The obvious answer to this question is
no:
The quality and type of the leather
determines the price.
To really understand the difference
between the quality and types of
leather, you have to know what the
different types and qualities that are
available, the main manufacturing
purpose for that type of leather, and
the cost for those products. The
main types of leather used in
manufacturing of Motorcycle Chaps are
Split leather, Premium leather, Naked
leather, and Patchwork leather. We
will discuss each different type of
leather in a different article:
Part 1 - Split Cowhide, Part 2 - Premium
Leather, Part 3 - Naked Leather, Part 4
- Patchwork Leather.
PATCHWORK LEATHER is a
form of leather that is made when you
put many random pieces of leather
together in sort of a jigsaw puzzle
method. Each of the pieces are
glued together then sewn together by a
method called cross stitching.
Different companies use different
standards in the manufacture of
patchwork leather, but most employ the
all leather method. This means
that you may get a piece of lamb skin
next to a piece of pig skin, that is
next to a piece of cowhide and so on.
There is one company that only used lamb
skin in there process, and we will talk
about them later.
PATCHWORK LEATHER
CHAPS are the cheapest style of leather
chaps that can be made. PATCHWORK
LEATHER CHAPS go by many names.
The most popular names on Ebay®
seem to be Iron Buffalo,
Stone Leather Chaps from Rebel Ryder,
Giovanni
Navarre™ "Italian Stone Design" Genuine
Buffalo Leather, and Diamond Plate Rock
Design Genuine Buffalo Leather. I
can sit here and try to convince you of
the quality of what these chaps are, but
I think the actual names tell you
everything. Iron, Diamond, Rebel,
Stone design, It seems that the people
welling these chaps are wanting to try
to convince you of how solid they are,
when in fact they are made of hundreds
of tiny pieces.
These PATCHWORK
LEATHER CHAPS are soft and flexible.
And, to their credit, they do use a
polyester lining in them. But,
don't think for a minute that they are
as sturdy or durable as a real pair of
leather chaps. They are not.
If you go down on your bike wearing
these, you will wish you had a real pair
of leather chaps. I know this for
a fact, I have seen it in my store more
then once. I have sold many, many
pair of real leather chaps to people who
USED to have PATCHWORK LEATHER CHAPS.
If you don't believe me, try to rip one
of the legs. Or better yet,
unstitch part of the lining and see what
is between the lining and the leather.
Most of the PATCHWORK LEATHER CHAPS
manufacturers have to put a layer of
foam rubber padding between the leather
and the lining to even make them
windproof. The only way I know of
to make them water resistant is to mink
oil the whole thing, and then go back
over the stitching with seam sealer made
for canvass tents. Good luck and
have fun.
Now, there are uses
for PATCHWORK LEATHER. We have
sold PATCHWORK LEATHER vests in the past
and we still do sell the PATCHWORK
LEATHER bags. The
PATCHWORK LEATHER
bags that we sell are the all
lamb skin type. They are made well
last a very long time and use premium
hardware (zippers, snaps, etc). we
have sold these bags for the past 10
years or so and have only had 3
defective returns in that amount of
time. PATCHWORK LEATHER can be used
effectively in the manufacture of of
some leather products. But
in my opinion, PATCHWORK LEATHER
is just not the most appropriate leather
for use in motorcycle chaps.
For these and other
reasons, we do not and will not sell
PATCHWORK LEATHER CHAPS. As you
have seen though,
Lots of other companies are willing to
sell them. I am sure that you can
find someone to sell them to you for
$19.99 or even less. But, If you
are willing to spend just a little more,
you can get a real pair of
premium top grain cowhide chaps
from us.
RealBikers.com is owned and operated
by Wholesale Direct,
The Ozark Leather Shop, located at
1503 s. 3rd Street, Ozark Missouri
65721. So call us
toll free Monday - Saturday 10am - 6pm
Central Time at 877-735-1377 and we can
get started on your custom patches
today. |