Rawhide lined plate rig

[DirtyDusty]

Anyone ever line your flat plate rigging with raw hide?  I saw a custom saddle one Facebook that said the plate rigging was rawhide backed. Just wondering what the pros and cons would be.  

[EdOdgers]

Never heard of rawhide being used as a liner for a flat-plate.  I think it's a bad idea.  That large a piece of rawhide isn't going to flex and stretch in unison with the top piece of skirting, thus it is likely carry more than it's share of the tension and start to crack and fail.   When you laminate two pieces of leather together you want them to work together and to do that they need to have similar properties under strain.  I have heard of a small area of rawhide sandwiched between skirting leather to form an "all leather" rig.  I've done that for the rear rig around the cut-in slot for the billet.  The rawhide stiffens the area around the slot or cut-out so that it won't become distorted with use; it's not intended to carry the rig's tension. 

I've occasionally used lighter (9/10 ounce) harness leather for lining flat-plate riggings.  I like the concept (in theory the harness won't dry out and thus may hold up better) but then again, I've never known of a skirting leather liner as the cause for replacement or failure.  Conclusion: skirting is fine, harness is a nice addition if you have it handy. 

Incidentally,  I don't think you want your rig panel and liner to both be heavy skirting.  I split down or select thinner skirting for the liner such that the total thickness of the rig is about 22/23 ounces, same as when plugging skirts.  For example if the rig panel is 13/14, the liner will be 9/10.