LP08 corduroy holster

[laoshi75]

Hello Gentlemen,

I just received the corduroy holster I recently bought on Ebay.
Very soft leather, no marking or stamp. good condition. a strange holster..


christian

[laoshi75]

p2

[laoshi75]

p3

[LU1900]

..........

[George Anderson]

A very rare artillery holster Pat. Congratulations.

[laoshi75]

Patrice, thank you for adding more pictures of my holster...I had some problems today morning to take photos of this holster and to post them on the Forum (Sorry again Ed. and thank you..). I believe I should either read more carefully the "loading pictures system", or not to post photos any more on our Forum, or stop to drink french Champagne when I wake up on the morning...

PS: the seller sent me these pictures of course. I presume they have been lightened, because the holster is really dark brown.

[mauro]

Chris,
Really nice find. I guess you should be proud of your holster collection.
Amicalement,
Mauro

[laoshi75]

Mauro, thank you. Proud of my little collection ?.. yes. But very envious of
the yours !!

[Navy]

Patrice,

I have its twin.

Tom A

[Imperial Arms]

Hello Christian,

Your holster is definitely made of pigskin, and probably an holster that was issued for a LP-08 rig in 1914 or early 1915. In the early Imperial era, pigskin was considered a luxury and used for making baggage/suitcases for the wealthy. It is difficult to determine whether pigskin is tougher than cow leather, however, when the supply was insufficient for war production, leather workshops switched to cow leather.

You can observe that the Luger Carbine scabbards made in Germany for the DWM factory were made of pigskin.

Congratulations on a rare LP-08 holster.

Albert

[laoshi75]

Albert,

many thanks. But...are you sure this holster is pigskin made ??...

[Ron Wood]

I am not sure it is pigskin. For genuine pigskin, you can see the pores or hair follicles on the inside of the leather. I can't see any evidence of that in the photos.

[lugerholsterrepair]

Christian, Yes congratulations on this very early beautiful Artillery holster! It has some interesting features such as the lifting strap knot made with a steel rivet.

Albert, I respectfully disagree with your leather analysis. This holster is NOT made of pigskin which is vastly inferior to cowhide.

Pigskin is very open grained, all of the hair follicals are arranged in triplets, guite large and can be seen with no problems on articles made with it. As Ron says above!

Pigskin is quite often used as a liner material as it's surface can be very soft when it is thin. Thicker hides become unusually hard & brittle and crack very easily. You see evidence of this on WW2 Luger holsters that have been made with a pigskin hinge. They will invariably be cracked. The Germans were well aware of this inferiority but they had no choice in WW2 You will also notice that most of the parts on a pig Luger holster that experience any stress will be cowhide such as the closure strap and belt loops.
I know leather if I know anything. This holster is still soft and supple. That reason alone tells me it is cowhide but there are several more.

Tom in his post below brings up a very good point that I meant to mention previously but forgot..The top liner in Christians holster that is badly deterioriated is likely pigskin. This may have been what Albert was referring to...

Jerry Burney

[Navy]

Mine is leather, but the bucket has a lovely brown pig skin liner sewn in place.

Tom A

[laoshi75]

Jerry, Yes you are right, the leather is very supple, like a glove.

Tom, I have photos of your holster..it is really beautifull.

May I add the picture of the "young brother" of my Arty corduroy holster..I don't know if there are corduroy Navy holsters..

[Imperial Arms]

Hello Jerry,

Accepting that you are the leather 'chief', if the LP-08 holster is not made of pigskin, what type of leather is it? My European style Carbine scabbard is made of the same 'leather' with the irregular 'grain' in the leather. How does this grain come to exist in the leather if it is from cow leather? I am familiar with the pebble grain pattern applied to some early holsters made of cow leather, and I assume that the 'grain' is a natural feature on this LP-08 holster.

I had changed my mind regarding the Persian LP-08 rigs being made of goat leather to being made of camel leather, so I would welcome your opinion regarding this early LP-08 holster and my Carbine scabbard.

Cheers,
Albert

[lugerholsterrepair]

Albert, I assume that the 'grain' is a natural feature on this LP-08 holster. How does this grain come to exist in the leather if it is from cow leather?

NO...The texture on the Corderoy holster is impressed apon the surface just as it is on pebble grained holsters.

I am unsure of why the Germans or anyone else would impress their corderoy or pebble grain patterns on leather surfaces. It could be decorative which is improbable or it is perhaps the same reason it is on a football, for better grasping? An effort to shed rain water? It is really hard to tell.

Regardless, this IS impressed and not a natural feature of either cowhide or pigskin.

I would like to see your carbine case..Do you have a link to it?

Jerry Burney

[Imperial Arms]

Hello Jerry,

It is possible that the pattern is impressed on the leather and I am curious to know of the technique to obtain the random 'grain/corduroy' pattern. I suppose that this type pattern is applied for better grasping and to some some extent decoration. The leather is definitely thinner and matches closely soft patent leather.

I am including an image of my carbine scabbard and thanks for your knowledge and advise.

Cheers,
Albert

[tenbears]

Although I'm not a expert on pigskin holsters. I think I'm on pigskin gloves. I used to ride motorcycles many years ago. And preferred pig skin gloves due to how they fit, because of the thin soft good fit on my hands.The rare holster posted here in my opinion is not pigskin.

[Navy]

The groves in my corduroy LP-08 holster are not pressed in on the main body. They appear to have been cut in- leather has been removed between individual "lands".

Tom A