Originally Posted by
Six jours
12) Brooks quality has decreased over the years. They used to use only the best part of the hide. Now they use all of it. So it's more of a lottery than it used to be. You might get a good one that lasts forever. You might get a complete POS. The "select" models may be the equivalent of the old (pre 1985 or so) models. Or maybe not. And the idea that "mad cow" has anything to do with it is really, really funny.
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Well, at least I didn't say it was directly caused by it, or swear by it. Wish I could find the report on leather being less available from more mature cattle. It was a research paper I found online a couple years ago, and I simply read it and moved on. I do know for a fact that MCD did effect the prices of leather. And when materials prices go up, sometimes you do start to cut corners and use lesser quality product.
At the time I read it I was just looking for any reason why I was seeing new saddles failing, when every one I owned from the eighties was going strong.