The Story Behind Expedition Leatherworks

In 2017, I was living out of my 1982 Westy.

I had just sold my house in Southern California and was working remotely while running my business at the time. I wanted to see what it felt like to pare life down to the bare minimum — to live as simply as I comfortably could and find out what really mattered when everything I owned had to fit inside a Volkswagen van.

I left Southern California and drove north to Seattle, then across the country to New York, up to Nova Scotia, down to Florida, across the Deep South, back to Seattle, and finally back to Southern California.

It was, without question, one of the best times of my life. If you ever have the opportunity to do something similar, I highly recommend it. You learn a lot about yourself, your priorities, and what you actually need.

You also learn your van inside and out.

When your van is your home, every square inch matters. Every cabinet, every panel, every bit of unused space starts to stand out. I spent a lot of time sitting in my Westy, staring at the interior, thinking about how it could be better.

One space kept bothering me: the back of the Westfalia wardrobe cabinet.

It was right there, easy to access, and almost completely unused. I started sketching ideas for what could go there. The sketches were terrible. My drawing skills are, unfortunately, not strong. Even my stick figures are questionable. But the idea was clear in my head: a leather tool organizer designed specifically for that overlooked space.

That idea eventually became the Westy Bravo.

The first physical prototype was made in Chiang Mai, Thailand while I was traveling through Asia. It was… underwhelming. The leather wasn’t right, the design needed refinement, and the tool slots were flat instead of flared, which meant the tools didn’t slide in and out the way they should.

But the core idea was there.

After returning from Thailand, I bought a houseboat in San Diego Bay and kept working on the concept. I knew the product had potential, but I still needed to figure out two very important things: where to find the right leather, and who could actually make these organizers properly.

Not long after that, a good friend and I drove my van down the Baja peninsula. At the time, I had never been farther south than Ensenada. The rest of Baja felt dark and unexplored to me, like the blank sections of an old strategy-game map.

For three weeks, we adventured all the way down to the tip of Baja and back. That trip gave me my first real taste of Mexico, and I loved it.

It also introduced me to something that would become central to the future of Expedition Leatherworks: Mexico’s incredible leather culture.

Everywhere I looked, I saw beautiful leather goods. Bags, belts, saddles, wallets, boots — all made with skill and character. I started asking questions. Where was the leather coming from? Who was making it? Where were the real craftsmen?

My search eventually led me to Guanajuato, a central Mexican state famous for leather production.

Before long, I was literally knocking on doors in Tijuana, trying to explain that I wanted to make a very specific leather organizer for a vehicle that was never officially sold in Mexico. Eventually, a shop owner called a friend, who called a cousin, whose uncle knew someone in Guanajuato with a leather tannery.

The next thing I knew, I was on a plane by myself to central Mexico to learn about leather.

I was picked up at the airport by a serious-looking ranchero in cowboy boots, jeans, a button-down shirt, and a cowboy hat. Over the next couple of days, he gave me a crash course in leather tanning. I picked through stacks of hides, learning about texture, thickness, finish, durability, and character.

Eventually, I settled on a leather commonly known as “Crazy Horse.” Despite the name, it is not made from horses. Crazy Horse leather is full-grain cowhide that has been buffed, smoothed, and treated with wax to create a rich, durable finish that develops a beautiful patina over time.

It was exactly what I had been looking for.

I had found the leather. Now I needed someone to cut it, sew it, shape it, and install the snaps.

So I returned to central Mexico and started knocking on doors again. I toured dozens of small leather workshops, looking for the right fit. Some were too disorganized. Some were not clean enough. Some just didn’t feel right.

Finally, I found a workshop that was different. It was clean, organized, well-run, and producing beautiful work. Just as importantly, they took pride in how they treated their workers. That mattered to me then, and it still matters now.

At that point, the pieces were finally coming together. We had the design. We had the leather. We had the workshop.

The only question left was whether anyone would actually buy this strange little leather organizer for the back of a Westfalia cabinet.

The first real test came at Syncrofest in 2018.

We arrived with two finished prototypes installed in vans and showed the Westy Bravo publicly for the first time. To my great relief, people loved it. The Westy Bravo was an immediate hit. That weekend, we connected with vendors who wanted to carry it, and the product officially launched.

To make the weekend even better, I won Best 2WD Van that year. Launching my first product and taking home that award made for a pretty unforgettable Syncrofest.

Since then, we have sold more than 1,000 Westy Bravos, and it has remained one of our signature products.

From there, the product line grew. I traveled deeper into Mexico, Oaxaca, and Guatemala, learning from artisans who worked with leather, wool, natural dyes, and traditional weaving techniques. I saw wool dyed with local plants and insects. I watched artisans weave on looms using methods passed down through generations.

Those experiences shaped the direction of Expedition Leatherworks.

We created colorful rugs, seat ponchos, leather organizers, and storage solutions for different parts of our vans. The guiding principle was simple: make things we genuinely wanted to use in our own Westfalias, and make them well enough that other people would want them too.

In 2024, after years of helping build and grow the product line, I purchased the business outright and brought it fully under the Expedition Leatherworks name.

That transition gave me the opportunity to refocus the brand, refine the product lineup, and bring the business back to its original purpose: creating premium, handcrafted products for Vanagon and Westfalia owners who care about quality, function, and design.

Expedition Leatherworks is not trying to make the cheapest products possible. That has never been the goal.

The goal is to make the best products we can.

That means using beautiful materials. It means thoughtful design. It means working with skilled craftspeople. It means building products that feel right, look right, work well, and age beautifully.

There will always be cheaper options. There will always be mass-produced alternatives. But that is not what we are here to make.

We make products for people who love their vans, use their vans, travel in their vans, and appreciate the small details that make life on the road better.

Following the transition to Expedition Leatherworks, we are slowly updating, refining, and relaunching our product line. Some familiar favorites are returning. New ideas are in development. And the mission remains the same: to offer the finest handcrafted storage and lifestyle products for the Westfalia community.

Thank you to everyone who has supported these products over the years. Whether you bought one of the first Westy Bravos, found us at a show, followed along online, or are just discovering Expedition Leatherworks now, we appreciate you.

These products started with one underused space in the back of a Westy cabinet.

They continue because of people who understand why that matters.