's parts.

You just need keep in mind possibility of stretching hence fix a big areas with decorative stitches or glue to avoid moving and stretching.

[TwoMikes]

Usually they are soft, stretcheable, pliable, EXTREMELY durable and easy to work with. Even being thick enough (8-10 oz) it can be sewed on domestic home sewing machines having just walking foot adapter or roller foot and leather needle.

Suicide, For a gun holster, your description implies that 3 oz of buffalo leather pasted to 5-6oz cow hide leather is better than a thick 8-9oz buffalo piece. Is that accurate or can we make holsters out of 8-9 oz Buffalo?

Thanks

[Suicide]

Suicide, For a gun holster, your description implies that 3 oz of buffalo leather pasted to 5-6oz cow hide leather is better than a thick 8-9oz buffalo piece. Is that accurate or can we make holsters out of 8-9 oz Buffalo?

Thanks

Hi TwoMikes,

The major issue with buffalo is what it can't be molded.

If its not an issue for you, then rest is depending on what kind of holster you'd like finally have. From these 2 options mentioned by you, I'd rather going for 2 layers buffalo+cow. The another option is to past a cow into buffalo. For it I'd use 6oz cow split and make outer layer from the 3 oz nice grainy buffalo. Cow gives a stiffness, buffalo - nice grainy texture.

Making holster from just a thick buffalo gives you soft and comfortable item, most likely you even won't feel it beared with no gun in it. But to have it hold the gun securely you need great pattern and fitting (as you can't mold it).

I attached couple of pictures how buffalo holsters may look like, it should give you some ideas.

[TwoMikes]

Kiitos (I think that is Finnish for thank you) Thank you!

I love the look of your holster. It has elements of the old-west holsters such as the subtle swoosh at the trigger guard and the un-molded body with the flat bottom edge. The mag pouch is cool with the spider web hide pattern. The pattern draws your eye in. Very nice.!

I'm going to give Buffalo a try. I used to carry my Glock in a Kydex holster but it was uncomfortable because it was so rigid, especially in a car. A cow and Buffalo combination might make an even more comfortable holster than just cow leather.

A nice thing about an un-molded look is that a non-gun carrier won't "see" a gun at first glace. Usually, the grip of the firearm is hidden from view by the upper arms. So most people will see what they've seen thousands of times before, a cell-phone case. I've seen people carry highly molded holsters and they scream gun. Since I open carry predominately and don't want scare anyone, I try to be a little more discrete and appear to be "normal".

[club49]

I want to make a few wallets and some small cases from 3.5 Bison.. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a whole hide. This will be my first attempt at wallets. Can anyone give me a place that will sell me a half peace. Thank in advance.