About The Team
We are firefighter family owned and operated business based in SW Missouri. Owned by Jared & Kori Smith, and our five amazing kids. We have a team of 4 daily employees, and seasonal help during the holidays or for large department orders.
Jared & Kori Smith– Jared joined the fire service in 2001, as a direct result of 9/11. He is a career fireman since 2004, and still volunteers to this day. Admittedly though, only going to fires as a volly… He is a lead instructor for Engine House Training, LLC and specializes in truck ops. He appreciates the opportunity to learn, grow, and network with others in ways that are extremely valuable to him, forging many bonds with brothers that would not have otherwise happened. Kori Smith is a dedicated mother and homemaker, and helps us all stay centered at work and at home. She handles all of the paintwork, and touches almost every other aspect of the business in one way or another on a daily basis. She can hang with the guys and hold her own, she enjoys a good cigar and glass of bourbon, and all of the baby animals she can get her hands on. She would live in the sand on a beach if she could…
Shawn Keim- Shawn joined the fire service in 2016, and has been a career fireman since 2018. Shawn has been with us since 2019, and handles almost everything in the shop production wise, with the exception of custom hand tooled and civilian items. He builds all of our radio straps, suspenders, belts, etc., and manages the daily items production as well as our seasonal help. He has built and overseen thousands of products from start to finish, and helped in the development of several products over the years. Shawn, also known as “Cat Daddy”, loves cats, engine work, tactical readiness, and trying to slip Taylor Swift songs into the shops music rotation. Shawn is married with two children, and is an incredible asset to the business. He is just another member of the Smith family at this point.
Isaac Smith- Isaac is our newest team member, and also Jared & Kori’s oldest son! He builds and finishes all of our smaller daily shipped items like chinstraps, glove straps, shackles etc. He can put an amazing burnish on a leather project. His first project was stitching 750 radio straps for a large dept. order! Isaac has since grown tremendously in his skills and abilities, as well as his maturity and work ethic. He loves tacos, doing backflips, and his new found freedom behind the wheel of dads truck. He is an amazing artist, hand drawing just about anything you can imagine, with an incredible eye for detail.
Seasonal team members- All of our seasonal or large project assistance comes in the form of off duty firefighters. We have been blessed financially by the fire service and are grateful for the opportunity to give back to those who give so much of themselves already. We take the opportunity for our kids and family to help out in the shop as well. Using the opportunity to teach a work ethic, as well as re-enforce daily life and educational skills.
I love going to jobs, can’t get enough of it. I have a thirst for knowledge and a deep passion for learning the craft, sharing that knowledge, performing to high standards, being aggressive at everything, moving with purpose, urgency and efficiency, and believe that we can never stop honing our skills. Battles are won by the basics, which are often far more complicated than we perceive them to be. I believe in training for the variance, through the basics. I believe the true keepers of the craft are a dying breed and we are currently fighting a battle in the fire service to keep it. I want to do my part in carrying on our traditions and keeping our trade focused on being the hard working blue collar servants required to do the job.
Jared Smith
PTB – DTRT – DPT
AM+DG
About the Process
We are a growing small business proud to offer handmade leather goods, made by firemen on the job. Our products are created one order at a time the old fashioned way, by our hands, no mass produced machine made products. Our hands touch every single piece that leaves the shop. Please understand that every order being made by hand, takes time.
We offer a wide variety of some of the best quality leather fire service products. I feel that we make some of the nicest, well thought out leather gear on the market. The staple of our business has been radio straps, bunker suspenders , and truck belts, all with more custom options than most others offer, for a very reasonable price. In addition, we make a variety of other accessories and everyday gear that will suit many needs and styles both on and off duty. We also take custom orders, and enjoy bringing your vision to life!
Every product that we make starts out as a raw whole hide of leather directly from our AMERICAN supplier. None of the finished products we make are pre-made or sub-contracted out. Any products you receive from us has had our hands on it from the beginning to the end… and is made from scratch every time.
We built and work out of a large shop building on our personal property, and have several small retail booths in other area businesses. We have no desire at the moment to have a retail brick & mortar, as we wish to keep the business small and close to home for the foreseeable future. We have invested heavily in machinery over the years allowing for more consistent and readily available products. We have a mile long list of project ideas that we hope to accomplish and release.
