"What's a badger bib?" my mother-in-law asked. "Bodger's. The bodger's bib is a heavy piece of leather that you wear around your neck to protect your shirt and chest when carving." I replied. "Oh, you mean a chest thimble." Good observation.This bodger's bib is made from heavy 12-14 oz. harness leather bellies I bought several years ago when I was visiting an Amish leather shop. The creaky floor, the air filled with the smell of leather, the hum of the antique sewing machines... A grey-bearded man under a straw hat grinned at my son and I as we walked past. "Hold your ears." he said as he held a compressed air hose to a wooden train whistle. At the blast of the whistle, all the machines stoped. Each worker dusted himself off, folded his apron on his seat and trooped single file up the creaky stairs to the break room for lunch.Since these are belly leather, some are quite supple for being so thick, and some have scars. The edges are burnished and have a border grove. Each one is stamped with my logo, and comes with an adjustable latigo leather neck string.
