Amazing product from Heym. .470NE elephant leather belt with matching sheaves for 2 knives and a leatherman. The knives are custom made Arno Barnard, one is damascus steel, mammoth ivory handles with meteorite bolster and the other is giraffe bone. They didn't come from Heym, but Heym accommodated with making the leather to fit.

Thanks goes to Use Enough Gun for arranging the whole thing! If you're interested in similar, contact Chris Sells at Heym. Not cheap, but guarantee you won't be disappointed!

They are definitely nice!

Very nice

Very nice. Dick Murray and Falcon Leather Works (Henry Flores) do similar projects and do good work. Shop around and see who offers the best deal. My guess is the quality is going to very comparable on all three.

Originally by Bwanna:
"Not cheap, but guarantee you won't be disappointed!"

In my experience Nothin's cheap!
Even CHEAP ain't cheap!

Whatever the cost, YOUR goods look outstanding.
May they serve you even better than they LOOK!!!

Henry Flores did mine using my Elephant hide and then made one for Beau from his Buff hide. They are quality craftsmanship.

Extremely nice pieces of equipment.
Hope you get many years & many memorable safaris with them.
Now go put them to use.

Bwanna: Very nice setup with the leatherman case and the knife sheaths. Chris Sells had the same culling belt made up for me in 450/400 and had one made for my daughter for her 375. The quality is excellent. I enjoy mine enough to have Chris order me another for my Heym .577 along with a knife sheath for a Charles May that's under construction!

I have one in ele for my 470 NE, one in hippo for my 458 Lott, one in rhino for my 450-400 NE and one in rhino for my upcoming 375 H&H Flanged, and all with matching knife sheaths. I supplied the rhino hide myself. I also have the leatherman's pouches and flashlight holders for the two in rhino, and I am waiting for Chris to make the leathermans and flashlight holders for me the ele and hippo belts. I also had Chris make me two double rifle gun slips out of rhino as well. Beautiful worksmanship for sure and well worth the money. And, the rhino hide items are a nice conversation piece!

No doubt it is beautiful but what comes to my mind is how do you or what paperwork do you use to travel out of the US with it once the leather has been originally imported?

I have restrained myself from having something such as this made for a return trip to Africa as I was under the impression one might have a hassle with USFWS. I could be very wrong so correct me if I am.

The ele and hippo leather were supplied by Heym and were already here in the U.S. when the belts were made. The belts and other items are stamped with leathermaker Jim Wear's brand and information. I suppose that you could carry a copy of your invoice from Heym with you to show that you purchased it here as a domestic product made from ele hide that was allowed for commercial use. Chris Sells would be the best one to answer that question. As to the use of my rhino leather, that's no problem whatsoever in my opinion. I have an ele culling belt and a hippo culling belt that I bought from Chifuti Safaris' Texas office a few years ago and both have the small Chifuti metal logo on them. Same situation as the Heym belts, I believe.

And, let's be honest, the custom guys generally don't know when they're looking at elephant as opposed to bull hide when the elephant is tanned in a color other than grey.

Never had them question my elephant rifle slips or courtney boots.

Thanks, guys. I'm glad you're all pleased with the leather goods. I certainly love mine.

Without letting the cat out of the bag, there will also be some really cool leather stuff at the shows next year you'll want to see.

For the record, it's not illegal to import elephant into the US (personally or commercially), and it's not illegal to make products and sell them from imported hides (at least those commercially imported... not 100% on those personally imported, but if they are your hides, you can make what you want... I just don't know if you can sell them.) If we provide the hide for your belt, it was purchased commercially from a leather dealer.

Regarding travel outside the US, I have simply completed a 4457 with US Customs describing the articles and noting "Country of Origin" as USA. Assuming it's legal to have in the country to which you're traveling, you should have no problems, as the 4457 demonstrates that you had the goods here in the US prior to departure.

Thanks Chris for the additional information.

Henry Flores brands all his belts on the inside with his logo and another brand stating "Made in the USA". We have taken our belts to africa every year without any worry or paperwork.

What about those Courtney boots? I really believe some of you are over-thinking the import/export issue.

Stamping "Made in the USA" is a very good idea for any of these items that are made here.

Mike,

This is Jim from African Sporting Creations and as a Courteney Boot distributor in the USA I find the laws vary by Country and animal. For example, Zimbabwe is permitted to export elephant hides into the USA but they are not permitted to export finished elephant products like boots into the USA. Does not make sense but that is the law. Cape buffalo is fine in both formats. That is why if you fly out of the the international terminal in Atlanta you will find a pair of worn Courteney Elephant Safaris in the US F&G confiscation case.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your input.

However, the Courtney Ele boots are a finished product made in Zim, whereas my Ele belt is a finished product MADE IN THE USA, and I believe that makes a difference. I imported my Ele hide legally and what I decide to do with it thereafter is my business, as long as I do not sell it. USF&W makes a distinction between trophy Elephant and finished products made OCONUS. They have recently begun enforcement action on such OCONUS finished products. BTW, I also used my hide for a pair of boots made by Loveless in Oklahoma.

Interesting concepts of basically re-exportation of legally imported leather made into products in the US.

With the past history and current stance of a government which in my opinion many times arbitrarily sets policy as law until challenged by a pile of money and time I'll stick to using cowhide. THOUGH I COULD BE VERY WRONG AND STAND TO BE CORRECTED.

I applaud your gusto and am envious of the products.

Lion Hunter,

You are correct that US F&G differentiates between the two. If the two front panels of one elephant went to a gun case maker in Zim then they could not import it into the USA. If the two back panels were legally imported into the USA they could be made into anything.

When Courteney was making product in South Africa for a little while they would have been allowed to export Elephant boots into the USA as there are no restrictions on EL finished goods coming into the USA from SA.

We do the same thing you did with your hide and make culling belts, desk caddies, drink coasters, and Hunter packs www.africansc.com

Jim

So what about individuals selling legally imported "sport trophies" or goods made from such?

I'm pretty sure you can't sell your ivory from a sport-hunted trophy, but what about the skin? Goods you make from the skin, etc...?

Ivory and hair is a no-no but believe hides are OK. You can buy hide from any number of folks in the USA but forbidden to make baubles out of tusks or hair for resale.