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Factory Tour: How Occidental Leather Makes “The Best Tool Belts Money Can Buy”

If Mercedes-Benz made tool belts, this is what they would be. 

I recently toured the facility—a small factory, really—where Occidental Leather makes what most tradespeople believe are the best tool belts money can buy. That’s what I thought the first time I saw a a set of their bags on the Jobsite 20+ years ago, and my opinion hasn’t changed now that I have seen how they’re made and heard the unlikely story of how the company came to be.

Occidental Leather’s tool belt systems are designed and manufactured in Sonoma County, California, a rural area north of San Francisco. The company was founded by Darryl Thurner, a building contractor who wanted a better tool belt than he could buy off the shelf. After seeing a fellow carpenter’s home-made tool belt, Thurner convinced a local saddle maker to produce something similar for him. Other carpenters saw it and wanted to buy ones like it, so he went into business, designing and selling belts and paying the saddle maker to make them.

The saddle maker eventually lost interest in tool bags and went back to making horse tack. Thurner, with time on his hands due to a slump in construction, decided to learn the trade of leatherworking. The rest, as they say, is history—if history means spending 35 years designing and producing high-quality tool belts, converting an old lumber mill into a leather factory, and building a nationally known company that provides jobs to 40+ people.

One of many Occidental products, the Adjust to Fit Pro Framer, consists of leather bags stitched and riveted to a belt made from a mix of leather and synthetic material. Photo credit: Occidental Leather This is a view from the driveway. On the left is a newish warehouse building; on the right is the remaining part of the lumber mill–recognizable as a lumber storage shed–that Thurner turned into a factory. Photo credit: David Frane It’s easy to forget leather is a natural material until you see how irregular it is when it arrives at the plant. Each piece is from a single hide. Photo credit: David Frane Few Occidental products are entirely leather; most contain leather plus synthetics such as neoprene and this foam sandwiched between pieces of industrial nylon–which will be folded and sewn into a pouch. Photo credit: David Frane The leather used by Occidental is produced-to-order in domestic tanneries, and must meet strict specifications regarding color, thickness, water repellency, fat content, and temper or “hand.” A chemical and mechanical process, tanning is far more complicated than most people think. Photo credit: David Frane These “suspender” straps were cut from slightly larger strips of leather using one of the die cutting presses in the background. Note the many dies that are stored on or near the machines in this room. Photo credit: David Frane The press operator places a die over the piece of leather that is to be cut… …and then activates the hydraulics, causing the head of the press to push the sharp edges of the die through the leather. A press of this kind can apply in the neighborhood of 50 tons of pressure. Photo credit: David Frane The operator peels the finished piece out of the die after the press punched it through. These suspender straps will pass through buckles—hence the many holes for adjusting their length. Photo credit: David Frane A laundry cart full of tool bags waiting to be sewn and riveted to belts. Photo credit: David Frane View the full gallery here
http://www.core77.com/gallery/54276/Factory-Tour-How-Occidental-Leather-Makes-The-Best-Tool-Belts-Money-Can-Buy