What is the strongest leather? I have often wondered what makes some leather stronger than others. Some say its goat leather, others say stingray, ostrich or crocodile. What I was surprised to find out is that a hide called K-leather is regularly mentioned on the internet. K-leather is actually Kangaroo leather. Yep, that’s correct we can get leather from kangaroos and it’ s an incredibly strong leather!
Kangaroo or K-leather leather has the best strength/weight ratio of any leather. It has up to 10 times more tensile strength than cowhide due to its unique arrangement of fibres and lack of sweat glands and erector pili muscles. The uniform spread of elastin gives it extra tensile strength.
Many people don’t believe that Kangaroo or K-leather is the strongest leather per weight. Having done extensive research and watched more than a few videos on the subject i can safely say that Kangaroo leather is definitely one of the strongest leathers around. Let’s take a look at what make it so strong.
What gives Kangaroo leather its strength.
Leather’s tensile strength ranges from about 8-25N/mm² depending on the age, sex and type of animal. Further to these factors, the genetic makeup of the hide, which has been streamlined by thousands of years of evolution all contribute to the unique hide composition of the kangaroo. This has resulted in a vastly different leather compared to regular cowhide.
Let’s look take a look at the genetic makeup of K-leather to see what a truly unique leather it is.
What are the factors that influence kangaroo leather strength:
- Direction of leather collagen fibres
- Morphology or make up of K-leather
- The thickness of leather
Direction of collagen fibres in the hide.
The direction and number of collagen fibres in a leather hide help contribute to its overall strength. For example, cow/ bovine leather has collagen fibres that run in different directions in kind of a cross weave pattern. This might sound like it would create a stronger hide, but when cowhide is stripped it will result in cutting many of the crossed fibres. This creates weaker areas in the leather which can end up tearing.
On the other hand, Kangaroo leather has its collagen fibres running in a mostly uniform direction and parallel to the skin surface which creates a fantastically dense, strong hide. If the hide is stripped only a limited number of fibres will be cut, which allows K-leather to retain a lot of its strength.
The result of this fibre arrangement is that when K leather is split down to 20% of its original thickness it still retains 30-60% of its original tensile strength. Compare this to cow hide which only retains about 1-4% of its original strength. Thats is a huge difference resulting in a lightweight strong leather.
Morphology or make up of a K-leather hide.
K-Leather is not just made up of collagen fibre bundles. It is also made up of fat, sweat glands, water, muscles and elastin. The number and location of these glands and muscles will affect the hides strength. All the parts combined help to create an overall stronger hide.
Kangaroo hide notably does not contain sweat glands or erector pili muscles which helps create a much denser hide.
The protein elastin is found to be evenly distributed throughout the hide, whereas in bovine leather the elastin tends to be found near the surface only. Elastin, as the name suggests is highly elastic and allows the hide to flex easily but will not result in stretching.
Kangaroo hide has a low oil and fat content and is considered a dry leather. The low fat content allows it to be more durable than most leathers. It is also more resistant to drying out than other leather
So, in summary K-leather has a dense fine structure with tightly packed fibres which results in a lightweight super strong supple hide that is flexible but will not stretch much. It should leave you in no doubt as to what is the strongest leather………..now if only it was half the price of cow leather it would be perfect!!!
Thickness of Kangaroo leather.
Thickness of leather can greatly influence its strength as there are much more fibres arranged in their bundles. The beauty of kangaroo leather is that it is quite thin, but still has the ability to retain most of its strength. On average Kangaroo hide is about 2 ounces in thickness which is about 0.8mm-1mm compared to bovine which 1.2mm-1.4mm. It also has 10 times the tensile strength of cowhide.
When Kangaroo leather is split into 20% of its original thickness it will retain 30-60% of its original tensile strength of an unsplit hide. Compare this to calf hide that is split into 20% of its original thickness and it only retains about 1-4% of its original tensile strength. Its strength/weight ratio is really amazing.
What is Kangaroo leather used for.
Due to the strength and durability of Kangaroo leather it is used to make a wide variety of items. It’s ideal for making work boots as it is highly resistant to abrasion and doesn’t tear easily. Due to its thin make up it makes for a super lightweight work boot.
It is also frequently used to make motorcycle leathers as it is highly abrasion resistant and lightweight. Football or soccer boots are also one of the main uses for K-leather.
Whips are also often made out of K-leather as the thin leather strips are strong, durable and have a high degree of elasticity.
Car upholstery, bags, wallets, hats and belts are some of the other items that are made from kangaroo as it is a very versatile product.
Is Kangaroo leather expensive.
Kangaroo leather is much more expensive than bovine/cow leather due to the simple fact that there is a limited number of kangaroos that are allowed to be culled each year. This limited supply creates huge demand and pushes up the price. Kangaroos are a protected species in Australia and populations have to be strictly controlled. On average kangaroo leather is about twice the price of cow leather. Prices for a vegetable tanned kangaroo hide vary but are generally on average between $90 – $145.
Where can i buy Kangaroo leather.
If you would like to check out some examples that are for sale in the US then here is a link to the Maverick Leather Company They are based in Oregon and supply Kangaroo and a variety of other types of leathers.
Conclusion
So, there you have it, ounce for ounce Kangaroo leather is indeed the strongest leather for its weight and is used for a variety of products. If you found this article interesting please check out some of my other posts on my home page. Here’s a link to an article on saddle leather which you might find interesting. Thanks for reading.