Features writer, Chris Malford covers first ever Leather & Gear Market in Bristol.

Chris learnt it “..all started with an e-mail in the Summer” and ended up being a big hit with the local leather community in the West.

What resulted from a cursory inquiry by e-mail about “Have you ever thought about of holding a leather sale?…” in the summer of 2012 ended up producing an event that surpassed LeatherWest’s ambitions and ticked all the boxes of what a “leather and gear bring & buy” sale should be: a social event.

Not sure what the response would be from local guys, early indications were encouraging, until just 48 hours before “…it went mad…” says Mark, one of the organising team, “…we were seeing loads of tweets and postings of Facebook and it spread like a virus.”

Held at The Den, in the heart of Bristol’s Old Market, and with a growing reputation for fetish and kink men as a place to go and hang out, the Market saw an impressive number of guys turning up, not just on the hunt for a bargain or a special item, but with (at times) ‘arms full of gear’ to sell.

“The start of the day was frantic”, said SBerg. “We’d arrive and were setting up when we noticed there were guys milling around outside with ten minutes to go with, well, arms full gear ready to book in. Then’s when we realised the word had got out and the guys had responded.”

And responded they did. Checking in for sale was taking anything up to twenty minutes.

Runners were taking piles of jackets, boots, chaps and shorts to the market area, with some items being “snapped up as soon as I put it out on display!”, said another volunteer.

The Market area really did feel like a leather and gear store and the range of gear available was impressive. Known labels such as Mr B, Expectations, Leatherism and Leather Maniacs were mixed in with some really impressive items such as chaps from the early 80s with the original tie-up front (the authentic western cowboy style) to high quality made-to-measure items lovingly maintained with a feeling that they were be ‘reluctantly sold’ to Master/Dom full body harnesses harking back to a scene from a classic leather porn movie or a scene from Cruising.

Boots in all shapes and heights have their own special section: cherry docs, brand new never worn 20 hole rangers in ‘the box’ (perfect for the skin look) mixed in with tall riding boots, motor patrol and biker boots (all of which were selling briskly).

Whether it was guys staring out to build a leather collection, to add to a new look or to zero in on the little embellishment items (belts, wrist wallets, braces, etc) there was a great range at value-for-money prices to suit almost every conceivable budget.

Paul from Gloucester did well on the day noting that he’d sold a few items: “I’ve sold £120, bought a load of gear for £119 and made a £1 profit. Not a bad day!!”.

Mike from Bristol arrived with £200 cash, because “eBay’s alright, but however good the item looks, you get caught out like me when it arrives and find you have to squeeze too much to get in to it”. Translate that as ‘doesn’t fit’, something familiar to a lot of leathermen.

Visiting from Devon, Nick said: “I’ve been saying for ages someone should do a leather flea market sort-of-an-event. At last someones done it. I’ve got the horinest fitting pair of tight leather pants that fit like a dream.” He left wearing his new purchase to hit Old Market’s bars and return to The Den again that night.

He wasn’t alone. Several guys, clearly chuffed, with their ‘finds’ felt the need to keep their new gear on and were seen later around Old Market. Bingo: result!

Men came from far and wide in the West: one new young lad to leatherlife, and incidentally a new BLUF member (David), traveled up from Southampton on the train, He didn’t leave disappointed, having sold some items and getting a fantastic, never worn sleeveless leather biker jacket (that will look so hot over a tight denim jacket and pants!).

“I’ll be back”, he said, “…my first real time to go to a leather event and hang out with the guys. I’ve learned a lot today and made some really good contacts.”

An impressive turnout of guys from Wiltshire (Chippenham, Swindon, Melksham and Devizes), with the gang from Swindon bringing along pup for the day who was very excited by the crowd and atmosphere and nearly having to be put in his cage as he was…well…a little too giddy at times with all the leather folk around.

South Wales (Newport, Cardiff and Swansea) saw a troop of leather and skin guys arrive and a gang of students from the Welsh universities looking to start their leather collections, with cherry docs selling well for skin gear and leather pants being snapped up: “…if w’ re going to hit Cardiff and Bristol for leather events we’d better get kitted out”.

Local Bristol men and lads were out in force: buyers and sellers. Alex snapped up a terrific pair of sailor zip Leather Maniacs pants and tall 17″ black leather riding boots to nearly complete the BLUF look (we look forward to seeing you there!), DaddySW, selling some fantastic rare pieces (chaps, jocks, pants) so impressed with the crowd and the atmosphere, will be out on the social scene, “Bristol’s definitely getting to be a pace where a leather man has got to get out and have some fun.”

And that was it, the fun side. Again, The Den provided just the right setting for the market, together with the warm welcoming bar crew Bill & Ben, not just providing the bar, but eats as well, to produce a cafe environment as well as a market. So there was an opportunity to meet, chat, make new contacts and catch up with guys you’ve not seen for a while.

The day didn’t, however, go without an incident or two that’s always worth reporting.

The sight of three leather men having a ‘bitch fight’ over a Muir cap just come in for sale (and why not): an original sought after Muir Cap Company cap from Toronto, Canada, complete with an authentic New York police officers badge - with serial number - causing the amusing sight of a bidding frenzy to ensue and a vigorous competitive spirit develop - all friendly of course.

Then there was one guy putting his cap down for a minute and another guy picking it up asking “how much”, resulting in a grabbing action and a stern ” It’s not for sale” - smiles all round.

In the market area, one well known leather guy, doing a penguin walk after trying the wrist to thigh restraints (which he really liked). No ‘friends’ were suddenly available to unlock him out of his tormenting bondage for a while - though he looked suspiciously ‘comfortable’ all strapped up. (Ed- smile)

There was the intriguing a “Can you help me on with this?” full body harness with detachable jock request: two leather men were instantly available to spend forty (yes 40!) minutes in the toilet strapping up the guy to see if it was a fit….work that one out.

And of course, we can’t leave the day without mentioning pup from Wiltshire, who was well behaved for most of the day, but did get so excited sniffing the legs of leather men, he was threatened with the cage and being lock-up if he didn’t behave. Poor pup.

Building a community isn’t easy. The LeatherWest crowd have put an enormous amount of thought into how to achieve this and whatever their recipe is, it’s working…and working well.

Just from the evidence of the tweets and Facebook postings on the day and afterwards, there’s a genuine appreciation of the work and results being produced. That’s something you can’t manufacture: the good feeling you have after an event.

A big special thank you should go to the organising team for the day: Mark Bristol Uniform, SBerg for the logistics; Biker Chris Cardiff and Welsh9inch for helping to cataloger a mountain of gear; Bill & Ben at The Den for running the bar, providing eats and drinks and rubber gear; Shaun Bo owner of The Den for hosting; DaddySW for instigating the whole event, whose original e-mail resulting in the Market being a reality; Black Arrow Tim for the music on the day and Mark Chippenham for helping to audit and pack-up when the market closed.

So successful was the day, that LeatherWest say that they will announce a date for their second market event soon, aiming for five to six months time in the spring or summer of 2013, with Mark adding: “We didnt really know how much gear was in peoples’ cupboards. We’ve had messages since from guys who didn’t know about the event or who couldn’t make it. Totting up the gear they say they have, there’s plenty of ‘stock’ out there and a keen demand for it.”

If there’s one lesson from the day it’s this: there’s no limit to gear out there and no shortage of new loving home for it either. Set the atmosphere like this time in The Den and the Market will be a clear winner again. I’ll be looking forward to the next Market, and I better just start routing about under the stairs and ‘closets’ for leather I’ve forgotten about.

@leatherwest - thanks for the hard work doing gear market last night. Some great kit. Where did RoB jeans, shirts & chaps come from? :-))
— BLUFbristol (@BLUFbristol) November 19, 2024

@leatherwest Congrats, a great event. Love my new purchases
— Bristol Fetish(@BrstlFetishCrew) November 10, 2025

I can’t be at @leatherwest‘s #Leather sale (The Den Bristol, from 1pm today). Make sure you don’t miss out too: leatherwest.com/market.html
— bootbrush (@bootbrush) November 10, 2025

Good Luck @leatherwest with your Leather and Gear Market!
— Ams. Kink Academy (@AmsKinkAcademy) November 10, 2025

Finished bagging up two huge bags of leather gear with ChrisBiker & Welsh9Inch ready for @leatherwestleather & gear market @thedenbristol
— Bluf SBerg (@BlufSBerg) November 9, 2025

@blufsberg I hope it’s a great day - a friend is going and he’s pretty excited… I’m jealous! AWF
— Angels Will Fall (@AWFfetish) November 10, 2025