Cow Hide

Cow Hide comes from Skyrim’s cattle and is one of the better tanning deals, giving three pieces of Leather per hide.

Cow Hide is skinned from Skyrim’s cattle, the same highland cows that giants like to herd. It is worth 10 gold and weighs 2, but at the tanning rack it turns into 3 Leather, which makes it one of the most efficient hides around. Handy when you are crafting Leather Armor in bulk to grind Smithing.

How to get it

Most players simply buy it. General goods merchants stock it, for example Belethor in Whiterun, Lisbet in Markarth, Grelka in Riften and Ahkari‘s Khajiit caravan. On Solstheim, Fethis Alor and Garyn Ienth carry it too.

Loose hides turn up in Viola Giordano’s House and Highpoint Tower (3 each), Bruca’s Leap Redoubt and Fort Snowhawk Prison (2 each), and single ones in Greenspring Hollow, Liar’s Retreat, Driftshade Refuge and Duskglow Crevice. Skinning a farmer’s cow works too, though the farmer and the local guards will have opinions about it.

Cow hide is a smart buy for anyone leveling Smithing through light armor. Pick up every hide a merchant has, tan them in one go and you have a big stack of Leather for very little gold, ready to be turned into armor or cut into strips.

Smelting and tanning

1 Cow Hide → 3 Leather at the tanning rack

Used to craft

Cow Hide appears in 1 recipe in the game files.

Weapons and other items

tanning rack: Leather (1)

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

Good to know

At 3 Leather per hide, buying Cow Hide is usually cheaper than buying the Leather itself.

Data from the Skyrim game files (Skyrim.esm and the official add-ons): value, weight, ore veins, recipes and merchant lists. ID 0003AD8F is the item’s form ID for the console.

Where to find it

Sold by general goods traders such as Camilla Valerius and Hulda
Loose: Viola Giordano’s House and Highpoint Tower (3 each)
Loose: Bruca’s Leap Redoubt and Fort Snowhawk Prison (2 each)
Skin cattle, for example the cows that giants herd

Crafting materials

Lore notes

Dropped by

Quest reward from

Where it appears

Bruca’s Leap Redoubt

Bruca’s Leap Redoubt in Skyrim: Forsworn camp and cave on the Karth River near Dragon Bridge – Briarheart ritual, many radiant quests, A Tragedy in Black.

Driftshade Refuge

Driftshade Refuge in Skyrim: the Silver Hand fort of Purity of Revenge – Fragments of Wuuthrad, three skill books, the barred door shortcut and a quest warning.

Duskglow Crevice

Duskglow Crevice in Skyrim: Falmer cave south of Dawnstar with bandits, the Family Heirloom quest, two skill books, a moth in a jar and a hidden shortcut.

Greenspring Hollow

Greenspring Hollow in Skyrim: a sabre cat lair near Dustman’s Cairn with piles of hides, a gold ore vein, a locked chest and an Animal Extermination target.

Liar’s Retreat

Liar’s Retreat in Skyrim: bandit hideout overrun by Falmer – chaurus, spiders, The Longhammer, Biography of the Wolf Queen and loads of alchemy ingredients.

Markarth

Markarth is the stone city of the Reach, carved into the cliffs by the Dwemer – home of the Silver-Blood family, Cidhna Mine and the Forsworn conspiracy.

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.

Whiterun

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

Characters connected to it

Ahkari

Ahkari in Skyrim: the Khajiit caravan trader travelling between Dawnstar and Riften, who buys almost anything and fences stolen goods for the Thieves Guild.