Leather Saddlebags From Rusty Knuckles For Harley Dyna's and Softails, Built For All Of The Lane Splitters

Rusty Knuckles custom leather saddle bags with acid etched and hand stitched Harley Davidson emblems

Creating a set of saddle bags from raw materials and building to fit a bike can be quite the challenge. For a good while now, ideas have been inked on a well thumbed page in the sketchbook as a project to get done. Luckily for us, the years of hard work and showcasing our capabilities allow for customers to spring up that want unique custom items. 

One such customer out of Pennsylvania just so happened to want a set of narrow saddle bags that would fit their softail and to be in a deep cherry color to match their bike. I presented my sketches to them for a style of bag and we hatched a plan.

These bolt on saddle bags can easily be built to fit onto any bike, its just a matter of what mounting bracket that is intended to be used. We asked the customer to pick up a set of their choosing and would attach the support slot for the bracket accordingly. They chose to pick up these Saddlemen Brackets from J&P Cycle and shipped them over.

Being the fact that we also wanted a deep color to the bags with a unique look, we picked up some extra heavyweight ox blood leather in 10 oz. Then to achieve the color choice, opted to dye it some more after a light top scuffing and air brush the edges with a black fade. Another aspect that was key was a very tight fit and profile so match the bike. Nothing too bulky for hauling groceries, but a solid set of bags that could pack your leathers, some tools, oil and any other quick essentials you might need for the road. 

Needless to say we are quite proud of these bags and working to produce a line of them now starting in deep black and full custom color options. We have one more round of prototypes to produce to work out any more bugs with brackets and hardware and will then be offering them as a new product in our online stores. Lots of options to also work in such as quick release mounting bolts and a locking option.

Check out more of our leather work

Shop our etsy store for much more of our custom leather gear

Back panel of saddle bag showing top bolt holes for fender strut and lower stitching of mounting area for bracket

Mounting the Saddlemen S4 Universal Support Brackets on our 2000 Dyna FXDX for mockup

Old saddle bag picked up from swap meet for mock up purposes

Creating working templates with design specs for some of the leather pieces to cut out

Slip through support slot for universal support brackets for easy on and off mounting

Shaving the underside and rounding over the top flap for machine stitching for top of saddle bags

Saddle Bags in mockup stage before final coats of color are to be added

Custom etched aluminum emblems that were attached by drilling and hand stitching

Top view of saddlebag to show the narrow width of the finished bag. (bag isn't fully bolted on, just in mockup stage)

Saddle bags fully finished and ready for shipping.

Making A Custom Chopper Seat

Custom chopper seat for Pale Horse Kustoms, by Rusty Knuckles Leather

Making a custom seat is something that our small shop has grown to appreciate and enjoy. Much of our leather work focuses around music gear, but motorcycles have always been a true passion. Over the last year, more and more seat projects started to come through the door and we are now offering more expansive of an approach to handle custom needs. Our custom work focuses more on an illustrative style rather than a stylistic upholstery approach. 

Have a look at more of our leather work on Flickr

Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat For 2009 Harley Crossbones

Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat For 2009 Harley Crossbones

Custom seats take a great amount of time and thanks to Raymond in Virginia for the project! Gonna look great on your 2009 Harley Crossbones. Roll on hombre! Looking to have the full process video hopefully edited and live late next week for the build. Now the hard part, choosing the best tunes for it as a soundtrack.

Custom detail on tooled and painted leather seat

Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat For 2009 Harley Crossbones

Bottom side of  leather riveted to seat pan on a 2009 Harley Crossbones

Bottom side of  leather riveted to seat pan on a 2009 Harley Crossbones

Guitar Strap Process Build With Bongzilla As The Soundtrack

Rusty Knuckles Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat

Rusty Knuckles Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat

Creating a custom motorcycle seat is a lot of work and design ideas, but when it all comes together, there is no better feeling. Functional art is what drives us daily and make a seat that will reside on a custom motorcycle is one of our favorite endeavors. 

Want to buy this seat? Hop over to our Etsy page

Steve Von Till of Neurosis Proudly Using A Rusty Knuckles Guitar Strap

Steve Von Till of Neurosis proudly using a Rusty Knuckles Guitar Strap, photo by Raymond Ahner.

Rusty Knuckles Custom Leather equals absolute quality. This is why more and more musicians are starting to use our brand of guitar straps. Big thanks to Steve Von Till of Neurosis for picking up one of our signature straps. Seen here at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on their thirtieth anniversary show with Converge and Negative Approach, photograph by Raymond Ahner.

Have a look at more of our custom leather work

Order a custom leather guitar strap

Chewbacca Plays Bass and Rusty Knuckles Customs Made His Guitar Strap

Chewbacca Plays Bass and Rusty Knuckles Customs Made His Guitar Strap

Star Wars‬ fun fact, Chewbacca used to play in a band at the Cantina on Bass. When things didn't jive with Chewie's style of finger slappin', the lead singer's Imperial ways got the best of him. A fit was thrown and Chewbacca being the Rebel he is, knocked him out cold and left on a starship with another infamous smuggler. We are proud to have made his bass strap and to support Rebels all across the galaxy.

Check out more of our work on Flickr

Rusty Knuckles Custom Leather Guitar Straps

Rusty Knuckles Custom Leather Guitar Straps

Rusty Knuckles hand crafted customs offers up a line of unique musical instrument straps for guitars, banjos and mandolins. We take the utmost pride in our craftsmanship and know that our customers expect nothing less. We back up all of our work and offer full customization on every product sold by us. Let us create the exact strap to best match your instrument to help keep you on the stage for many an hour per night and for the years to come. 

Whiskeydick - God Damn I Need Some Whiskey, featured song

Shop our Etsy store

View our full portfolio of custom leather gear

Rusty Knuckles Custom Leather Straps Are Made One At A Time And Built To Last

Muddy Roots custom guitar strap

Our custom straps are made from eight to ten ounce leather and built to last a lifetime with the proper care. Each strap is made by hand and absolutely unique from one to the next due to the varying types of leather and with the level of customization we offer. Feel free to get in touch with us about your custom project or to even match your guitar with the perfect strap.

Building A Guitar Strap and Belt Rack From Scrap Metal And Reclaimed Wood

Building A Guitar Strap and Belt Rack From Scrap Metal And Reclaimed Wood

If you are going to be doing any type of trade shows or events for your company, having a unique look to your display is paramount. I learned early on that having a folding table with a drape cloth can work well, but it just didn't convey the message that I wanted to stand behind. 

We spend a great deal of time crafting great merchandise and working with many bands on truly unique items, so for our booth at events we want to stand out. Along with having unique show furniture I wanted something that would fit the vibe of our brand and had to be easy to break down, be a work horse of an item and to be stout in order for it last for years to come. 

Custom Leather Belts From Rusty Knuckles Are Built To Last

Custom Leather Belts From Rusty Knuckles Are Built To Last

If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. As our catalog of custom leather products further evolves, creating the perfect heavyweight leather belt has taken some time to fully come to fruition. We offer our belts in several styles of color and any length you need. Hell, they are even better when paired with our line of custom belt buckles. Order yours today! Our belts are cut from 10 oz leather and are built to last.

Check them out on our Etsy store

Antique Brown handmade leather belt from Rusty Knuckles

The perfect leather belt from Rusty Knuckles

Heavyweight black leather belt from Rusty Knuckles

Rusty Knuckles Custom Leather Banjo Straps Now A Feature Item At Banjo.com

Banjo Buck Thrailkill and a good variety of our custom straps being sent out to Banjo.com

Huge thank you to Banjo.com for our first major wholesale account with our custom banjo straps that are tried and true and now also shipping worldwide.

Custom Guitar Process Video Goes Live On Friday

Custom strap being put together for a customer

The amount of custom one off orders has been coming in steadily as of late for guitar straps. With the great response that we have been receiving, it was time to create a short video to show exactly how they come together. This Friday, the full process video will launch on all of our social media channels.

In the interim, check out our store page or Etsy shop to view all of our leather work. If you are in need of something truly unique, give us a shout - ralph.knuckles at gmail

Saturdays Were Made For Leather

Banjo Buck pulling out a freshly bought Ox Blood full hide ready to cut some guitar straps

On any given Saturday, or better yet, make that many days of the week we are cranking out on a plethora of projects. We haven't posted our full process of showing how our custom leather guitar straps come together so this past weekend, we put a full video together and took quite a few photos along the way. 

Banjo Strap Adapters Handmade in Leather

Need a keeper for your banjo?

If you need a special adapter for your custom banjo strap, we now have ya covered. This strap keeper will allow you to connect to any banjo tension hook and especially if you want to use it as a connector to our soon to be world famous "Buckstache" straps. You keep jammin' and pickin' we'll keep sippin' and designin'! 

Rusty Knuckles Customs - Banjo Straps - Handmade In USA

Rusty Knuckles Customs - Banjo Straps in Chestnut Brown and Sienna Brown Ends

Our banjo strap is made out of 8 oz. leather that is tanned and softened to be an easily worn for hours upon end. The strap has screw holes cut out for a variety of mounting options and adjusts from 42" inches to 60" inches.

A slit is cut into the leather to accommodate for acoustic guitars and larger grommets or for electric with a single screw for the heavier guitar body. The banjo strap is 3" inches wide over the shoulder and tapers at the edges for true comfort.

All leather edges are smooth and finished with a beveled cut and handmade In USA

Check out our straps on Etsy

Rusty Knuckles Customs - Banjo Straps in Ox Blood Red and Black Ends

Rusty Knuckles Customs - Banjo Straps in Sienna Brown and Black Ends

Rusty Knuckles Customs - Banjo Straps in Chestnut Brown and Sienna Brown Ends

Rusty Knuckles Customs - Banjo Straps in Black and Chestnut Brown Ends

Does Your Knucklehead Have A Custom Tool Bag?

Got a 37' Knucklehead in your shop, well Hodge does and now a custom tool bag to grace the bike being built

Doing custom work for a variety of clientele is an absolutely great feeling. Much of the leather work is done via etsy or just the random email coming in through facebook or friends of friends passing the word around. Needless to say, we can't thank every single customer enough and looking forward to all the projects rolling through the shop doors daily.

Branded Leather Business Cards

Rusty Knuckles leather business cards

The hell with printing at Kinkos, needed some new business cards for a meeting, so out comes the torch and the hefty chunk of custom brass to burn our name into some raw leather.

Need A Belt To Avoid Scratching Paint?

Heavy duty work belt made for the working man with a hidden buckle

Have a job where ya can't scratch the paint, such as on a custom build or a sexy Gretsch? Check out a new belt we are about to offer for the working man or lady. A hidden buckle and a great product that is Made In America. Stay tuned for what we are about to start offering with all of our custom leather goods, hint hint, something to do with music... 

Detail photo of one of our new belts for the working man

Hell Bent For Leather, Or A Great Custom Item Made In USA

When I ship out guitar straps they are bound up with hemp rope and a final logo tag is added

All of the leather work now being produced started in the most simple manner, I wanted a better tool bag for my motorcycle. That is not too much to ask for. Now granted there are some fantastic leather craftsmen far and wide that are superb at their job. There in was my problem. These guys command quite a bit of money as they are true craftsmen and were definitely out of my budget.

Being the student of life that I am, answers were needed for my burning questions and I decided to go the oracle. Yep, forget the Sirens that might have lived on the top of a mountain in Delphi who spoke in riddles, youtube is the modern day oracle for how to videos. Eureka, now I had a plan to hatch in order to create a leather tool bag that fit within my miniscule budget.

After weeks of pouring over leather crafter's mini documentaries and showing how to manipulate tanned hides, I figured I could plop down a few bucks and create a tool bag that would be perfect for my bike. I go into everything with that kind of attitude, as I am of the mindset that I learn more along the journey and enjoy stumbling along the path.

This started a new problem that I had not foreseen, being the ever so practical individual that I am. I really got into the leather work. So much so that I started thinking on tricking out the tool bag, thinking on new versions, belt loops, guitar straps, etc etc. Then a few customers started to trickle in after seeing my original bag. 

My first tool bag truly was nothing special and I still ride with it today. What I came to realize though is that folks really want a good story. They dig knowing who made a product and that the person will stand behind their work. As I would show them my tool bag and we would talk on the types of bags for different bikes and costs, I could envision them seeking out a solid item they could get behind and for a reasonable price.

Two years later I am still quite amazed at where the projects within the hobby of leather work have taken me and the amount of folks asking for custom items. With shipments going out weekly around the world, I can honestly say thank you to everyone that has purchased a tool bag, belt loop, guitar strap or all the other random items I have made from scratch. It's a great honor to be a manufacturer and a craftsman and to be able to stand behind the work 100%. Much of the sales come through our Etsy Store and now we are getting emails or calls directly for quite a few projects. 

Have a look at some of the latest work to get shipped out. One of the big things I will be adding this year is a free digital download card with all orders. The more music I can pass along to show that Rusty Knuckles is truly a multitude of individuals coming together, the better I will feel about all that we as a group strive to create. A high tide will float all boats and that is our core philosophy.

Brand new style of black leather 2.5" inch wide guitar strap with silver grommets

Detail hammer marks on the hand stamped copper rivets for a bag on a 1937 Knucklehead

Yep, a vintage look can easily be achieved on nickel plated brass

Detail on a custom tanned tool bag buckles and hand sewn sides

Eyelets up close and personal on a guitar strap

Logo struck into the leather guitar strap with one strike from my 3 lb hammer

Distressed brown leather guitar strap

Up close and personal with an 8 oz shoulder leather for a Guitar Strap and heavy buckle

The more I got into leatherwork the more I read about having good edges. Then I started to realize that good edge work can really make or break a piece.