About two years ago I took the wedding rings for the late DesertWife and me to a jeweler and had them linked together. I then bought a yard of suede thong at a craft shop, cut it in two, and strung the rings through one of the pieces to wear around my neck. Fast forward to a couple nights ago. I was taking the rings off, preparing for bed, pulled a bit in the wrong direction causing the leather loop to hang up on the back of my neck . . . and it snapped.
“Odd,” I say to myself. “The rings must have worn it thin in a spot.” I examine the thong – no sign of fraying. So I take the thong in my two hands and give it a little yank. It breaks easily, five or six pounds, I’d guess. Try again on one of the pieces left – same story. I take the other half of the thong out of the drawer where it’s been for two years and yank on it, then yank on it again, and a third time, harder each time. The unused thong didn’t break, withstanding a pull of at least twenty pounds.
So, what weakened the first thong? It was well darkened from body oils and such but otherwise did not show any deterioration. It was not stiffened or anything like that, still about as pliable as the unused piece. Could it have been the salt from sweating? (You do that a lot in Arizona) Any thoughts from leather experts out there?
DD