Almost anything you can craft from cow leather can be crafted from alligator leather, granted it has been properly cultivated and tanned.  With many options available for tanning, refining, and processing of the actual alligator hide, you can create things in almost any shape, size, texture, and color.

The most popular items (in order) from our experience are:

Alligator Handbags – Many high-end brands and fashion designers implement crocodile or alligator leather into their designs.  Typically the largest, highest grade belly-sided hides are used because handbags require large pieces of a hide and the lower grades will often have a little scar tissue that is unacceptable for high-end merchandising.

Alligator Boots and Shoes – Attractive and highly durable leather shoes and boots are among the most popular products sold.  Alligator hide cowboy boots are very popular in the Midwest and Southern United States.

Alligator Belts – Alligator skin belts come in all colors, lengths, and thicknesses.  They are either designed by stitching together pieces of hides, one long strip of hide (much more expensive for a single piece), or even the entire tail.

Alligator Wallets – Most wallets are assembled using the best smaller pieces of lower-grade hides.  However, higher-grade hides often yield exceptional production since the quality will allow for more and better cuts.

Alligator Luggage / Cases – High-end luggage, totes, and briefcases are popular exotic alligator leather products.  Crafting luggage with alligator can be costly since the production often requires extra large crocodile hides of the highest quality available, free of most natural defects such as scar tissue, holes, and imperfections.

Alligator Upholstery – Upholstery is a popular use and with the cost of Alligator Leather, it is reserved for very high-end applications, typically commercial or custom car interiors.  Often, alligator leather is used as trim to accent another application, such as a more common leather.  This is a cost-saver, especially since with trim you can often cut and piece the leather together for a near-seamless appearance.

Alligator leather jewelry – Smaller applications of alligator leather are usually in jewelry such as key rings, wristbands, and other small pieces that can use lower-grade quality cuts of leather.  However, some high-end designers still want to be sure they’re getting the best quality, and even with a high-grade extra large alligator hide, it is possible to craft many great looking pieces.

Our recommendation when sourcing exotic skin such as alligator leather is to find a reliable exotic leather supplier who  can answer all of your questions about the material, understands all of the restrictions and laws surrounding the trade of that particular species, and has relationships with the tanneries and farmers who produce the skins.  This relationship gives you the best price and quality, saving you lots of time and money.  If you are looking to source crocodile skins for large-scale production and/or contract manufacturing, fill out our alligator inquiry form so our global supplier of Exotic leather can contact you.

A genuine alligator leather hide is one of the strongest and most dense materials for leathercrafting.  As alligators grow, their skin becomes increasingly thick, making them an ideal predator in the wild with few competitors, especially within rivers and streams.  They are lightning-quick, instinctual to attack, and can sense movement in the water with their acutely tuned senses.

However, this thick skin is hardly safe from bullets.  The safest part of the alligator would probably be the bony plates under the skin, which would serve as a shield to protect its very delicate insides.  A large, full-grown gator however could probably survive a shot from a smaller caliber gun but it is unlikely that it could survive a shot from a larger weapon; it will take a powerful shot and maybe multiple shots to take a full size alligator down.    And a tanned alligator leather hide?  Not a chance.   Alligator skin is definitely not designed for bullet protection and shooting a bullet at it will puncture a hole right through!

In regards to leathermaking and food, bullets are not the ideal way to obtain its meat and hides since the bullets will often ruin portions of both – guns are often used against alligators but only when someone’s life may be in danger or ignorant and uneducated hunters!