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Shoe leather options

bengal-stripe

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Originally Posted by tommib
Would you not feel like a murderer wearing an elephant?
Elephants are used as beasts of burden in large parts of Asia. After many years of work, they must die from old age.

Just imagine, how many shoes you get from an elephant hide.
 

Teacher

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Originally Posted by bengal-stripe
Elephants are used as beasts of burden in large parts of Asia. After many years of work, they must die from old age.

Just imagine, how many shoes you get from an elephant hide.


Yes. There's a difference between hunting wild elephants and using one that was born, raised, and died in captivity. It's just like using the hides from beef cattle.
 

JLibourel

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I have a couple of pairs of H. Trask shoes in American bison hide that have held up very well. Asian water buffalo is or was used for cowboy boots to some extent. I'm not sure how suitable it is for dress shoes.

I have never owned a pair of sharkskin shoes, but A-E offered them until fairly recently. I have many belts and holsters made of sharkskin. The stuff is all but indestructible. It has a wrinkled, nubby surface that may take some getting used to, but I bet it would trounce shell cordovan when it came to long-term durability.

I had a couple of pairs of sea turtle shoes many years ago. I felt guilty about it then. I wouldn't own them today.

Elephants are a somewhat different proposition. They are still locally abundant in many parts of Africa, where they exist in the hundreds of thousands and maybe the millions. When they outstrip their habitat, they must be controlled, i.e., culled. In such circumstances, I think it is much better to utilize the ivory and hides and use the proceeds both for wildlife conservation and to improve the lot of the natives in these regions.
 

chicbicyclist

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I still find it hard to believe that elephant leather is "old burden animals that died". You gotta factor in that with age, scars develop, the hides tend to stiffen and other imperfections appear. I would be very wary of such garments if the manufacturer never explicitly said where the hide came from.
 

skalogre

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Considering the fact that sharks and rays are endangered I cannot get myself to buy anything with either, even though I had seen some sharkskin belts I had liked. Rays are even worse off, although admittedly my iaito has the traditional "same" under the silk.
 

JLibourel

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Rays are endangered? I don't buy it! They are very abundant in the Colorado Lagoon, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean about 150 yards from my door. They are abundant in all the coastal waters near my home. Just the other day, a woman was badly stung by a stingray right where my stepson was surfing. They sure don't seem endangered to me, and when it comes to stingrays, I have no squeamishness about exerting a little population control on 'em!
 

Sartorially Challenged

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Elephant? Did someone say elephant?

Not quite shoes, but I am eyeing this elephant belt.

shoney%20elephant%20belt.jpg


It's from here.

Yes, they are gun belts.
 

Teacher

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Originally Posted by chicbicyclist
I still find it hard to believe that elephant leather is "old burden animals that died". You gotta factor in that with age, scars develop, the hides tend to stiffen and other imperfections appear. I would be very wary of such garments if the manufacturer never explicitly said where the hide came from.

Unlike most species', elephants' hides are thick enough to provide two or even three "skins" per animal. With modern technology, this is a verifiable fact. Keep in mind, too, that each adult animal is large enough to provide about three times the surface area of a cow, which means six to nine times the "hides." Add to this the fact that in many areas elephants are WAAAAAAAAY overabundant (check for yourself if you don't believe Jan and me), and you have a good supply of elephant hides.

As to sharks and rays, it depends on the species. A good number of them are so abundant that, like deer nowadays, it would actually be damaging NOT to harvest a predetermined amount.
 

luk-cha

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Originally Posted by tommib
Would you not feel like a murderer wearing an elephant? And aren't sea turtles endangered? Or is it a joke I don't understand?

the sea turtle i have found is from old stock around 40 years old and the elephant is legal from already dead beasts as i check with wwf locally as i feel the same and it all has to come from licensed supplier with correct papers but is mega expensive. also some supplier have stock of elephant with is ove 70 years old before there was the ban on the trade.
 

luk-cha

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just to add shark skin as farmed in south east asia their skins for leather fin for food and bone in health product and you can shark steak in you local supermarket too!
 

chicbicyclist

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Unlike most species', elephants' hides are thick enough to provide two or even three "skins" per animal. With modern technology, this is a verifiable fact. Keep in mind, too, that each adult animal is large enough to provide about three times the surface area of a cow, which means six to nine times the "hides." Add to this the fact that in many areas elephants are WAAAAAAAAY overabundant (check for yourself if you don't believe Jan and me), and you have a good supply of elephant hides.

Asians elephants are severely endangered(40,000, and estimated that by 2050, viable populations simply wouldnt exist. African[both the bush and the savanna african species] elephants, total about half a million. Considering they number upwards of 1.5 million 100 years ago, I wouldnt call that overabundant) and I was responding to the post claiming they are from domesticated asian elephants that died, et. al. Even so, elephants are still one of the more intelligent animals out there. They are even known to act like they are mourning a lost member of the herd.

Patronizing elephant leather, even if it comes from old and legal stock, just adds more incentives for the illegal poachers to hunt them down. It's only illegal if they get caught after all.
 

NoVaguy

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Originally Posted by ATM
Maybe, but loafers are made from former gophers.
smile.gif


Perhaps a greyhound fur tuxedo would be best? \t
thumbs-up.gif
 

mumbojumbo

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Originally Posted by Teacher
As to sharks and rays, it depends on the species. A good number of them are so abundant that, ..., it would actually be damaging NOT to harvest a predetermined amount.

Of course, if your goal is to accelerate the fill up of the endangered species list.

Deer problem: maybe due to extirpation of the wolf?
 

acidboy

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Originally Posted by JLibourel
I have a couple of pairs of H. Trask shoes in American bison hide that have held up very well. Asian water buffalo is or was used for cowboy boots to some extent. I'm not sure how suitable it is for dress shoes.

i have a strong suspicion that most shoes coming from india are actually made from asian water buffalo skin.
 

mumbojumbo

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Originally Posted by acidicboy
i have a strong suspicion that most shoes coming from india are actually made from asian water buffalo skin.

Keep in mind that there are/were some "issues" in the way in which animals are/were slaughtered and transported in india (this also applies to many other contries).
 

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