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More Than Just Shop Aprons: THW’s Benchside Saddlebags, Half-Aprons and Leather Mugs

In one of his Hand Tool School posts, Core77 contributor Shannon Rogers raved about the shop aprons made by Texas Heritage Woodworks. I finally headed over to their website to check ‘em out, and found that in addition to their apron mainstays, they make some other nifty stuff:

Half Apron (Nail Apron)

Made from waxed canvas, leather, copper rivets and brass hardware, these are for when you don’t want to commit to the full apron but still want an on-body place to hold ancillary tools.

The two large pockets in the middle are meant to hold fasteners; the one on the right will fit a block plane or utility knife; the pocket on the left tucked behind the leather triple pocket is sized to hold a 3.5" x 6" notepad; and the subdivided leather will hold writing utensils, rulers, nail sets, etc. Around back, the waist strap features a leather hammer loop.

Benchside “Saddlebags”

THW founder Jason Thigpen originally made one of these for the inside of his Dutch tool chest, but found it was too useful to limit it to that application. “Due to its small footprint and various pocket sizes, the organizer works well in numerous situations,” he writes. 

“It can be mounted to a wall, inside a toolchest, or even on the side of a workbench.” Fellow craftspeople apparently agree; at press time the Saddlebag was sold out, though Thigpen promises more are on the way.

Leather Mugs

This is a very tactile twist on the commuter mug: A leather sleeve, stiff leather handle and a 16-ounce Mason jar to hold your beverage on-the-go. I can make a good argument against the ergonomics of trying to drive and screw/unscrew a jar, but at the same time, this is one of those things that I look at and am just like Man I gotta get one of those.

Check out more of THW’s stuff here.