holsters. cowhide or horsehide?

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The question I'm asked most often these days by customers wanting to order gunleather is: "Should I have cowhide or horsehide?" This is hardly surprising. It's difficult to pick up a publication these days that doesn't contain an article by some expert or other telling us how wonderful horsehide is, how superior it is to cowhide, or how anyone worth his salt shouldn't be seen dead (no pun intended!) with his sidearm in anything but a horsehide holster. Strong and stirring words, I must admit, but is there any evidence to back them up? What is the truth? Is horsehide any better than cowhide or is it all just a load of old baloney? Let's find out! I will assume the role of devil's advocate on your behalf and together we'll examine the facts and see if we can arrive at some sort of constructive and logical conclusion that will put an end to this argument once and for all.

In order to properly understand the situation we first need to have a nodding acquaintance with the two types of tanning that all leather, including horsehide and cowhide, are subjected to, namely chrome tanning and vegetable tanning. The easiest way for a layman to differentiate between the two is to take the example of a pair of all-leather shoes. The uppers of these will be chrome tanned, while the soles will be vegetable tanned. Chrome tanned leather is soft and pliable, while vegetable tanned leather, though pliable initially, may be wet-blocked to a particular shape and, once dry, will retain that shape; which makes it eminently suitable for the manufacture of holsters! With that little bit of information under our belts, let us now examine, in turn, the two materials in question.

First, the case for cowhide. A cowhide is normally divided into five segments, as shown in the illustration above. The two bends possess high tensile properties and are normally reserved for use in the production of belts, stirrup leathers and other applications where this particular attribute is called for. The bellies are irregular and spongy, of poor quality, and are normally reserved for linings and other second-line uses. The portion best suited to the manufacture of holsters is the shoulder, which starts from roughly behind the animal's head and extends aft about a third of the length down the animal's back, then left and right to around the top of the forelegs. Cowhides, therefore shoulders, are plentiful -- we eat a lot of beef -- readily available and, though not cheap, are reasonably priced. They are close-grained, supple in texture and easy to work with. A holster made from a cowhide shoulder may be wet blocked, then hand boned and burnished to provide an infinite degree of detail. When dry, it becomes rigid, holding the shape it has assumed indefinitely. For this reason, cowhide holsters are not only functional and hard wearing but, in the hands of a knowledgeable craftsman, can also be visually appealing. The disadvantages of cowhide? None that I can think of. There was a time when I would reluctantly have agreed with those who said that it was less durable than horsehide, but having worked with both materials for some years now, I can state quite categorically that, in my opinion and based on my experience, that just ain't so!

Now the case for horsehide. Horsehide is not as readily available as cowhide � mainly, I suppose, because we don't eat too many horses. The French and the Belgians, however, do manage to chew up quite a few, so the skins are shipped over from Continental Europe to the US for tanning. Why aren't the skins tanned in Europe? I've never quite puzzled that one out. Most continental tanners I've quizzed on the subject have acted surprised and said there's never been a demand for them. Go figure!

A horsehide is divided into segments roughly along the lines of a cowhide. However, chrome tanned horsehide is extremely hard-wearing. Remember the old war-movies and the long leather coats the Nazi SS officers used to swan about in? Well, most of the real ones were made of chrome-tanned horsehide, which is probably why you'll find they're still as good as new -- if ever you manage to lay your hands on one! Because of this, the shoulders and bends are chrome tanned for use in the garment industry. They are highly sought after and, being in short supply, can command a prohibitive premium price! So what does that leave for vegetable tanning? Sadly, just the strips that are part of the rear, or the croup; segments that are, incidentally, not the most desirable parts of the horse's skin.

Now vegetable tanned horsehide is extremely firm-grained, dense and oily, which doesn't help when it comes to the process of wet-blocking. It needs to be immersed for ten times longer than cowhide to allow the water to penetrate fully and, once blocked, is not as rigid nor does it retain its shape as well as cowhide when dry. Some manufacturers have attempted to solve this problem by having the horsehide strips hard-rolled at the tannery, a process which involves wetting the leather, then passing it through stainless steel rollers under a pressure of some thirty-odd tons. This compacts the leather and renders it rigid -- so rigid, in fact, that it acquires the nature and consistency of plywood. In this state, it is an absolute swine to work with! It is hard to cut, harder to sew, and makes anything but the most rudimentary process of wet-blocking virtually impossible. This is patently obvious from the many holsters made from hard-rolled horsehide which may be seen just about everywhere, and which give the impression of having been blocked only in passing -- almost, one might say, as an afterthought and with absolutely no attention to detail.

Why, you may think, this obsession with rigidity? Well, with any good covert-carry holster, the twin elements of weapon retention and optimum concealment must blend together perfectly in exact, long-term, gun-to-leather fit. This also helps to minimise holster wear on a weapon by eliminating any extraneous movement of that weapon in the holster. All this may only be achieved if the holster is blocked to the precise dimensions of the handgun it is designed to carry, is rendered rigid or stiff by the blocking process, and then retains that shape indefinitely once dry. This is the true benchmark of a quality holster. Having a handgun flop about in a holster because it fails to retain its shape is not something to aim for.

I use ordinary horsehide � not the hard-rolled variety � and have successfully developed a technique for blocking it to provide the detailed molding and visual appeal that one normally associates only with cowhide. However, even though I use a pressure of almost twenty-five tons in the process, I must reluctantly admit that the outcome leaves a lot to be desired in the way of rigidity. So it would appear that with horsehide, you have the choice of two options: either you plump for a holster made from the ordinary leather that fits beautifully, performs well and looks good, but which lacks a satisfactory degree of rigidity, or you settle for one that's made from hard-rolled hide which fits well, is rigid as a board, but is ugly as sin and looks as if it's been blocked by someone wearing boxing-gloves!

What can we say in favour of horsehide? Price-wise it's more or less on a par with cowhide, though many manufacturers, for reasons best known to themselves, insist on charging a hefty additional premium. Don't pay it! From the supply point of view it may not be as plentiful as cowhide, but there's still enough of it to go around. Is it more durable than cowhide? My experience shows that it isn't. So what can we say about horsehide that we can't say about cowhide? Well, nothing really. On the other hand, we can say that cowhide holds its shape a lot better than horsehide -- an important asset when discussing concealment holsters.

So where did this rumour about the supposed superiority of horsehide originate? Was it a spin-off from the acknowledged durability of chrome tanned equine skins? Or from the legendary shell cordovan, the segment of muscle that lies below the bend, which costs an arm and both legs to buy, when you can buy it -- which is almost never! Who knows? I have heard many theories on the subject. The most plausible one to date says that it originated with a certain holster-maker who, lacking any appreciable talent for design or execution and needing to endow his product-line with an "edge" it was never in any danger of otherwise acquiring, decided to overcome this hurdle by switching his entire production to vegetable tanned horsehide. He then informed certain gun-gurus and gentlemen of the press that this action was prompted, didn't they know, because of its obvious superiority in every way to cowhide; and they, acknowledged experts to the last man, agreed wholeheartedly, swallowed the story hook, line and blinkers*, and the rest, as they say, is history! Well, it's as viable as any other story I've ever heard!
*Blinkers, in Britain, are leather sidepieces attached to a horse's bridle to inhibit lateral vision. I believe they are called "blinders" in the US -- but "hook, line and blinders" doesn't really scan, does it?!

So there you have it folks: the facts on the relative merits of cowhide and horsehide. As far as production goes, I remain 100% neutral because I'm in a position to supply equipment made up from either one or the other. If, however, you want my personal advice, then as a traditionalist and an artisan who takes immense pride in his work, I would have no hesitation in recommending cowhide every time!