About The Bone Dry NZ Instant Leather Waterproof & Condition Team
Family owned and operated by kiwis for kiwis and alikeBone Dry NZ leather waterproofing, conditioner is a successful family business developed by professional hunter Craig Dempster with wife Jenny and daughter Sophie.
It has become a fun, family enterprise. The whole family is involved in making, packing, labelling and selling the product in their own highly enthusiastic way at Bike Rallies, hunting competitions and other rural get togethers.
The Dempsters (the Bone Dry team) pride themselves on producing a no bull product that delivers all the attributes that make Bone Dry NZ a leading candidate to becoming the worlds best leather care product.
The Bone Dry NZ Story
The birth of Bone Dry NZ goes back to 2003. Till then, says Craig,
' I was using a range of products on the market and winding up with the same conclusion. There were even times where I just simply gave up wasting my money on worthless waterproofing products and put up with wet feet. We needed a product that worked well, lasted longer and was dead easy to apply. Existing products all came up short, so I started on the Bone Dry mission to create my own waterproofing and leather-preserving product. We failed on many occasions ending up with the same results as the existing products out there.
Our focus soon changed after a well rewarding days pig hunting. The day before this truthful day I was trying some different ingredient's out, and to cut a long story short, pig hunting buddy and I spent the day hunting out of a creek, in and out of the water all day. At the end of the day as we were taking our boots off I noticed my feet were bone dry, I looked over at my mate who was standing in water logged socks.
Over a few beers chatting about the days events we were very excited at the prospect that we may have found the solution to our wet feet problem. The brakes were off and it was full steam ahead on developing and testing this new brew. Over the next 3 years, we field-tested and researched the market and refined the product to the form it is in today.'
'Compared to existing (all imported) products, we have come to the conclusion that the local and wider world markets are lacking a product with the outstanding performance qualities of Bone Dry. By field-testing in USA and Canada, in association with our hunting business, we were amazed by the positive feedback and results we found.
To talk about one of the field tests conducted on this product, one example was in the Yukon hunting moose late September. The daily temperature was around -2 deg with plenty of snow on the ground. Myself and clients would find ourselves spending long days standing in snow. The clients all wore Mendel boots with Gore Tex liners and no form of waterproofing on the leather outers and for myself, I wore my normal hunting boot with no Gore Tex liner . There were lots of water-crossing and swampy conditions to contend with and although we both would have dry feet at the end of the day, the clients feet would be frozen cold. This is due to the leather being wet and then freezing while being in the snow. It was like having their feet entombed in a fridge. My boots were completely dry inside and out, resulting in warm feet all day. The water can not penetrate the leather once Bone Dry has been applied. If leather is not wet it can't freeze!
The use of Bone Dry NZ Leather Waterproofing, conditioner on Gore Tex lined boots has resulted in a completely waterproof boot and those high dollar value boots will last you longer. The only thing keeping your feet dry is that Gore Tex liner and the only thing protecting that, is the leather outer of that boot. If the leather outer breaks down so will the Gore Tex liner and then comes wet feet and sooner rather than later, a new pair of expensive boots.
We were encouraged to trial the new product in retail stores, which we did through PGG stores in NZ. All product was sold over 18months with only word of mouth advertising. It was very encouraging to hear the positive feedback from people who were using Bone Dry when we were out promoting the product at events.'
Creating a successful product meant going back to basics
When the animal skin is part of the live animal, the fats and blood supply keep the fibres soft and pliable. When the skin is tanned into leather, the tannery pumps oils and chemicals into the fibres to keep them soft and pliable. As we wear the leather in our new boots, we flex the fibres and the oils & chemicals are worked or washed out leaving dryness, which will immediately absorb whatever moisture, is around – usually water. Hence the wet feet problem. Where a shoe or boot leather is worked or flexed most, drying out occurs followed by cracking and the invitation for water to wick straight into your feet. Stopping this process means, stopping both the cracking and the migration of water.
With this double problem in mind, Bone Dry NZ has been formulated with different ingredients to achieve both of these functions at the same time. It’s NOT just a matter of creating a seal on the top of the leather to keep the water out, which is what some of the competitive products do. This is prone to easy ‘erosion’ of the waterproofing and short-term protection. The real answer to waterproofing means absorption of oils throughout the fibres to mimic the original animal oils AND creating a breathable layer on the surface which does not easily rub off.