Is this a good deal?

[Curley Cole]

Meet Wonderous Wendy. She is the main one that used my extra rig. (I Think the rig looks great, don't you? <g>)

I have been reading this with interest and finally have to put in my 2 cents worth.

First Oklahoma Saddlery IS located in Miami OKLAHOMA.

When I started SASS (on what I percieved as a limited budget) I already had 2 Duke rigs from El Paso Saddlery, I wanted something else, but was not sure what I wanted, and I knew I wanted a crossdraw, and in the pictures their xdraw rode about the way I wanted mine. So I ordered Belt, Strong side and a crossdraw, and sure enough the crossdraw was exactly where I wanted it to ride.  (Later like this year, I wanted to see how a double crossdraw would look with my Remingtons, so I ordered a set, and saved a bunch of money doing guessing and by gollys..) I have since gotten all my leather by RedDog, but I knew how I wanted him to position everything.

The rig I got, was a soft leather, and I have now 1 belt, and 4 holsters from them and have NEVER experienced this excessive oil folks talk about. When I upgraded to the rigs I wanted I kept my Oklahomas for backups and use them for when newbies shoot with Old Top and I. They get used on a regular basis, and one of the persons prefers the rig to any other I have (she thinks they look good on her, and they do) She has never gone home with any oil stains on her.

If you look at many of the old rigs in museums or magazines or in Packing Iron there are a whole lot of rigs that are very soft. The "hard molded fitted holster" is more from our era...and many of the rigs are unlined. You also can get rigs from El Paso unlined.
I also have not experienced the holsters coming apart, in fact my rigs are well stitched.

For a person just starting out, especially if they are budgeted, or not sure what they want, I always tell them to start here. (I have a very expensive crossdraw holster I bought when I started out, and because I wasn't sure what I wanted or how to tell the maker I ended up with one that rides way too low. No fault of the maker. I also tell them that they will most surely grow out of this rig, but do as I do and use it as a back up or pass it on to some one that can't afford a rig.

As for the gentleman selling these holsters, I met him one time, and he seemed like a nice guy. I thought his prices were a little high, but he was new in the trade, and most of the time one will find out very quickly if the price is competable or not, If they don't sell, then he should figger out why not.

But, for my money folks need to quit being "equipment snobs".  I hear all the time "don't buy this, get a Colt, or Bianchi or Ruger" Some folks have different needs, or can't afford the snob equipment. I would much rather be shooting every match with an Oklahoma Saddlery rig, and an EMF Hartford than sitting at home for 2 years (or forever) waiting til I got enough money together to buy the top of the line, (or for some folks even the middle of the line is a high bar to reach. SASS is not a cheap sport.
I will continue to hang on to my Oklahoma rigs, and in fact I carry a couple of my rifles in their leather scabbards, and holsters in their tapestry carpet bag. They were very reasonable and well made.

just my 2 cents..(or $26 per holster)

Curley
PS: I wish I could make my own rigs, I had to give up on it due to severe arthritis...I take pleasure and have a bit of envy viewing you guys work..

[Dalton Masterson]

Well said CC. As mentioned by me waaaaay back when this post started, I have some Oklahoma Leather. Mine was very oily, but for the price, it couldnt be beat (back then). I still have the Ok Leather, and it gets use very rarely, mainly when I am gonna be hunting and want a hammer thong. (I dont put them on the holsters I make)
Now I make my own, and my family and friends holsters as well.

If I was going to get a new shooter into CAS, you are darn right I am gonna make them buy better guns, and pay a little less for holsters. I know many people that went thru traditional, crossdraw, strongside, etc changes, that they were getting different sets of leather almost every month it seemed. Would hate to do that with an expensive holster.

I would rather someone spend 25 dollars on a holster than spend 200 on a piece of junk revolver that doesnt work all the time. Let them buy the best gun they can afford as opposed to the best leather.

Myself, if I was gonna have to buy leather, I would step up from OKlahoma Leather, and go with a set from Triple K. Seems to be much better quality and function for what we do in our sport and for a pretty decent price.

[Slowhand Bob]

WOW, this post really has been recycled more then the leather mentioned.  I have not looked into the Cabellas catalog recently so I might be off a tad.  It seemed that for a long time Cabellas was offering cowboy leather from three manufacturers and the line-up was very similar from each of the three.  Tripple-K, Hunter and Okalahoma were their staples and the product line-up was in listed order with T-K as largest selection and OK being the smallest number of models offered.  These were all in the three makers most basic unlined models.  Last time I looked Cabellas had juggled their offerings a bit and I did see several new models and one or two changes in the manufacturers.  There were some lined models made available also.

Not sure what you guys are experienceing but it would seem to me that the number of fokes posting problems on the SASS Wire and/or asking me personally for fixes to the excess oil and lack of leather 'body' questions has really declined over the last couple of years.  Perhaps the manufacturers were able to respond to complaints concerning their problems or, then again, perhaps the customers read the many reviews and got smarter!  If you are a one horse show, you can react instantly to a problem in your offerings but it is different for a factory.  Factories are like dinosaurs, it takes a while for the toes to even get the message to the brain and then even longer for the brain to tell the toe to get off the fire!

[Curley Cole]

Hmm, I ain't even sure where to start, maybe the first point is language. This (and SASS wire) is a public forum. There are many younger folks that are members or lurk. I would personally prefer to set a good example.

My comments on this thread was in regard to folks being equiment snobs. That has always galled me. I feel the inexpensive leather, guns and clothing are determined by a persons, financial status, or just how much they want to put into this sport. I want the new folks to enjoy this game, and spend their money wisely. I guess this as good a place as any to say that when you offer a product they is listed as 50% off and the price is same or over someones elses price, folks are gonna question it. That is how this thread even started. It is unfortunate that it is hard to compete with the big boxes, but that is the name of the game. The only to beat that is to offer custom items that they can't/don't carry. I get my leather from RedDog Leather in Kentucky. He makes my stuff exactly to my specs. and he charges a fair price. The boxes can't do that.

Sure folks are gonna tell you what they think about what you have, and some are not too polite (there are a couple that come to mind.) that is just the nature of people.

As for SASS, I pay my dues, and am proud to be a member. I am sorry you are not happy with the situation. The Wild Bunch started SASS and it is a fact that they can make the rules, they own it and we just join. Had there not be a SASS, we would not have all the benifits we have. Sure they may make some decisions we don't like but we go on and have fun. I don't think you will get far with a law suit, because the do provide us most of what the promised.

As for folks getting away with stuff, well, I don't know what to tell you. Black Harris and Elder Kate do a good job in my mind. TS lives on the edge, and I imagine the moderators get on him just as he gets on us. TS and I had words one time, and we mended our fences, and if I saw him, I would be the first to buy him a drink. Most of the stuff he has said doesn't hold a candle to some of the wording in your post. (one step  back and think some before they hit the send button.

You answered your own question when you said you let your SASS membership lapse. You can't sell stuff on the wire if you aren't a member. You couldn't sell at a gun show if you didn't pay your fees, same thing applys here. (and I think there is a clause in the rules that state you can't sell as a business on that wire. (that is where the advertising comes in)

And SASS wire isn't SASS, it is a fourm provided by SASS for us to play in. I forget the saying they have, but being a member of the wire doesn]t make you SASS,

As I stated my posting on this thread was specific to the holsters and equiment mostly made by Oklahoma.  I am very sorry you are not happy with the "system" And if you want to go ahead and start your own club. I think you will find it to be very expensive. (I can provide you with the treasures report and you will see that a GREAT deal of the money will go to insurance.

in closing, I really think you should have stepped back and reread your comments, and the specific wording you used. Pretty rough stuff..

Good luck in your future where ever that may take you.

Curley who could have been a heck of a lot more eloquent had he wasn't so tired from a hard day at the "asylum"

[Deadeye Don]

I just found these guys, and they are advertising at 50% off.
http://www.oldwestgoods.com
I am totally new to this cowboy stuff, and need some leather for my NM 5.5" Vaquero, but am afraid of screwing up and buy something that I shouldn't have.
Is this decent leather?
No offense to these guys, but I'm a little skeptical of a 1/2 off sale. Does this leather usually sell for more?

Thanks!

Some of you need to go back and read this original posters question.  He is a new shooter and was asking a good question about a specific company selling leather goods.  Most of us answered his question based upon our own experiences.   I asked similar questions when I was first starting out so as to avoid making mistakes with my hard earned money.  Unfortunately,  some of you have opted to turn this into some kind of personal rant against the "snobs" of the sport and take it even further by derogating SASS and even specific individuals.   This is wrong and really not helpful to the new shooters who might be reading this thread.   If you want to start your own thread and go on a rant then by all means go for it.  Just dont hijack this pards good question to serve your own agendas.    Regards.  Deadeye.

PS      Travis,  I think if you reread your posting you might find it to be a tad over the top.   UPDATE: Travis posting was deleted.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I think it's a good idea for us to keep this thread to talking about leather. As already pointed out, this thread started with a good question. Please keep the discussion on topic. It's a good idea to stay friendly, too. Thanks for all your help on this.

[Dalton Masterson]

I have never been to a shoot where anyone got special privileges because of who they are. The nice thing is that this is NOT the SASS Wire. Everyone here gets along very well, and we happen to discuss a lot of leather working things here.
So, Travis, what is your thought of the Oklahoma brand leather?
DM

[Marshal Will Wingam]

OK, this thread has run its course and we're getting off the topic. I've locked it so it'll migrate down the line.