Kangaroos are extraordinarily stupid animals. Every day after getting up in the late afternoon they go off to line the sides of the roads, waiting patiently and motionless for a car to come along. So that, right at the last moment, they can bound gaily in front of it, to meet their maker. There really isn't much at all going on upstairs with a roo.
And thus their bloodied remains pebbledash the sides of Australian freeways from Sydney to Perth. Serving as unheeded warning to their kin, amusement to other cleverer animals, and breaking the monotony of long drives. Whatever to do with a kangaroo...?
Well you can eat 'em. It's actually quite nice in a dark-and-lean-meat kinda way. But eating roadkill is a bit icky, so they probably farm them instead. Either way - to eat it you're gonna need to skin it. Kangaroos are quite thin skinned (don't tell them I said they were stupid), but their leather is surprisingly nice, tough, non-stretchy, cheap because they keep killing themselves, and apparently makes very good strops indeed.
Here's a small bit I bought recently, along with some strop-making accessories that were donated by @Legion:
Who'd also made and given me my first strop when I was starting out with razors. It's excellent, and I believe made out of a cow (also not that bright), so I thought I'd try to replicate it with the roo. I've got a little kiridashi there for cutting it up, and the thing on the right is a meuchi spike, for nailing the head of your eel to the board so it doesn't thrash about too much as you skin it alive. Though I will be using it somewhat more prosaically for making holes:
I've never done anything with leather before but the whole process seemed quite easy tbh, took about 10 minutes. Cut a bit out:
Spike some holes in it for the rivets, and you're there:
I shan't kid* you that my new one has quite the level of fit and finish as David's below, but it seems to me like it'll work. I'll report back later...
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* Classic leatherworking pun for you there. Has them rolling in the aisles at the International Glover Conference.
And thus their bloodied remains pebbledash the sides of Australian freeways from Sydney to Perth. Serving as unheeded warning to their kin, amusement to other cleverer animals, and breaking the monotony of long drives. Whatever to do with a kangaroo...?
Well you can eat 'em. It's actually quite nice in a dark-and-lean-meat kinda way. But eating roadkill is a bit icky, so they probably farm them instead. Either way - to eat it you're gonna need to skin it. Kangaroos are quite thin skinned (don't tell them I said they were stupid), but their leather is surprisingly nice, tough, non-stretchy, cheap because they keep killing themselves, and apparently makes very good strops indeed.
Here's a small bit I bought recently, along with some strop-making accessories that were donated by @Legion:
Who'd also made and given me my first strop when I was starting out with razors. It's excellent, and I believe made out of a cow (also not that bright), so I thought I'd try to replicate it with the roo. I've got a little kiridashi there for cutting it up, and the thing on the right is a meuchi spike, for nailing the head of your eel to the board so it doesn't thrash about too much as you skin it alive. Though I will be using it somewhat more prosaically for making holes:
I've never done anything with leather before but the whole process seemed quite easy tbh, took about 10 minutes. Cut a bit out:
Spike some holes in it for the rivets, and you're there:
I shan't kid* you that my new one has quite the level of fit and finish as David's below, but it seems to me like it'll work. I'll report back later...
---
* Classic leatherworking pun for you there. Has them rolling in the aisles at the International Glover Conference.
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Pun Police
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