Dark Kudu has been a very popular leather over the last 12 months, but I need to let everyone know that it’s quickly running out and I can’t find any more!
Recently I posted here about a trip I took to visit various leather wholesalers and tanneries around the UK. There were two aspects to taking the trip – I wanted to find some new and interesting leathers that I could make available, but I also wanted to replenish some of the current leathers that I am running short of. Replenishing isn’t always as easy as you would imagine because I often buy leathers that are not mass produced, and so it sometimes happens that try as I might I can’t find any more when I start to run short.
Unfortunately this has been the case with Dark Kudu. The skins I bought last year, although they were produced by the same tannery as the African Kudu leather I use, they were part of a small batch the tannery produced using some hides that were deemed too badly marked for their African Kudu leather. The tanning was done in the same way as the African Kudu, but with these skins they added a dying stage, resulting in a leather with a warm brown tone to them rather than the neutral tone the African Kudu skins have. When I found them last year there were only 3 skins available, which I bought expecting them to last me a couple of years, but demand for this leather has been far higher than I anticipated and unfortunately there is no more to be found.
The Dark Kudu has been very successful – partly down to how soft and pliable the leather is, but also because it is so scarred. The African Kudu leather I use is a scarred leather, but the scarring is more subtle. With the Dark Kudu, the tannery took the most scarred hides only, and the addition of the dying to the tanning process accentuated the marking, resulting in a leather that can only be described as “gnarly”. I would have loved to find some more, even if only a couple of skins hidden away, and I spent a lot of time trying to find some, but it just isn’t available. Unfortunately therefore, when the current stock is exhausted it will be removed from my store pages and will no longer be available.
Because Dark Kudu has been so popular I thought it was important to give everyone this news. So if you have been contemplating a Dark Kudu strap please don’t wait much longer – it’s likely it will be available until the end of the summer, but of course that’s not guaranteed (it all depends on demand as I only have enough for so many straps now). Obviously, as soon as the last strap is ordered I will remove it from the Store, so when you come to order if Dark Kudu is shown in the Store you can be sure it is still available. If you want something super gnarly then Dark Kudu is one I would highly recommend.
