www.HardWearCreations.com is primarily the labor of love of Kevin Speidel. Kevin (the "Artist") is assisted in his endeavours by his brother-in-arms Jaime K. (the "EverLarge") and a motley assortment of other characters.

HardWearCreations.com exists with the sole purpose of providing the finest custom selection of period and artistic custom leather goods available anywhere online. Some of the items that we offer include SCA legal and leather period combat and fantasy Armor, totally unique gifts like book covers, holsters, belts, bondage and fetish Gear, unique club and dance wear, archery gear, watch and wrist straps, horse tack, canine and kitty collars, period wear like bodices, neck and arm bands and the list goes on and will only continue to grow!

Kevin started creating leather goods and armor over 14 years ago at the ripe old age of 16. Kevin and Jaime had joined a group that recreated Medieval times and had the need of both armor and gear that could withstand the abuse that a couple of very boisterous young boys could put it through. Kevin looked into how many of the Ancients had created their armor and came across what is known as Cuir Bouilli. Cuir Bouilli is an armor that is produced by boiling leather in wax and then is shaped and moulded to fit. Once it has cooled it is much stronger and more resistant than untreated leather. The first suits created (after our brief interlude with chainmail) that we fought in were all Cuir Bouilli. Although for us, in time the Cuir Bouilli went the way of the dodo bird.

Not long after turning eighteen, Kevin decided that he had the burning desire to work for our All American Uncle and proceeded to get the shit knocked out of him in the Army for a few years. In the meantime, Jaime spent several years further pursuing girls, an edge-um-a-cation and trying to "find himself". While Jaime was busy in college, Kevin ended up with a lot of free time on his hands (mainly due to being stuck in the mud in Bosnia) and continued learning more and more leather crafting skills.

Having honorably finished his service to his country, Kevin then moved to Phoenix, Arizona, let his hair grow back out and went to school learning how to fix Harley and other makes of Motorcycles. Kevin had both learned many new tricks in the few intervening years while in the Army and he proceeded to school Mr. Knapp in some of what he had learned in leather working. At the time, we were both heavy into Rapier Sword-fighting and many new helmets, scabbards and frogs were created in this period. Some of the helmets and scabbards are in display in the Galleria and are a good example of the level of skill possesed over 5 years ago. While attending the above mentioned school, Kevin was also employed by a local valley leather company. While in it's employ he began learning more of the art of tooling and it was a constant sight to see him hammering away at the skin of some dead animal.

After completing his Motorcycle training, Kevin moved to Colorado to work for a Harley Dealership in the area of Colorado Springs. Kevin, as always, had the most extreme fortune and came across a fellow employee who had been into tooling for almost 50 years. They became instant friends and Kevin had found both a mentor and someone who could teach him the tricks of the trade that only experience brings. This eductation continued for roughly two years and again Kevin decided that the Valley of the Sun was where his heart and near future lay and moved back to Phoenix.

For the past few years, Kevin has worked on projects for not only his friends in the Society but his friends and contacts of the "everyday". He has continued to expand his skills and found so many wonderful items that everyone seems to both love and adore. HardWearCreations was founded with this idea in mind, making custom leather items that you can't and won't find anywhere else, where the only limit on what we make is YOUR imagination!

After a couple of requests, we have decided to include a couple of quick shots of one of the leather stations in our workshop. The area on the left of the first picture is a workbench that includes storage for stain, paint, hardware and miscellaneous supplies and includes a work area for cutting and staining. The area on the right of the first picture and the closeup in the second picture is of a tooling bench which houses about 300+ separate tools used in producing the designs you see on these pages.