Hide & Pelt, Smithing Material

Leather Strips

Leather Strips are the tiny, cheap binding material that nearly every weapon and heavy armor recipe at the forge asks for.

Leather Strips are the duct tape of Skyrim. At 3 gold and a weight of 0.1 they look like nothing, yet they show up in 177 forge recipes: Steel, Orcish, Dwarven, Ebony, Daedric and Dragonplate gear all want a couple of strips to hold the metal together, from a simple Steel Shield with one strip to a full cuirass with three. They are also needed for the Nord Hero weapons and Ancient Nord Armor made at the Skyforge in Whiterun. Running out of strips halfway through a crafting session is a rite of passage.

How to get it

The easy way is to make them yourself: one piece of Leather becomes 4 strips at any tanning rack. Since the forge almost always sits next to a rack, you rarely need to stockpile them, but a few dozen in your pack weigh next to nothing and save a lot of walking back and forth.

Blacksmiths and general goods traders sell them too, for example Belethor in Whiterun, Camilla Valerius in Riverwood, Bersi Honey-Hand in Riften and Birna in Winterhold. Loose bundles are common as well: the Dawnstar Sanctuary has 11, the Solitude blacksmith 10 and The Scorched Hammer 7, while Treva’s Watch, Fellglow Keep and Gallows Rock hold 6 each.

Smelting and tanning

1 Leather → 4 Leather Strips at the tanning rack

Used to craft

Leather Strips appears in 185 recipes in the game files.

Armor

Steel Armor – Steel Horned Helmet (2), Steel Imperial Gauntlets (2), Steel Armor (3), Steel Shin Boots (2), Steel Shield (1), Steel Helmet (2), Steel Nordic Gauntlets (2), Steel Armor (3), Steel Cuffed Boots (2)
Daedric Armor – Daedric Shield (1), Daedric Helmet (2), Daedric Gauntlets (2), Daedric Armor (3), Daedric Boots (2)
Dragonplate Armor – Dragonplate Shield (1), Dragonplate Helmet (2), Dragonplate Gauntlets (2), Dragonplate Armor (3), Dragonplate Boots (2)
Ebony Armor – Ebony Shield (1), Ebony Helmet (2), Ebony Gauntlets (2), Ebony Armor (3), Ebony Boots (2)
Orcish Armor – Orcish Shield (1), Orcish Helmet (2), Orcish Gauntlets (2), Orcish Armor (3), Orcish Boots (2)
Steel Plate Armor – Steel Plate Helmet (2), Steel Plate Gauntlets (2), Steel Plate Armor (3), Steel Plate Boots (2)
Dwarven Armor – Dwarven Shield (1), Dwarven Helmet (2), Dwarven Gauntlets (2), Dwarven Armor (3), Dwarven Boots (2)
Dragonscale Armor – Dragonscale Shield (2), Dragonscale Helmet (1), Dragonscale Gauntlets (2), Dragonscale Armor (3), Dragonscale Boots (2)
Glass Armor – Glass Shield (2), Glass Helmet (1), Glass Gauntlets (2), Glass Armor (3), Glass Boots (2)
Elven Armor – Elven Gilded Armor (3), Elven Shield (2), Elven Helmet (1), Elven Gauntlets (2), Elven Armor (3), Elven Boots (2)
Scaled Armor – Scaled Helmet (1), Scaled Bracers (2), Scaled Armor (3), Scaled Boots (2)
Leather Armor – Leather Helmet (1), Leather Bracers (2), Leather Armor (3), Leather Boots (2)
Iron Armor – Banded Iron Shield (1), Banded Iron Armor (3), Iron Shield (1), Iron Helmet (2), Iron Armor (3), Iron Boots (2), Iron Gauntlets (2)
Imperial Armor – Imperial Shield (2), Imperial Helmet (1), Imperial Bracers (2), Imperial Armor (3), Imperial Boots (2)
Studded Armor – Studded Armor (3)
Hide Armor – Hide Shield (2), Hide Helmet (1), Hide Armor (3), Hide Boots (2), Hide Bracers (2)
Imperial Light Armor – Imperial Light Shield (2), Imperial Light Helmet (1), Imperial Light Bracers (2), Imperial Light Boots (2), Imperial Light Armor (3)
Stalhrim Armor – Stalhrim Helmet (2), Stalhrim Gauntlets (2), Stalhrim Armor (3), Stalhrim Boots (2), Stalhrim Shield (1), Stalhrim Light Helmet (2), Stalhrim Light Bracers (2), Stalhrim Light Armor (3), Stalhrim Light Boots (2)
Nordic Carved Armor – Nordic Carved Helmet (2), Nordic Carved Gauntlets (2), Nordic Carved Armor (3), Nordic Carved Boots (2), Nordic Shield (1)
Ancient Nord Armor – Ancient Nord Helmet (3), Ancient Nord Gauntlets (3), Ancient Nord Boots (3), Ancient Nord Armor (4)

Weapons and other items

Steel Smithing: Steel Greatsword (3), Steel Warhammer (3), Steel Dagger (1), Steel Battleaxe (2), Steel War Axe (2), Steel Mace (1), Steel Sword (1)
Daedric Smithing: Daedric Warhammer (3), Daedric War Axe (2), Daedric Sword (1), Daedric Mace (1), Daedric Greatsword (3), Daedric Dagger (1), Daedric Battleaxe (2)
Ebony Smithing: Ebony Warhammer (3), Ebony War Axe (2), Ebony Sword (1), Ebony Mace (1), Ebony Greatsword (3), Ebony Dagger (1), Ebony Battleaxe (2), Stalhrim Warhammer (3), Stalhrim War Axe (2), Stalhrim Sword (1), Stalhrim Mace (1), Stalhrim Greatsword (3), Stalhrim Dagger (1), Stalhrim Battleaxe (2)
Glass Smithing: Glass Warhammer (3), Glass War Axe (2), Glass Sword (1), Glass Mace (1), Glass Greatsword (3), Glass Dagger (1), Glass Battleaxe (2)
Elven Smithing: Elven Warhammer (3), Elven War Axe (2), Elven Sword (1), Elven Mace (1), Elven Greatsword (3), Elven Dagger (1), Elven Battleaxe (2)
Dwarven Smithing: Dwarven Warhammer (3), Dwarven War Axe (2), Dwarven Sword (1), Dwarven Mace (1), Dwarven Greatsword (3), Dwarven Dagger (1), Dwarven Battleaxe (2)
Orcish Smithing: Orcish Warhammer (3), Orcish War Axe (2), Orcish Sword (1), Orcish Mace (1), Orcish Dagger (1), Orcish Greatsword (3), Orcish Battleaxe (2)
no perk: Iron Greatsword (2), Iron Battleaxe (2), Iron Warhammer (3), Iron War Axe (2), Iron Mace (2), Iron Dagger (1), Iron Sword (1), Bone Hawk Amulet (2)
Dragon Armor: Dragonbone Warhammer (3), Dragonbone War Axe (2), Dragonbone Sword (1), Dragonbone Mace (1), Dragonbone Greatsword (3), Dragonbone Dagger (1), Dragonbone Battleaxe (2)
Advanced Armors: Nordic Warhammer (3), Nordic War Axe (2), Nordic Sword (1), Nordic Mace (1), Nordic Greatsword (3), Nordic Dagger (1), Nordic Battleaxe (2)
Skyforge: Nord Hero War Axe (2), Nord Hero Sword (2), Nord Hero Greatsword (3), Nord Hero Battle Axe (3)

The number in brackets is how many Leather Strips each recipe needs. Bold labels are the Smithing perk the recipe requires.

Improving gear

At a grindstone or workbench, Leather Strips is the material used to improve (temper) 2 items.

Good to know

Classic Smithing grind: an Iron Dagger needs just one Iron Ingot and one Leather Strip, so crafting dozens of them levels Smithing fast.
Strips also temper the Hunting Bow and the Gloves of the Pugilist.

Data from the Skyrim game files (Skyrim.esm and the official add-ons): value, weight, ore veins, recipes and merchant lists. ID 000800E4 is the item’s form ID for the console.

Where to find it

Cut 1 Leather into 4 Leather Strips at any tanning rack
Loose: 11 in the Dawnstar Sanctuary, 10 at the Solitude blacksmith, 7 in The Scorched Hammer
Treva’s Watch Escape Tunnel, Fellglow Keep Dungeons and Gallows Rock have 6 each
Sold by smiths and traders such as Adrianne Avenicci and Brand-Shei

Crafting materials

Lore notes

Dropped by

Quest reward from

Where it appears

Dawnstar Sanctuary

Dawnstar Sanctuary in Skyrim: the Dark Brotherhood’s hidden home behind the Black Door – passphrase, Cicero’s fate, upgrades, skill books and Shrouded gear.

Gallows Rock

Gallows Rock in Skyrim: the Silver Hand fort southwest of Windhelm – The Silver Hand quest with Aela, Krev the Skinner, the spiked door and skill books.

Riften

Riften is the canal city of the Rift – autumn forests, the Black-Briar family, the Temple of Mara and the Thieves Guild beneath its streets.

Riverwood

Riverwood is the small lumber village where most Skyrim adventures really begin – blacksmith, inn, trader and the road up to Bleak Falls Barrow.

Whiterun

Whiterun is the trading heart of Skyrim, a hilltop city on the central plains crowned by Dragonsreach. Districts, shops, quests and characters.

Winterhold

Winterhold is the ruined capital of Winterhold hold – most of it fell into the sea in the Great Collapse, leaving a handful of houses and the College of Winterhold.

Characters connected to it

Adrianne Avenicci

Adrianne Avenicci is the Imperial blacksmith who runs Warmaiden’s in Whiterun – your smithing tutorial, the Greatsword for a Great Man quest and a solid gear shop.

Belethor

Belethor runs Belethor’s General Goods in Whiterun – the Breton merchant who’d sell his sister if he had one. Skyrim’s most quotable shopkeeper.

Bersi Honey-Hand

Bersi Honey-Hand in Skyrim: ex-fisherman who runs the Pawned Prawn in Riften and owes the Thieves Guild money in the quest Taking Care of Business.

Birna

Birna in Skyrim: the Nord pawnbroker who runs Birna’s Oddments in Winterhold, sells the Coral Dragon Claw for 50 gold, and despairs of her brother Ranmir.