Holster color & care

[tudorbug]

Balder:

Connolly's Hide Food is on Ebay. sold from Germany.

David

[Balder]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for all your inputs, I appreciate it. However, I would think that what's good for leather boots is also good for holsters - granted they have been tanned in the same manner.

Yesterday I gave several of my holsters a light treatment with my rather expensive Kiwi leather lotion ("Kiwi Lederpflege" in German, there is no English text on the jar) that I use with excellent results on my antique leather chairs. The result was very nice on the holsters as well, it remains to be seen for how long. The lotion is rich on lanolin and does not contain silicone.

Balder

[Edward Tinker]

Originally Posted by Balder

... However, I would think that what's good for leather boots is also good for holsters - granted they have been tanned in the same manner.

...

NO, they are different. If you are using them for use in the army, sure, but if you you are trying to preserve them, then DON'T treat them the same.

Boots to be used and preserved from water is a big differnce than for holsters.


Stuff for boots is to be make them SOFTER to walk in and keep the water out, holsters have a different use...

Ed

[Balder]

Originally Posted by Edward Tinker

.....Stuff for boots is to be make them SOFTER to walk in and keep the water out, holsters have a different use...

Ed

Ed,

With all due respect, I have to partly disagree with you. I've been using (and maintaining) leather trekking/hiking boots for almost 40 years now. I also spent ten years as an Army officer, wearing all-leather boots every day. Well, with rubber soles, of course.

In my humble opinion, the purpose of treating the leather in these boots is not to make them softer to walk in, but to preserve them, make them somewhat supple and, most important, to keep the water out.

In the Army during the '80s we were told that liquid silicone was the new space-age miracle cure to make our boots water-proof. In deed it did, but it also made them really soft, to the point where they more or less lost their shape. This is not something you want to walk in for miles, they give no support to your foot. It also turned out that the stitched seams didn't really like the silicone since it more or less dissolved the thread. So - silicone is out.

We used P-38s and P-08s in the Army until the Glock 17 was introduced in the early/mid-80s. We also used the original pre-1945 holsters for them. The recommended treatment for the holsters was black shoe polish. I am in the possession of several of these holsters that must have been exposed to shoe polish for God knows how many times since 1945 - and they still look great. The leather is still very nice and somewhat supple, but it also maintains the "stiffness" and shape that a holster requires. I mention this not to recommend shoe polish as a cure for holsters, but to give some backing to my claim that, in general, what's good for holsters is also good for boots.

I really enjoy the in-depth discussions on this board, where difference in opinion is treated in a civilized way. I hope I haven't opened a can of worms with this response.

Respectfully,

Balder