Best Leather Choice for a Wallet?

Pdawg · Feb 5, 2017

Pdawg said:
Veg tanned cowhide.....like someone mentioned baker's is fantastic, but most of the people who make such wallets are in the UK. I own pretty much all kind of leathers and I find the baker's is best of the lot. But to your point, cowhide is not any worse than other leathers.

I think most of the mall wallets are made out of genuine bonded leather. It doesn't cost that much more to get a custom job depending on your leather choices.

Sheepdog149 · Feb 11, 2017

There are a lot of good brands out there. It all depends how much you're willing to spend...

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Camaro1967 · Feb 17, 2017

Thanks all for the feedback.

I opted for an elephant long wallet from Anvil Customs. I decided to get what looked good to me, regardless of cost or durability.

I suspect I could have spent less on a cowhide and been happy, too, but a lot of the styles and features I came across didn't pique my interest much. And I'd rather pay more and be happier with the end result.

Anyways, one of the selling points for me was that Anvil Customs offers a limited lifetime warranty, so it's worth checking out if anyone is in the market for a wallet, belt, or any other leather item.

alanfgag · Feb 21, 2017

From my experience with small leather goods, the most durable material you will find is shark. Hands down. I learned of Mitchell Leather in Wisconsin from another long time FL member. I have two of their minimalist money clip wallets and love them. Not for everyone (nor is sharkskin for everyone) - I carry a handful of credit cards and a few large bills for those few instances when I can't use a credit card. The wallet is very thin and fits in a front pocket without any bulge. The many other less used store cards and membership cards and other stuff that makes seams bulge I keep in another wallet that I carry in my backpack or briefcase. You might try something like this for dress wear and see if you could live with a tightly curated set of contents on a daily basis.

Shark is on the right. It was a limited edition, but it seems they still have some sharkskin available. I bought a British made organizer a few decades back made from sharkskin. I've carried it every day and it looks unchanged from the day I got it. The wallet on the left is big grain bison leather. It is quite nice too.

alanfgag · Feb 21, 2017

3 bills. 3 credit cards, one museum membership card (gets me in to a bunch of places), one health insurance card, one driver's license. I can tuck a few receipts in there if needed.

Bob Roberts · Mar 13, 2017

My leather keeps well. Stitching always goes first.

darklorder66 · Mar 14, 2017

I've been using various styles of Horween shell cordovan wallets for over a decade. They are downright indestructible. Ashland leather does some great work.

Bob Roberts · Mar 14, 2017

Had no choice. Needed to buy this. Ebay.The Bridges wallet by il Ponte Pelletiere. Made in Italy.

Quilted skin, possibly alligator/crocodile. Have no idea how sturdy it will be or how old it is. Any info would be appreciated.

Sheepdog149 · Jan 22, 2018

One of my favorite leathers for wallets & high wear gear is "elephant hide." I have wallets and a gunbelt rig made from elephant hide.

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shadowrider · Jan 22, 2018

Sheepdog149 said:
One of my favorite leathers for wallets & high wear gear is "elephant hide." I have wallets and a gunbelt rig made from elephant hide.

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I have a pair of gloves that belonged to my grandfather which I'd always been told were elephant hide.
A while back, I took them to a leather shop to see if they could be stretched to fit my bigger sized hands (they couldn't): after inspecting them, they told me they weren't actually elephant hide, but rather some other beast's (which I can't recall), commonly called "elephant hide" back then over here for some reason. That was quite a let-down!

And while I'm at it, these are the last two wallets I bought, made with laminated comic book pages (art by John Romita Jr., in case you're wondering) and with recycled sailcloth respectively:

Sheepdog149 · Jan 22, 2018

shadowrider said:
I have a pair of gloves that belonged to my grandfather which I'd always been told were elephant hide.
A while back, I took them to a leather shop to see if they could be stretched to fit my bigger sized hands (they couldn't): after inspecting them, they told me they weren't actually elephant hide, but rather some other beast's (which I can't recall), commonly called "elephant hide" back then over here for some reason. That was quite a let-down!

And while I'm at it, these are the last two wallets I bought, made with laminated comic book pages (art by John Romita Jr., in case you're wondering) and with recycled sailcloth respectively:
View attachment 103660 View attachment 103661

Those are very cool!

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shadowrider · Jan 22, 2018

Sheepdog149 said:
Those are very cool!

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Thanks! I used to make comic book wallets similar to that one, by cutting up old comics, folding them and taping them. It was just for fun and they would last a couple of weeks before getting destroyed.
I bought the pictured one to see if a laminated, stitched one can be actually serviceable.

Sheepdog149 · Jan 22, 2018

shadowrider said:
Thanks! I used to make comic book wallets similar to that one, by cutting up old comics, folding them and taping them. It was just for fun and they would last a couple of weeks before getting destroyed.
I bought the pictured one to see if a laminated, stitched one can be actually serviceable.

Very cool. Ya, I ran across a gentleman that makes some cool leather wallets & coin pouches from old baseball gloves. I picked up a couple of his creations.

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RJR · Jan 22, 2018

Hard to argue with shark for durability,that said I've been waiting for this 12 year old

elephant to wear a little so I could justify another shark.

Sheepdog149 · Jan 22, 2018

RJR said:
Hard to argue with shark for durability,that said I've been waiting for this 12 year old View attachment 103710
elephant to wear a little so I could justify another shark.

Nice!!!

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Sheepdog149 · Jan 22, 2018

Here's one of my elephant wallets amongst other knick-knacks

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Sheepdog149 · Jan 22, 2018

Here's the coin pouch made from an old baseball glove:

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shadowrider · Jan 23, 2018

Sheepdog149 said:
Here's one of my elephant wallets amongst other knick-knacks

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Man, this stuff's almost pornography!

Sheepdog149 · Jan 23, 2018

shadowrider said:
Man, this stuff's almost pornography!

[emoji24]

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Edward · Jan 23, 2018

Feraud said:
If security is an issue there is always the trucker/biker option.

I carried two of these for years, must have been from twenty to closing in on thirty. Still have them somewhere; mine were a hefty black cowhide with chrome chains. One I kept cash in, the other my cards. Never worked so well with a suit, though.... Eventually I wanted something classier, or at least a bit more subtle, and so I switched to

One of the most versatile wallets I've ever owned, and my first small one, was one I bought as a cheapo in a Beijing market to see me through a holiday. Ten years later, it's still my primary wallet when I'm in China; if I could find someone to do me a high end copy, it would be fantastic. It's a standard money clip in the middle. On the outside of one side, there's a stud-fastening pocket for coins (I mostly keep my expenses receipts in it), on the other side, a press-stud fastening flap that opens to allow space for four or six cards. Superb little thing; fully stuffed it's no bigger than a cassette tape (if you're a non-hipster under forty reading this, you might have to google 'cassette tape'

).

shadowrider said:
Thanks! I used to make comic book wallets similar to that one, by cutting up old comics, folding them and taping them. It was just for fun and they would last a couple of weeks before getting destroyed.
I bought the pictured one to see if a laminated, stitched one can be actually serviceable.

Interesting what people can use this way. I bought my brother a wallet made of duct tape years ago; he got quite a few years out of it before it started to get tatty.

Sheepdog149 said:
Very cool. Ya, I ran across a gentleman that makes some cool leather wallets & coin pouches from old baseball gloves. I picked up a couple of his creations.

Cool idea. They online? I only started using a coin pouch a few months ago. For years, I just kept my coins in my pocket because I'd had one too many wallets worn out by coins rubbing the dividing sections from the inside, but a simple, hefty leather coin purse makes a huge difference in convenience - especially when travelling and switching between currencies.

Sheepdog149 said:
Here's one of my elephant wallets amongst other knick-knacks

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That brass lighter is very cool. I'm always looking out for something along those lines that would work for the pipe.

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