It Starts with the right hide.
Leather can be a little complicated in all of its different varieties and tanning methods, but here’s the skinny: At Rule No. 8 we exclusively use full-grain vegetable tanned leather. Why is that important? Because it’s the highest quality, longest lasting, most natural and environmentally friendly leather available. A lot of other leather goods companies use chrome tanned leather due to it being much cheaper and quicker to produce. This is great for the bottom line but the tanning process uses extremely toxic chromium acids which are difficult to dispose of responsibly, result in an overall thinner, less durable leather and impart a telltale chemical smell into your finished product. Suffice to say none of those are compromises we’re willing to make. We start with hides sourced from our two favorite US-based tanneries: the exceptional Horween Leather Co. and the historic Wickett & Craig.
Sourced from the states
It may cost a bit more, sometimes mean fewer options, and take a little extra time but it is Rule No. 8's unwavering commitment to make sure all of our products are made entirely from materials grown or manufactured in the United States. This means you can rest easy knowing your purchases are not only supporting a US small business but all of the suppliers that keep us stocked with quality materials and hardware. The rest of the world is pretty sweet, but we like to take care of our own.
Crafted by Hand
There’s going to be a great little montage video here at some point but until there is we think it’s important to know that we do as much as possible by analogue, hand methods. From uniquely dying each strip of leather, to pre-punching each thread hole and stitching by hand, keeping evidence of the human maker present within the work is something we find very important. We’re not saying this makes our products “better” necessarily than other leather goods companies (we love you guys!) but it’s a distinction that helps make our products unique.
The warranty
No need for a long paragraph full of disclaimers and fine print, we proudly stand by each and every product that leaves our studio. We overbuild everything to last decades with proper care but sometimes things happen. If your leather good breaks or is shown to be defective with normal use, get in touch with us and if we can't repair it we'll replace it at no cost to you.