Dragonthorn Leatherworks Pocket Carry System (PCS) review

A few weeks ago Dave Hauser of Dragonthorn Leatherworks contacted me to ask if I would be interested in reviewing his PCS. What is a PCS you ask? It stands for Pocket Carry System and if you like keeping your EDC (everyday carry) items organized, you’re going to appreciate his design skills and craftsmanship. Let me show you more.

Note: Images can be clicked to view a larger size.

First of all, each PCS that Dave crafts from leather is different. That’s because it’s designed especially for you and the items that you carry. He asked me to think of 2-3 things that I always carry. I considered this for a few days and finally came up with…

Lip balm (my favorite is Carmex), nail clippers and an Altoids Smalls tin which I use to hold pills like Ibuprofen. I know it’s not exciting, but I carry these items in my Timbuk2 messenger bag everyday and move the items to a smaller bag when the occasion strikes. I thought it would be convenient to combine these three items into a PCS. I was also curious how Dave would design the holder.

In addition to my choice of items, Dave gave me a choice of leather stain color, thread color, the ability to add a flap and any item layout preferences. I decided on no flap and reddish brown stain with brown thread. I left the layout design to Dave.

Less than 2 weeks later, I received the PCS in the mail. When I took it out of the package, I was immediately impressed by the quality. It’s very apparent that Dave knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to leather work. No surprise since he’s been working with this material for 30yrs (professionally for the past 10).

My PCS feels like a molded hard shell case. It’s rigid and doesn’t collapse when it’s empty.

The Dragonthorn Leatheworks logo adorns one side of the holder. In the image above you can also see the perfect even stitching.

Dave designed this PCS with 3 pieces of leather. Two pieces make up the main PCS which holds the Altoids tin and lip balm, and a third slot holds the clippers.

The PCS is made of 2-3oz. tooling leather and is lined with 1/4oz. calfskin. That’s the lighter colored leather you can see inside the slots. You’ll also notice the nicely finished edges that give this holder a smooth feel all around.

The PCS looks and feels impressive, but how well does it hold the items?

Very well and very snuggly. The leather will stretch and conform even better to the items with time and use. But even brand new, the items fit well and won’t fall out if you hold the PCS upside down and give it a shake. In the image above, you will see the clippers and lip balm fully seated in their slots. The Altoids tin can be pushed farther down in the slot, but it makes it tough to pull it out due to the tight fit. I have been leaving the tin sticking out like you see above so that I can grip it easier when I need to remove it.

As designed with the calfskin lining, this particular PCS would be priced at $135 which sounds like a crazy price to hold $5 worth of items. If Dave designs a PCS for you, it will most likely have a different price dependent on size and type of holder. Dave says that $100 is an average price. Yes, that’s expensive, but it’s custom leatherwork, which never comes cheap. If you’re in need of a custom holder for your gear, you’ll enjoy working with Dave and enjoy the resulting PCS even more.