Cowboy Chinks
Below are cowboy chinks, also called Western chinks, for sale. You will sometimes also find a few chaps. Please scroll down to read a short article on the difference between chinks and chaps.
Chinks come in a wide variety of styles. They can be solid leather, hair-on-hide, or a combination. They might be distinctly rounded at the bottom, somewhat rounded, or close to a right angle. Their overall length can vary, as can the length of their fringe. Chinks are as individual as the cowboys and cowgirls who wear them.
Below: A pair of cowboy chinks.
From eBay and Etsy
See more cowboy chinks on Etsy
See more cowboy chinks on eBay
Cowboy Chinks and Chaps - What's The Difference?
Chaps and chinks are leather leg coverings worn by horseback riders – typically cowboys and cowgirls – as protection against weather, timber, brush, rope burns, and other hazards. They are buckled around the waist, and are open in the back so a rider’s seat is not covered.
Chaps run the full length of the rider's legs. They are often closed around the leg by a zipper, but other fasteners might be used. The two most common styles of chaps are shotgun and batwing.
- Modern shotgun chaps are usually made with a zipper or other fasteners running from the top of the leg to the bottom to make them easy to put on and take off. Older shotgun chaps - or new ones designed on an older style - might be enclosed from top to bottom requiring the rider to step into them like a pair of jeans.
- Batwing chaps are fuller cut than the shotgun style. After being fastened around the legs, batwings will have a generous amount of leather that overlaps the closure. Many working chaps are the batwing style, and they are also the most common style (or a variation of this style) for rodeo chaps.
Chinks are similar to chaps, but are shorter, typically hitting the rider below the knee but above the ankle. They are fastened behind the rider’s legs by snaps, buckles, zippers, or other fasteners, but the fasteners stop above the back of the knee, allowing the chinks to move more freely from that point downward. The fringe on chinks is also usually longer and more prominent than fringe found on chaps.
Examples Of Chinks
Chinks with tooling, and hair on the hide on the top half.
Chinks with initials, a ring for a tie strings, and contrasting fringe.
These chinks a covered pocket and shorter fringe.
Medium chinks with contrasting fringe and a slit pocket.
How Cowboys Pronounce Chinks
"Chinks" are pronounced with a hard "ch" sound as in "cherry" or "chipmunk."
This might be worth mentioning because chaps, another type of cowboy legging, are pronounced with a soft "ch" and therefore are pronounced "shaps."
Save The Chinks For Later
If you find a pair of chinks for sale on Etsy that you like but you're not ready to purchase them right away, you can always add them to your shopping cart so they will be easy to find later.
- In most cases, Etsy will keep track of items in your shopping cart, for 30 days.
- In the meantime, if you want to check out with other items you can click on "Save for later" to move the chinks to a separate, but still easy-to-find list beneath your shopping cart.
- If you put items into your Etsy shopping cart but don't check out after 30 days, Etsy will automatically move them to the "Save for later" area beneath your shopping cart. When you're ready to actually purchase any of these items, simply click "Move to cart" to put them back into your shopping cart and check out.
Important: Putting items in your Etsy shopping cart or "Save for later" list does NOT reserve them! It just makes them easier to find if they're still available when you come back.
Below: Screenshot image showing the "Save for later" and "Remove" links when an item is in the Etsy shopping cart.
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