Leather Sporting Equipment

When you think of what leather is used for, what do you think of?  Personally, I think of couches and car interiors.  Furniture and cars are a massive market for the leather industry. Still, there are other options for using leather.  From sports equipment to boat seats, leather is used in many different industries.  There is a plethora of sporting equipment made using leather, and we will talk about a few of those today. 

Cleats

Sports is an exciting industry when it comes to leather use.  Before any research, I thought of major sports that use leather and how leather could be used in those sports.  The most remarkable thing I saw included some soccer cleats are made using kangaroo leather.  The soccer community knows these types of cleats last significantly longer than the cleats made from vinyl or other non-leather materials.  Not only do they last longer, but they feel better on your feet when running and kicking the ball.

Gloves

There are many different types of gloves in the sports world that are made using leather. By far, the most popular are baseball gloves/mitts.  Golfers use a glove every time they use their clubs.  Another sport that uses leather gloves is boxing.  Boxers will use their gloves in the ring but also during training.  Leather helps protect athletes from injury and is the primary material used for these types of products.

Balls/Bags 

Leather balls or bags are often used in sports for training and are often used in actual games or events.  An excellent example of a leather bag would be a punching bag.  These are primarily used by athletes who are MMA fighters or even kickboxers.  As mentioned before, leather lasts far longer than any synthetic leather, vegan leather, or leather alternative, which isn’t leather at all. 

An example of a sport that uses a leather ball is basketball.  The NBA is known for using leather basketballs; the only time leather basketball should not be used when playing outside, and the concrete would often ruin the leather over time.

Leather use in the sporting world is huge. In sports, leather is a great choice to ensure that athletes and you have reliable equipment. Not all sports equipment manufacturers use authentic leather for the products and may use synthetic leather, reducing the equipment’s life cycle.