Club Obi Wan

takes a licking and keeps on... well... just being a bag, pretty much.

but, it's good product, and it's stood up to some brutal distressing undertaken by me, about two hours ago. before and after comparisons:


almost all of the distressing you see here was accomplished with one cinder block. i whipped the seams of the bag across the edges of the block back and forth until they had a nice fray, and the appropriate wearing on the dye of the bag, then i place the cinder block on TOP of the bag, and dragged it up and down the sidewalk in front of my house to take care of the surface areas of the bag. and yes, everyone in my neighborhood thinks i'm insane. but it was worth it, as the pictures (hopefully) attest to.


this is a closer detail of the surface distressing- note the darker spots on the top left of the bag, on the flap- that's actual blood. i scraped my knuckle while fraying the edges of the bag, and inadvertently got some drops on the bag itself... which, frankly, turned out to be pretty cool looking. [disclaimer: i do not endorse scratching, scraping, or otherwise injuring yourself in order to distress your bag- i wasn't seriously hurt at all, and it just happened to be a serendipitous bit of flair for my bag. but don't you go doing it on purpose.] i'm also a big fan of the small spots where the distressing has actually worn THROUGH the fabric- not big enough holes to really damage the bag, but it certainly adds a "lived in" look.


the biggest complaint i had when i got my Todd's bag was the fact that the strap was a truly RED shade of brown (illustrated in the first shot), not at all like indy's. fortunately i discovered COW member rabbittooth's "zippo/sharpie" method for distressing the strap, and it worked like a dream. the strap now has that deep brown hue that speaks to a lifetime of all-weather adventuring... even though a few hours ago, the thing was brand new.

so, there it is- Todd's bag, looking like it's been dragged under a truck from the back of beyond- and with genuine blood (sorry if that grosses anyone out)! and it seriously took around an hour from start to finish. not bad. ;-)

Looks good What's this "zippo/sharpie" distressing technique you're talking about?

indy89 wrote:Looks good What's this "zippo/sharpie" distressing technique you're talking about?

i think you can find it in the sticky at the top of this forum, but i don't mind to explain it-

in order to correct the horrible redness of the strap, first grab a sharpie (rabbittooth specified that either black or brown would work, but brown seemed more appropriate to me) and use it to darken the edges of the strap where the leather is lightest in color. this will save you a boatload of time and energy as opposed to trying to burn the edge of the strap which could most likely result in some kind of injury, IMO.

then, take a zippo and hold the flame just close enough to the strap to produce a "soot" on the leather. go little by little doing this, each time stopping to rub the soot over the length of the strap with your fingers to even it out and get a balanced color. i did it twice from end to end, as i felt the darker hue was more accurate to the screen shots i'd seen. it's a judgement call, just do it until you get it as dark as you like.

then you're done, with a fantastic, burnished-looking strap that i don't think anyone would be able to tell just by looking at it that it wasn't the original color of the leather. looks better in person than in the pictures, and i don't think it looks too shabby in the pictures, know what i mean?

great distressing job!! distressing is one of my favorite things to do with my Indy gear.. I must try this zippo/sharpie method it seems very interesting!

NatiJones wrote:great distressing job!! distressing is one of my favorite things to do with my Indy gear.. I must try this zippo/sharpie method it seems very interesting!

zippo/sharpie works beautifully, and i wish it had been my idea- but again, this was rabbittooth's suggestion, up in the sticky. and i guess it was there for a reason, eh? ;-)

hope your distressing projects turn out well.

Excellent job - has that aged, lived-in look without being overdone.

Solent MKIII wrote:Excellent job - has that aged, lived-in look without being overdone.

thanks, solent. it can be hard to tell how much distressing is too much distressing, particularly with a canvas bag that's supposed to look like it's seen it all. but i will say that the "cinder block method" was quick, pretty easy to control, and provided just enough roughing to make for a well-worn look without making you think someone had distressed it. i'm very happy with the results.

That cinder block idea just might help, unfortunatly It's not the weather for that up here in New England, but come summer, oh come on summer, I've had enough winter.

Mean while I'll PM Puttetboy and ask him to send me his technique and if he doesn't mind I'll post it.
Don't no why I didn't think to contact directly, but I figure he's a busy guy.

Croft

Just applied the "cinder block" technique to my Todd's bag and love the results.

Got to be careful not to over do it though

Thanks for the tip.

B

Everytime I see the phrase "cinder block technique" it cracks me up. However, it seems to work for people, so anything goes I guess.

I know, it's totally ridiculous

But what are you gonna call it, if not that?

B

I'm gonna do this to my Todd's bag tomorrow. and my neighbors already think I'm a nut so..

Randy

Been a few months since I've been on COW, and lo and behold- my distressing method seems to have some supporters. I'm happy to have field tested the "Cinder Block Technique" for folks, and hope it has proven successful for those who've used it.

I'll stress again that, like any kind of distressing, the biggest thing is just not going overboard on it. "Subtle" makes all the difference as far as I can tell.

Truck

Just did a modified version of your distressing method. Had countless stares from neighbors, worked up a little sweat with my acrobatics, and had a blast listening to the IndyCast while distressing.




I did all sorts of crazy things to this.. including running it across the tires on an SUV.

Randy

theinterchange wrote:Just did a modified version of your distressing method. Had countless stares from neighbors, worked up a little sweat with my acrobatics, and had a blast listening to the IndyCast while distressing.




I did all sorts of crazy things to this.. including running it across the tires on an SUV.

Randy

looks fantastic, randy- even better on an original bag than on the Todd's.

There's an IndyCast?

B

Yep, there's an IndyCast. You can find it on iTunes by searching IndyCast, or Indiana jones.

Randy