Our Story

Lunkville Outdoors was started up on accident in January 2018 in Grand Island, Nebraska. On Accident? Let me explain. My name is James Swanson, founder and operator of Lunkville Outdoors. I grew up in the country outside of Grand Island, Nebraska. I grew up with a passion for sports, I was an avid outdoorsman and possessed an unquenchable thirst to learn new skills. I always had a desire to exceed the standard in all of those areas. Growing up, especially in my high school and college years, I was continuously reading, watching videos and learning from mentors how to do new things. I learned how to build furniture and remodel a home from my father, how to restore classic cars with my grandpa among many other skills.

In 2017, while in my sophomore year of college at the United States Naval Academy, I had no time or space for any of the hobbies I loved, so I set out to find yet another. Leather tooling was a skill I had always been interested in, I had always been fascinated with the hand tooled wallets and belts my grandmother had made with the skills she learned from her grandparents. After a deep dive in a Youtube rabbit hole, I ordered my first set of starter tools and cheap scrap leather. I dabbled with some simple Al Stohlman patterns trying to make a set of sheaths for a few knives I made on Christmas leave, and well… they were terrible. When I took leave in the summer I went straight to my grandmother and observed all of the in’s and out’s of leather tooling. From leather preparation, patterns, carving and tooling all the way through the finish line with dying and sealing the leather. Before I left, my grandmother gave me a large collection of her duplicate tools, all of which once belonged to my great great grandparents. With my newfound knowledge and a deep pride in my “new” family tools, I got to practicing.

By Christmas 2017 my skills had improved dramatically but I continued to only make items for myself and family, however, in January a friend of my brother asked me to make a buttstock cover and sling for his new .45-70 Marlin. He offered to pay whatever I wanted. I hesitantly agreed, worried my leather working abilities weren’t up to par. Like a typical college age kid, I posted the finished products on my snapchat story, the response was more than a surprise to me. Friends from home and school reached out about what I could make them. As interest in my work grew via word of mouth, so did my first list of orders. After tons of encouragement, I decided to start an Instagram and Etsy to support my hobby and I’ve been working hard on leather ever since! I am now an active duty Marine Corps officer and a married man. Lunkville Outdoors will remain just a large scale hobby that pays for itself for the foreseeable future, but, I assure you that quality and attention to detail will remain top notch!

Now, it’s 2021 and Lunkville Outdoors is growing up and has its’ own website! Take a stroll through our online shop and find something you like. Can’t find an item you are interested in? Just shoot an email to lunkvilleoutdoors@gmail.com or click on the “Contact” tab and we will make a plan for your item together. I can’t wait to get started on your custom leather!