Handmade leather organizers for Vanagon & Defender.
Made by hand.
Carried into
adventure.
Thoughtfully crafted leather organizers for Vanagon Westfalia and Land Rover Defender. Beautifully useful pieces, made to become part of your story.
A place for the essentials.
The Westy Bravo
A thoughtful home for your tools, using the space behind the Westfalia wardrobe.
Discover the Bravo ↗
The Westy Cocina
Keep your kitchen essentials close to hand, with a place for the things you reach for most.
Discover the Cocina ↗
The Westy Siesta
A bedside companion for your book, glasses, phone, and the little comforts of the road.
Discover the Siesta ↗Explore each piece for vehicle fit, color options, and current availability. Photographs from our travels may show earlier designs.
Leatherwork for the modern Defender.
Discover the Defender Bravo, designed for the rear door of the 2020+ L663 Defender 90, 110 & 130.
Good leather.
Honest work.
Lasting character.
There is a quiet pleasure in the things we use every day: the feel of leather, the line of a stitch, a tool that slips into its place.
Our leatherwork brings that care to life on the road. Every pocket has a purpose. Every piece is made to be used, enjoyed, and carried along.
Leather with character
Natural variation makes each piece individual. Use and time add a story of their own.
Purpose in the details
Considered storage, shaped around the spaces and routines of travelling in your vehicle.
It started with a Westy.
And a little unused space.
In 2017, living and travelling in a 1982 Westfalia sparked an idea: turn the back of the wardrobe into a proper home for tools. That idea became the Westy Bravo.
The journey led to Mexico, to leather, and to the people who knew how to work it. Today, that same curiosity shapes what we make in La Paz.
Read the full story ↗
Two crafts.
One love of the road.
Expedition Leatherworks is part of the LiveTheVanLife family. From a carefully restored Volkswagen to the leatherwork inside it, we share an appreciation for character, thoughtful details, and the journeys ahead.
Meet LiveTheVanLife ↗Make room for the next chapter.
Shop the collectionPurpose-built storage for VW Vanagon Westfalia and Land Rover Defender. Handcrafted in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and tested on journeys from Baja to Alaska, Europe, and the Sahara.
Our Signature Products
The Westy Bravo was born in 2017 while I was living and traveling throughout the United States and Canada in my Vanagon Westfalia. Anyone who spends real time in a Westy knows that space matters. Every cabinet, corner, and hidden gap has value, and wasted space is hard to ignore.
One day, I realized that the back of the Westfalia wardrobe cabinet was a huge underutilized surface with just enough clearance to do something useful. At the time, my tools were scattered all over the van—tucked into cabinets, buried under the bench seat, and taking up valuable storage space. I wanted one clean, purpose-built solution that could hold my tools, fuses, multimeter, and other essentials without sacrificing interior storage.
That idea became the Westy Bravo.
It was an instant hit, and it still makes me proud every time I see one mounted on someone’s van. After a brief hiatus while we focused on building our restoration shop in La Paz, Mexico, we’re finally bringing our leather product line back—with the Westy Bravo leading the way.
At $375 USD, the Westy Bravo is not cheap. It is not meant to be. There are inexpensive nylon copies out there, but this is for the people who obsess over the details and want the best for their van.
Each Westy Bravo is handmade one at a time in our shop using premium leather. We use leather because, for this purpose, it is the best material we have found. It stretches slightly around your tools as they slide into the raised tool slots, grips them securely, and develops character over time. It looks, feels, and performs like a premium product because it is one.
Product design is always about compromises, and no product will please everyone. The Westy Bravo is built for the people who value quality, craftsmanship, function, and thoughtful design. We make it the best way we know how, with no interest in cutting corners.
The Westy Bravo Leather Tool Organizer is designed for the 1980–1991 Volkswagen T3 Vanagon Westfalia and makes use of one of the most overlooked storage areas in the van: the back of the wardrobe cabinet.
Handmade. Purpose-built. Premium. Made for the vans we love.
NOTES: The Westy Bravo has gone through several iterations over the years. While they have all been great, the current iteration is the one with two snap pouches on the top right of the Westy Bravo with two open pouches to the left. We have kept some photos of the other versions up so folks can see how The Westy Bravo has been used and enjoyed by other customers over the years. If you are unsure which version you are getting, please message us and we will send you a photo of the exact current iteration.
Also, leather is a natural material, there may be slight variations in color between batches. This is normal and unavoidable. The quality is the same between batches regardless.
To view the rest of our products, head over to our Shop page
The Westy Cocina is a bold, functional leather organizer designed for the front of the Volkswagen T3 Vanagon Westfalia refrigerator cabinet.
Built specifically for the Westfalia kitchen, the Westy Cocina gives you quick, easy access to the items you use most while cooking—your BBQ lighter, large spoon, spatula, tongs, and other kitchen essentials.
As longtime Westfalia owners ourselves, we know how easily these items get lost inside cabinets, buried under gear, or crammed into the tiny cutlery drawer. The Westy Cocina solves that problem by turning the face of your refrigerator cabinet into practical, good-looking storage.
Free your kitchen. Keep the tools you use most right where you need them.
Features
Six large slots for kitchen utensils
Three integrated key loops
Designed to fit the front of the stock Vanagon Westfalia refrigerator door
Made from premium Crazy Horse saddle leather
Heavy-duty double-row stitching
Handcrafted in Baja Mexico
Built to take a beating and look better with age
The Westy Cocina is designed for people who actually use their vans. It keeps your kitchen tools organized, accessible, and out of the way while adding the same premium leather craftsmanship our products are known for.
Purpose-built for the 1980–1991 Volkswagen T3 Vanagon Westfalia.
Ever struggled to find a good place to put your phone, book, glasses, flashlight, or other nighttime essentials while sleeping in your Westy?
The Westy Siesta was designed to solve that exact problem.
Handmade from our signature premium leather, the Westy Siesta creates a beautiful, secure, and convenient bedside storage spot inside your Volkswagen Westfalia. It keeps the things you reach for at night right where you need them, instead of buried in a cabinet, lost in the bedding, or sliding around the van.
Perfect for holding your phone, book, headlamp, glasses, charging cable, wallet, or other small essentials, the Westy Siesta gives you a simple and functional place to stay organized while camping, traveling, or relaxing in your van.
It also includes a handy built-in slot designed to fit a variety of inexpensive battery-powered lights, giving you easy bedside illumination without wiring, drilling, or complicated installation. Just slide in your light and enjoy a soft, convenient glow right where you need it.
A suggested compatible light can be purchased here: https://a.co/d/0hzOxI7P
Made by hand. Built from premium leather. Designed by Westy owners, for Westy owners.
Everything you need, right where you need it.
The Westy Siesta by Expedition Leatherworks.
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