This is a special one for me. I actually bought this leather years ago when I was prototyping some bags and it’s been tucked away in my office ever since. Since I started, I’ve gravitated toward some stiffer leathers like English bridle. They break in nicely and have a really nice sheen in their finish. This leather from Red Wing is a whole other thing. If you didn’t already know, I call Minnesota home and Red Wing (both a city and company) are not too far away. Red Wing is known for quite a few things, and one of them is the SB foot tannery that processes leather for boots and whole host of other items. So it seemed only obvious to have a piece of that for ROV.
The black crust leather used in these leathers is quite different from anything ROV has done in the past. It’s buttery soft and matte in color but still relatively consistent in finish. It feels like a well worn in pair of boots and like any Hilt is made to age and mold to the user perfectly.