I have a couple of milled vegetable tanned shoulders from Tandy. This is vegetable tanned leather, not chrome tanned. It is dry, and not oily. It is the same light flesh color as the regular vegetable tanned leather. The leather I bought from them is exactly like the "regular" vegetable tanned leather, except more supple. It is not floppy, just more flexible. I haven't made anything from it yet, but have plans for a couple of pouches and may try some of the cowhide moccasins or
souliers de boeuf as shown in the
Voyageur's Sketchbook. These were made from bark tanned cowhide, and the milled leather should work a lot better than the regular veg tan, which is quite stiff.
Tandy describes this leather as "milled." Here is their product page:
Milled Single Shoulders. Tandy doesn't use the word "tumbled," and as a previous responder noted, this may refer to a different process of leather treatment. I don't know anything about the product from Springfield Leather.
Most soft leathers are chrome tanned, meaning they are treated with chromium salts. As you might suspect, these salts are highly corrosive. Some people are also allergic to this chemical. Bark or vegetable tanned leathers are inherently less corrosive, although all leathers are hygroscopic, i.e. they absorb atmospheric moisture. The point being that if you want to make a holster or knife sheath, you should use veg tan leather, and if you have a project requiring softer leather which may be in contact with iron or steel tools for prolonged periods (such as a nipple wrench or screwdriver in your hunting pouch), the milled veg tan might be preferable to almost any other leather, with the possible exception of braintan.
I think the lighter weight milled veg tan leather from Tandy should work well for a hunting pouch. You will probably want to dye it, although a coat of neatsfoot oil brushed on will turn it a pleasing light brown color... and I will add that neatsfoot oil has
always been used as a leather dressing (that's what it's for), and never as a hoof dressing, as some people will tell you. They call it neatsfoot oil because it is oil rendered from cattle feet. I learned the basics of leatherwork from my dad, and he used neatsfoot as a leather dressing, and it has always worked well for me. My wife and I also have horses. You want to treat their hooves with something that will make the hooves tough, not soft. When I first became acquainted with the nonsense about treating horse's hooves with neatsfoot, I gave it the benefit of a doubt and checked with several of the local farriors. None of them had ever heard of it.
Sorry about the digression. In any event, I think the milled veg tan leather should make a dandy pouch, whether you dye it, oil it, or let it darken naturally.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
