Leather does a great job of absorbing moisture. This was the final combat patch earned during my 21 year military career. I trace the patch on both sides, cut the patch into the cased leather with a swivel knife, bevel the design, add the eye, let the leather dry overnight. Next up is dye (except for the dirty bird – she stays au naturale), paint if selected, an overnight period for the paint to bond to the leather, paint sealer plus bonding time, then oil to restore moisture to the leather. Once the oil has fully penetrated I can add the first layer of the protective finish! That needs a minimum of 4 hours before moving onto the antique step which helps highlight the design. An additional two layers of protective finish go on over the antique. Once that’s fully dry, the edges get finished so they’re nice and smooth. Next up comes manually punching the stitching holes and hand stitching in that fun cross hatch design. Final step is the can fit test. These fit regular cans; skinny cans would probably fall out and hit you in the face. Test at your own risk.

Dirty Bird has variable amounts of dirtyness. What’s pictured is average.

Did you know you can custom order this design with your name and abbreviated rank? I do have to reduce the patch size slightly in order to fit your name below the patch. Place the order for the color you want, then reach out with the name you want added. Production time for backordered colors listed below applies.

Backordered colors (just means I don’t have any premade ones in stock) – allow 2 to 4 weeks for me to get them made; depends on how many other projects are on my workbench at the moment.