Held Kangaroo Gloves Banned in CA?

[BrianT]

Was at my local dealer today and was informed by one of the parts employees that they were being forced to pull any of the Kangaroo lined gloves, such as some of the popular Held glove models and one of the BMW models. According to him the state of California has been trying to ban the sale and importation of Kangaroo skin gloves. It's been tied up in the courts for the past couple of years but apparantly has come to fruition and they've been told to pull them. Anybody have any more info on this? According to him you also will not be able to purchase the gloves outside of the state and have them shipped here from another dealer. If this is true, it may be time to stock on Held gloves if you like the kangaroo skin ones. I wonder if other states will follow suit?

[jaytee]

Yes, its sad but true. Taht being said, I seriously doubt anyone -tailing these things could care less what CA is doping with their dopey feel-good laws. Kangaroos are not a protected species so far as I know. We have buffalo, they have kangaroos.

 

JT

[tomk99r11]

CA needs to go back to outer space when the mother ship next passes by.

[Jerry_75_Guy]

Maybe some of our members from OZ could chime in on this:

 

isn't there a surplus of kangaroos down there?

 

I have some vague recollection of hearing that due to an over abundance of them('red' kangaroos?), some areas were having problems, ie crop issues, traffic issues (like deer in the U.S.).

 

(Wow...saved my 1000th post for a kangaroo thread ; who would have thought )

[WURTY]

That law is being repealed soon.

 

coppied this from CBSnews.com

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger on Saturday signed 97 bills

KANGAROO SKIN California will end its unique ban on importing or selling kangaroo-skin products.

 

Schwarzenegger favors exotic-skin cowboy boots and owns snakeskin and alligator boots, but proponents said the bill was not about fashion products. Kangaroo leather is lighter than other leathers and is most often used in law enforcement gear and high-performance soccer cleats, although soccer megastar David Beckham is among those who have switched to synthetic leather.

 

The measure would continue the state's prohibition on products made from protected kangaroo species, but allow the use of leather from more plentiful species.

[Dietrich]

We -HAD- Buffalo would be a better way to put it. But I agree Kangaroos seem to be plenty down under. Would you wear Seal leather gloves though? We have plenty of those creatures up here, but you see what happened with that trade.

D

[TyTass]

That law is being repealed soon.

 

coppied this from CBSnews.com

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger on Saturday signed 97 bills

KANGAROO SKIN California will end its unique ban on importing or selling kangaroo-skin products.

 

Schwarzenegger favors exotic-skin cowboy boots and owns snakeskin and alligator boots, but proponents said the bill was not about fashion products. Kangaroo leather is lighter than other leathers and is most often used in law enforcement gear and high-performance soccer cleats, although soccer megastar David Beckham is among those who have switched to synthetic leather.

 

The measure would continue the state's prohibition on products made from protected kangaroo species, but allow the use of leather from more plentiful species.

California ... Doesn't want to use products from any "cute" animals but then aren't they arfraid that the additional manufacturing of synthetics will further upset the delicate balance of the planet's ecosystem and plunge us all deeper into Global Warming?OMG! Whatever will California do?

 

Sad state of a very confused State. Sheesh!

[Shaman97]

Hmm. I think we're loosening up a bit. I had rabbit at a local restaurant, and as a novelty, I bought a 'roo bag' without any trouble (for me that is). If there was a product that would cause pain, this would be it, but nary a word was said at the store.

[smiller]

We have buffalo, they have kangaroos.

Some unintentional irony there?

[dickeeknee]

Was at my local dealer today and was informed by one of the parts employees that they were being forced to pull any of the Kangaroo lined gloves, such as some of the popular Held glove models and one of the BMW models. According to him the state of California has been trying to ban the sale and importation of Kangaroo skin gloves. It's been tied up in the courts for the past couple of years but apparantly has come to fruition and they've been told to pull them. Anybody have any more info on this? According to him you also will not be able to purchase the gloves outside of the state and have them shipped here from another dealer. If this is true, it may be time to stock on Held gloves if you like the kangaroo skin ones. I wonder if other states will follow suit?

 

This link will give you the whole kangaroo story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo

 

There are some species of 'roo that are protected (usually the smaller ones) but the big ones aren't. In fact there are probably more killed on Australian roads than are turned into gloves. The prevalance of 'roos and their 'impact' on vehicles, especially bikes, is more like that of elk and deer in the Rockies. They just leap out from the side of the road at you with no prior warning...bastards!

 

This law to 'protect' 'roos is well meant but, typical of do-gooders, misguided. They've watched too many travel docos of cute kangaroos jumping about the place and not driven the road and had "close encounters of the unpleasant kind".

[ghaverkamp]

I did some looking the last time this came up.

[jaytee]

We have buffalo, they have kangaroos.

Some unintentional irony there?

 

 

Uhhh... a bit insensitive on my part, I admit... So, uh, we killed most of the poor buffalo,... um...

 

In my defense, I was actually thinking about the resurgence of buffalo ranching as well as the numerous meat and leather products available in the US made from buffalo.

 

Fly over to Catalina island (a place where buffalo were imported by hollywood to film a movie of all thing!) and have a buffalo burger at the airfield.

 

Ahem.

 

JT

[Ben_Ricci]

Going further off topic...from the Wiki link:

 

"Absence of digestive methane release

Despite having a herbivorous diet similar to ruminants such as cattle which release large quantities of methane through exhaling and eructation, kangaroos release virtually none. The hydrogen byproduct of fermentation is instead converted into acetate, which is then used to provide further energy. Scientists are interested in the possibility of transferring the bacteria responsible from kangaroos to cattle, since the greenhouse gas effect of methane is 23 times greater than that of carbon dioxide."

 

So roos are sort of hydrogen powered critters with a small carbon footprint? Perfect for today's world friendly world.

 

Anyway, I worked for several footwear manufacturers (a long time ago) and I recall that kangaroo track cleats were all the rage (mid-1970's) because of the strength and lightweight of the hide. Back then I seem to recall kangaroo being illegal in the US altogether and just sort of forgot about this until I read this thread. Obviously things have changed since then, but the hide is good stuff.

[Uggles]

Recently around here the local defence department has decided to cull a number of 'roos on their property as they are in plague proportions. Stripping the vegetation and being a menace to motorists is but some of the problems we have with them.

[exwingnut]

CA needs to go back to outer space when the mother ship next passes by.

 

I live in CA, I wear held gloves with Kangaroo leather, and I know a lot of resonable and sane people who live here and who do not fit your simple stereotyping nor would they appreciate being so described.

 

Demeaning regional generalizations about Californians do not make the poster look any smarter to us, really.

 

Silly remark about where YOU live witheld by common courtesy.

 

 

/rant

[wolcott]

I know from reading National Geographic that there is no shortage of kangaroos, and I hope that the products made from them will keep protecting American riders, even if it's only gloves. 1)Is it just basically gloves that they make from the 'roos? Leather jackets/pants are usually from cattle. A kangaroo leather jacket would be too expensive, low supply of ready skins, etc?

[russell_bynum]

CA needs to go back to outer space when the mother ship next passes by.

 

I live in CA, I wear held gloves with Kangaroo leather, and I know a lot of resonable and sane people who live here and who do not fit your simple stereotyping nor would they appreciate being so described.

 

Demeaning regional generalizations about Californians do not make the poster look any smarter to us, really.

 

Silly remark about where YOU live witheld by common courtesy.

 

 

/rant

 

Sure...there area few sane people here. But the majority keeps electing idiots who do goofy things like ban the sale of kangaroo leather.

[TyTass]

Silly remark about where YOU live witheld by common courtesy. /rant

You're most welcome to knock yourself out and make all the silly remarks you want about any of the silly laws and/or silly habits/traits of the people where I currently live (Southern MD). (BTW: The people here are rumored to be inbred, backwoods types - so that's always a good start! ) You're also welcome to have at the other 5 states I've lived (HI, VA, OK, FL, IL) where people had different, silly little habits/traits and yet just as many ridiculous stereotypes floating around.

 

One can choose to be offended (tsk tsk) or one can choose to not be thin-skinned. I ask rhetorically ... is taking offense really the higher path?

[smiller]

... is taking offense really the higher path?

No, that would be not making the comment in the first place.

[tomk99r11]

Gheez! There are comments made everyday by a wide range of posters from all over the country about all sorts of topics. One can choose to be thin skinned or not. I prefer to have a sense of humor, apparently as do several subsequent posters. But, I am duly admonished and have taken myself to time out. I hope everyone will survive this severely traumatic situation.

[bakerzdosen]

Where can you NOT make silly remarks about the inhabitants? I mean, I have a lake in my state that's larger than Delaware, so you can perhaps make size jokes about Delaware and Rhode Island - and that's less about the people and more about the locale. But other than that, I sorta mentally went through the the 50 states (and France) and couldn't come up with a place where you couldn't hit them with some sort of location based one-liner. California is different than every other state. It just is. However, the same can be said for pretty much every other state too.

 

(I don't know Canada as well, but I can't tell you how many Newfie jokes I've heard from a former Newfie.)

[BeemerBerg]

Geeez. First the Owls, then the buffalo, then the Kangaroo. What's next, banning anything made from the hide of the endangered North American Nauga? There goes my imitation leather coats!!

[AdventurePoser]

We have buffalo, they have kangaroos.

 

JT, this is ironic humor, right?

 

Steve in So Cal

Happily wearing elk and deerskin gloves...

 

Steve in So Cal

[exwingnut]

CA needs to go back to outer space when the mother ship next passes by.

 

I live in CA, I wear held gloves with Kangaroo leather, and I know a lot of resonable and sane people who live here and who do not fit your simple stereotyping nor would they appreciate being so described.

 

Demeaning regional generalizations about Californians do not make the poster look any smarter to us, really.

 

Silly remark about where YOU live witheld by common courtesy.

 

 

/rant

 

Sure...there area few sane people here. But the majority keeps electing idiots who do goofy things like ban the sale of kangaroo leather.

 

Ain't it the (sad) truth...at least I am one of the BMW riding minority.

[exwingnut]

One can choose to be offended (tsk tsk) or one can choose to not be thin-skinned. I ask rhetorically ... is taking offense really the higher path?

 

I respectfully decline your offer to make jokes about others, but invite you to ask yourself the above question (rhetorically, of course) about your response. Something in my post must have offended you to get you to respond.

[exwingnut]

Where can you NOT make silly remarks about the inhabitants?

 

Its like fighting with my brother when I was a kid, I can call him anything under the sun, but let someone else call him a twit and now you have a different situation entirely.

[tgrrdr]

I can't say they're exactly the same, but I have a pair of gloves very similar to the ones pictured below that I bought in Concord, CA a last year. As I recall they're kangaroo leather and the description for the ones currently on the website indicate they're also made from kangaroo leather.

 

I've seen similar restrictions from Cabela's - I guess it's depends on how compliant the company wants to be and/or how much hassel they're willing to put up with.

 

 

 

* Leather and natural Kangaroo leather

* Stretch cuff panel

* Punching on base of fingers

* Moulded air vents

* Hard moulded knuckle piece

 

[taters]

what a f*&%#ed up state, if you are caught carrying a .45 concealed it's a misdemeanor .....if you are caught carrying a knife concealed it's a felony....they have more kangeroos than they know what to do with. wacko state and san francisco is more whacked out then the rest of the state.i don't cross the nevada border

[ghaverkamp]

Sure...there area few sane people here. But the majority keeps electing idiots who do goofy things like ban the sale of kangaroo leather.

 

There are lots of different majorities. The majority that banned kangaroo did so in 1971. That they can't get a majority to remove it isn't a great surprise; I don't imagine there's a big kangaroo hide lobby.

 

Frankly, I think we should all be wearing more deer, and I thank Jamie and Leslie for their active step in that direction.

[bakerzdosen]

Frankly, I think we should all be wearing more deer, and I thank Jamie and Leslie for their active step in that direction.

If you're going to wear deer, make sure it's tanned first and not freshly bounding across the road while you're riding.

[tazplas]

If you're going to wear deer, make sure it's tanned first and not freshly bounding across the road while you're riding.

 

We have the same policy down here in Taz. except it's for those bouncy hoppy things.

 

 

Steve

[BabyCow]

There is some divergence on the actual kangaroo population due to our drought situation ( and once there were millions of buffalo ).

 

2.2 Kangaroo Populations

 

The total kangaroo population size has dominated debate on the kangaroo issue. Australian authorities claimed a total population of 32-35 million in 1980, implied this had grown to 36 million in 1982, and even suggested it could be as high as 60 million in 1983.

 

In June 1983 a comprehensive estimate for the years 1980 to 1982 revealed the kangaroo population "peaked" in 1981 at only 19 million. (Gregg, Caughley and Short 1983)

 

The 1982/83 drought was the most severe on record in eastern Australia and caused an overall mortality of 43% in inland New South Wales kangaroo populations. Applying the known mortality rates to relevant areas of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia reveals that the post-drought kangaroo population would not exceed 13 million. Australia's human population exceeded 15 million in 1983. The post-drought floods in western Queensland and north west NSW caused additional heavy post-drought kangaroo mortalities.

 

See http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=391&c=31953. . However, they do seem to be plentiful both alive and dead on the side of the road. Farmers regard them as a pest. At Canberra (the nation's capitol) airport it has been reported that the runways have to be cleared of kangaroos prior to flight operations. In 1995 I drove across the country and after dark about 600 miles west of Sydney the number of kangaroos on the road was like pedestrians in Pitt Street mall during a sale ( American translation: like kids at Disneyland during summer vacation )

[leikam]

Not all leather is the same. Kangaroo leather tends to be soft and strong, while cow or buffalo tends to be heavy and stiff. That's why roos are perfect for glove palms where you want a lot of tactile feel and other leathers are used for jackets, pants, etc. where weight and wear resistance is more important. As I recall, deer and elk is somewhere in the middle in terms of feel, but lacks the strength of kangaroo.

[James Clark]

CA needs to go back to outer space when the mother ship next passes by.

 

The kangaroo ban was passed in 1971. It's been ignored since the feds lifted their ban.

 

Then our distinguished Ambulance-Chaser General decided to use the ban to shake down "Big Shoe".

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19930508/

[TyTass]

Thanks ... that's the point entirely. In my case (like many people), I've lived in a bunch of states, in different regions of the country, worked a lot of jobs/professions that are regularly the brunt of jokes and over-the-top, Python-esque silliness, etc.

 

So if I forsake my own identity for the identity of any or all of those groups, I'd have to run around being offended and indignant all the time, instead of yucking it up at the kernals of truth in the outrageous comments.

 

And what a colossal waste of time and energy that would be.

[Alan D]

Where can you NOT make silly remarks about the inhabitants? I mean, I have a lake in my state that's larger than Delaware, so you can perhaps make size jokes about Delaware and Rhode Island - and that's less about the people and more about the locale. But other than that, I sorta mentally went through the the 50 states (and France) and couldn't come up with a place where you couldn't hit them with some sort of location based one-liner. California is different than every other state. It just is. However, the same can be said for pretty much every other state too.

 

(I don't know Canada as well, but I can't tell you how many Newfie jokes I've heard from a former Newfie.)

 

A seal walks into a bar...

The bartender says "what will you have?"

The seal says 'Anything but a Canadian Club!"