Here’s a sturdy pair of boots with the most otherwordly of all animal hides. What is it?
(Read the science post below first, though.)
Here’s a close-up:
UPDATE: Okay, it’s stingray. And the first 2.5 minutes of this video deals largely with stingray hide (including the samuri-sword connection) and how it’s tanned:
Iguana?
Looks like Gila Monster skin – a little creepy…
I concur. Appropriate desert critter. Should have it au naturel!
I am going to guess armadillo again… it didn’t net me anything the first time, but second time’s the charm?
Damn handsome, whatever they are. I guess you’ll comment on that central feature on the vamps in due course…
PS, I was gonna guess dillo, but Calden beat me to it. Thinking further, it does sorta resemble the underbelly of some reptiles I seem to recall, so how about Komodo Dragon underbelly, just in case Gila’s wrong.
Very nice, Jerry, but do you have ant eaters?
“Most otherworldly” makes me think that it’s not a chordate.
Octopus of some kind?
Cheers,
b&
Hide of flunking grad student?
Finaly, a good use for those creatures.
I think Ben is closest. It reminds me of the handle coverings of Japanese swords, which could mean it is manta ray or shark leather.
that’s stingray skin.
Sven is right and Doug is half right. It’s stingray. The hide is so hard that it breaks the needles used to sew it, and many bootmakers simply refuse to use it. It is, though, perhaps the toughest of all boot hides. These boots can scratch the paint of your car if you don’t watch it.
So that makes me a quarter right? Woo-hoo! My best showing yet!
The properties you describe have me pondering other potential uses for the hide than footwear….
Cheers,
b&
I’ll go for stingray.
Aww dang – other folks post it while I’m thinking about it.
I agree, stingray.
Whatever it is, those are the best looking boots I’ve seen so far!
Nice. That would make a good pair of skates. (a little elasmobranch humor…)
Nice one!
I was looking for some kinda Steve Irwin punch line but yours is perfect.
Too soon!
What is that spiky green tassel hanging off the toe of the left boot?
OK, Jerry, now you’re threatening to qualify for the Rex Ryan Foot Award.
Fess up Jerry! How many pairs of boots do you actually own?
How do you store this huge collection? There must be quite the shrine in the walk-in closet. Are you trying to give Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos a run for their money?
I figured it was something aquatic! So there’s a practical use for those deadly creatures, after all! (If this offends you, bear in mind that after our extinction, stingrays could conceivably evolve to replace us (though not as likely as octopi and/or squid)).