Our Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

You need six members to start a chapter.

No, we are not, nor do we want to be. They have their world, and we have ours. We are, and always will, be a neutral club.

No. Although we have respect for those that volunteer their time to do the job, we do not allow volunteers, part-time firefighters, or any type of associate/sponsored members to join.

Women, who are not firefighters, are not permitted to wear the Leatherheads colors but are an essential part of this club and do have a patch of their own.

Our minimum time for a new member is three months and becomes maxed out at 12. If you can't earn your patch in 12 months, you won't at all.

Yes. Just like the fire department, a probie is a part of the club, just without a lot of the privileges that go along with full patched membership. If they make it through probation, they then become a full patched member.

Our minimum time for a new charter is six months.

Of course. We have a set of National Bylaws, as well as some chapters having their version.

We are one of the very few firefighter clubs that are comprised of all career or retired career firefighters. Almost every other firefighter club out there allows other types of members. We stand by our beliefs and the ideals the club was formed on and expect each member/chapter to do the same. And numbers do not matter, break the rules or don't have what it takes, and you're gone. Doesn't matter if you are a member or the whole chapter.

In the motorcycling community, a club will usually adopt the number that corresponds to the first letter of the clubs name in the alphabet. The L in Leatherheads is the 12th letter hence the number 12.

As described above, our club number is 12 for the L in Leatherheads. Since we have 5 or more chapters in 3 or more states we can claim being a nation. So we are the 12 Nation which basically are the members of the Leatherheads club as a whole.

A couple of our chapters just faded away due to lack of participation. However, we are a motorcycle club and have rules in place (Bylaws) that govern our club. Breaking the more serious of those rules, or even worse, breaking the Brotherhood and the ideals of this club while bringing shame and dishonor to it will always have a chapter dissolved. All of the chapters that we had to remove were done so due to one of those reasons. That's as far as we'll go on that.

A "Coin Check" consists of a Challenge and a Response and can be initiated any time at any place. The rules apply to those clothed or unclothed. At the time of the challenge, you are permitted one step, and one arm reaches to locate your coin. If you still cannot produce it, you are considered not to be in possession of it. There are no exceptions to the rules which follow:

The challenge, which can be made at any time, begins with the challenger drawing his/her club coin (National, Chapter, etc.) and slapping or placing the coin on the table or bar. In noisy environs, continuously rapping the challenge coin on a surface may initiate the challenge. (Accidentally dropping a challenge coin is considered to be a deliberate challenge to all present)

The response to a challenge is all those present must produce their club coin.

If you are challenged and are unable to properly respond, you must buy a round of drinks for the challenger and the group being challenged. If more than one member cannot respond correctly, then they split the round.

If everyone is challenged responds in the correct manner, the challenger must buy a round of drinks for all those people he challenged.

Failure to buy a round is considered a shameful act and will require forfeiture of your challenge coin.

A coin is a coin, period. If it's attached to the bike, it's an accessory, if it's holding keys, it's a key ring, and if it's worn on the belt, it's a belt buckle. None of these, or any other variant, is a coin.