Merry Christmas 2018

I would like to take this time to wish everyone here a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!

Tumpline

Finished tumpline.
Chest strap is 2” wide by 29” long and tapers down to 1 1/4” and both ends are fitted with a wooden dowel for added strength. The tail is hand braided and is about 7’ long. It can be adjusted to your desired length.
Made from 5/6 oz. oak tanned leather, hand dyed and treated with bee’s wax.

British Military Blanket Sling

Finished this up for a customer. It’s a late 18th century British military issued blanket sling.

Double Shot Bag #54

Hunters cape & hat

The hat and cape were made for a customer.

The hat is made from cotton duck and has a linen hat band stitched in place. The cape was made from fleece and is reversible from hunters orange to a hunters green. 

Example of the cape,

Customer Work

Covered Canteens

Fall Bear Hunt

Just a few more days and I will be heading north to try my luck again at taking a Michigan black bear. The bait is getting hit hard with 10 to 15 pounds disappearing every day. The trail cams are showing several bear coming in with two being of good size.

Again I will be doing the hunt in period clothing of the 1760 and using my flintlock smooth-bore. The long range weather is showing rain almost everyday at some point and time. Hoping that will change as the time goes on.

One of the large bears was taken the other evening so looking over the other trail cam photos and videos this looks to be the one.

 

Lyman Style Shot Bag #53

Knife & Sheath

Double Shot Bag #52

July 31 1763

It's the last day of July, and I have returned back to the fort with my patrol. We where sent out to scout the near by village and small farms for any native activity.
This early morning a large force left Fort Detroit to make a surprise attack on the Ottawa village. Only to be surprised ourselves by a large native force as we were crossing the small bridge at Parents creek. We took heavy losses and was forced to turn back.
Thanks to the cover fire by a group of rangers we where able to make it back to the fort.
Some of the men are now calling it the battle of bloody run. While on our patrol we noted that the little creek was blood red from the bodies left lying in the water.
Report made by, Lt.Lang of Hopkins Company of Ranger. 

Oil cans

I picked up these old WWII oil cans from an estate sale.
I brought them home and cleaned them up with some soap and water. The insides were dry no oil left in them, and they were air tight. I decided to cover them with some leather. I went through my box of pieces. Found some that would work. I came up with a size and a tooling pattern and went to work.
They have been dyed, two are brown and one is black, treated with neatsfoot oil and some bee's wax.
I think they would make a great addition to ones range box.

Accouterments

A selection of some of the different leather accouterments that I make. Lock covers, bird shot & ball pouches, accouterments pouches & burning glasses with leather case.

What's in my Bag, part.2

 In the above two photos you can see what I carry when in the field. I was turkey hunting when I took these photos. Starting with, my bed roll. It's made up with a wool blanket covered with a small piece of oil cloth and carried with a leather tump-line. When sitting and watching for game I use the bed roll as a seat. With in climate weather I can use the blanket as a matchcoat and sit on the oil cloth. I also carry a light ax and a small canteen.

Here are the items that I carry in my shot bag. First my shot bag is 6" wide by 7" deep with a small inside pocket. Attached to the bag strap is a vent pick & brush. The powder measure is attached to the horn.
In the bag I carry a wood tompin, a cloth bag with some tow for wadding and cleaning. Also cleaning wires, foraged bore scraper and tow worm. In the small leather pouch are some extra flints, a very small striker and old musket flint and a few wooden toothpicks to plug the touch hole with. Also seen is a small wooden tube with shot cards a pouch with bird shot and a turkey call. In the small inside pocket is a turn screw and a leather ball pouch with seven 75cal. balls. To finish it off is my priming horn. The cow's knee is carried on the back of the shot bag. (see below photo)   

On my waist belt I have a leather bag that has a compass, small leather pouch for ID and and money. My belt knife and belt pouch.
In my belt pouch I have a hand full of tow for wadding and in this case because I was turkey hunting I had paper cartridges made up with the correct amount of shot I was using for hunting. A leather wallet for hunting tags. In the small front pocket there is a small flint wallet with two flints and a forged turn screw. I will set up my belt pouch with what I'm shooting for the day.
Lose ball or paper cartridges blank or live rounds or bird shot which I will remove from my shot bag and place it my belt pouch. It makes it easy for me in the field when loading.

As you can see in this past photo everything is pretty much the same. A few added things and the only thing removed is the copper tin. I found it makes it harder to ad something to the pouch because it doesn't compress. Also I went with a priming horn.

Turkey Hunting

I spent the last day and half turkey hunting. I had birds roosted both morning only to have them fly down and head off with there hens in the other direction. As I left the woods yesterday and turned out the gate and drove up the lane, there stood three tom's in the neighbors bean field. All three ran across the lane in front of me into the corn field. I gave out a yelp with my mouth and stopped all three in there tracks. They stood there looking at me and I think they gave me the bird, before they ran on across the field to the woods I had just left.
I continued up the lane and there under the shade of the big old section oak stood a big tom with four hens. They too ran across in front of me and off to the woods I just left. I sat there thinking Mother Nature sure has as a weird sense of humor! As I started to drive away, I thought, I will be back and maybe I will be hiding in the grass at the base of the old oak tree in the shade with a surprise of my own.

3 Axes & Sheath's

 Was given three axes at the Fort Frederick market fair to take home and make up shoulder carriages for them.