Responsibly Made Friends

My friend Ryan is pretty talented. In between teaching in-school suspension and running his own landscaping business, he grows a lot of his own food and helps me with bottom bracket problems.

About a year ago, he bought a whole hide of leather from the Amish. I'm not sure how big that is, but I can imagine it's pretty big, because when I googled "how big is a hide of leather", the first result was "Holy Cow!". Cheesy I know, but that's the best I'm going to do.

Successfully one-upping his friends on cool skills, he learned leather-working and came up with this phone and card wallet.

RMG: Ryan M. Gotch or Responsibly Made Goods?

His wallet has held up really great over the last three or four months. The leather has aged well, giving it a nice look, and all the hand-stitching is tight.

It has more of a raw look. The cuts aren't perfectly straight, and you can even see marks where the animal was branded and the leather was stretched. A reminder that things are cooler when they're unique and not perfect.

Of course his first design was already great, so he made twenty more wallets just like the original. We're trying to convince him to sell them on Etsy, but I think he's still trying to decide whether or not he likes money.

Being the great guy he is, he presented me with my own over the weekend.

Sweet? Yes. Everything fits nice and snug, yet it's still really easy to get your phone and cards out. You can shake it around all day, and everything stays in place. The back is also stamped with the wallet's number in the run. I got number four.

It also has a hole for headphones, in case you're a normal person and like music.

I am super happy with it. It'll be great to drop in my commuter bag and not have to worry about my phone getting messed up. Plus, it'll be a lifelong reminder of another great friend I've made along the way.

Simpler times. When it was acceptable to carry loose cards in your pocket.