English Bridle Smells Like Fish?

[Matt T]

I ordered some Sedgwick bridle shoulders from Abbey England for the first time, and when I opened the package I was overwhelmed with the smell of fish. Is this normal, or do I have a bad batch??

[celticleather]

Fish oil is applied to bridle leather as a part of the currying process. It soaks into the grain of the leather, giving it a greater tensile strength and preventing the surface from cracking.

I've often noticed that some hides smell more strongly than others, and guess this would depend upon the amount of oil used, and possibly the 'freshness' of the oil. Take a look at 4min 20sec of this video. The smell usually fades after a few days in the fresh air.

http://s1132.photobucket.com/albums/m564/celticleather/?action=view&current=Tannery.mp4

[thefanninator]

Cool video. Is there more? Might have to try the egg whites and sugar.

Edited January 29, 2015 by thefanninator

[truenorth]

OK did they say the hide takes 12 months to become a finished piece of leather, was this Andrews tannery? A side must be worth 1000 dollars, bridle leather can't take this long does it?

[Matt T]

Thanks guys, I know fish oil is used during the process; but it was my understanding that it shouldn't smell unless it's gone rancid. I asked Abbey England, and they said that the leather is fine and that nobody has commented that it smells like fish. Well, it is smelling less like fish now that I have it set out for a day, so that's good.

That video is from J & FJ Baker & Co. Ltd. Andrew Parr is the guy in the video. He is the owner, and referred me to someone in the states who distributes his leather for him. It is very expensive; around $300 for a shoulder. So yeah, a thousand bucks for a side sounds about right!

[celticleather]

I buy all my leather from Andrew Parr at Baker's. It's not cheap, but it's a wonderful product to work with! Here's another little photo essay from the tannery in Devon . . .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-14442109