My traditional kit: canvas and leather!

[Clouston98]

There are insects in Scotland? Well, uh, I, uh, don't know what to say.

White tail deer abound where I live in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Many meet their end on the roads. One Sunday afternoon a year or two ago, someone knocked on our door to inform us there was an injured deer in the yard beside the house. I went out to see and sure enough, there was. We believed he had two broken hips. The passersby had already called animal control, who came out about 30 minutes later. The animal control officer, a young woman younger than my daughter, killed it with two shots from a .22 rimfire rifle, then went off and left it. I dragged it away to a low spot on the common property on the other side of our fence and covered it with leaves. This was during cold weather and there was never an odor. But within a week, the carcass had mostly been stripped clean by "the creatures of the night," probably foxes.

There are indeed!

A lot of people left it, it had only been there an hour possibly less and someone else stopped too- an old farmer who asked what we were going to do with it (we didn't hit it) I said take it home, gut, skin, butcher and eat it then he smiled and said good- because if we weren't then he was! My butchering wasn't great but we've got two lovely thighs (haunch I think), the saddle and the two shoulders all but one leg are in the freezer and the other is for dinner tomorrow. The meat is beautiful,,can't wait for it- unfortunately tonight's tea was planned so I have to wait till tomorrow.

 

[BlueTrain]

The more I study the photos, the more I see. Only today did I notice the stove, which is one thing I don't have. I don't have that many axes but I'm surprised at how many knives I have when I get them all out. I don't see any rope (not cord) but I don't have any myself either. Otherwise, I have as much stuff as I can find room for and it would be embarrassing to ask for anything more.

Remember, that traditional gear is what we used last year, not what was used 200 years ago. The fact that what we used last year is the same kind of gear used a hundred years ago is purely a coincidence.

Thanks again for all the work that taking the photos must have involved.

 

[mrcharly]

UK 'traditional' gear isn't going to be canvas, it will be wool and flax. I think Toddy might know a thing or two about flax.

Woven wool has been a long tradition here. Tweed being a fairly modern alternative I guess.

 

[Toddy]

The original denim was flax not cotton. It's longer fibres help it shed the wet and evaporate it more easily. It's also very long wearing. Too much of the modern stuff is cut fibres though (so it's more easily spun on adapted cotton machinery), but that's improving as both hemp, another long staple fibre, and flax cloth becomes more available from Eastern Europe.

British woollens are, and were, utterly superb. They've been prime exports since before the Romans came here. It's why the Chancellor still sits on a wool sack

I haven't made myself a canvas pack yet, but when I do, I'm going to source flax or hemp canvas and not cotton.

M

 

[Goatboy]

The original denim was flax not cotton. It's longer fibres help it shed the wet and evaporate it more easily. It's also very long wearing. Too much of the modern stuff is cut fibres though (so it's more easily spun on adapted cotton machinery), but that's improving as both hemp, another long staple fibre, and flax cloth becomes more available from Eastern Europe.

British woollens are, and were, utterly superb. They've been prime exports since before the Romans came here. It's why the Chancellor still sits on a wool sack

I haven't made myself a canvas pack yet, but when I do, I'm going to source flax or hemp canvas and not cotton.

M

And was also coloured green, not blue if my history doesn't fail me.

 

[mrcharly]

I haven't made myself a canvas pack yet, but when I do, I'm going to source flax or hemp canvas and not cotton.

M

I reckon there would be a market for those . . .

 

[Corso]

isn't that what the czech rucksacks made of?

 

[Toddy]

Uhuh and their bread bags too.

M

 

[Corso]

thought so I'm a big fan of Czech gear I usualy carry one of their Gasmask bags

 

[richardhomer]

Great photos mate, and some cracking kit! Made me very envious!

here it is, a Boone kit that I use now, very comfortable and light enough for me weighing in at around 12 odd kilos and a bit more with food.

frost river isle royale with the kit inside:

Bilmo canvas tarp and frost river accessory pouch with cordage inside:

Hudson's Bay 6 point blanket and frost river bedroll straps (Gransfors Small forest axe for scale):

Fjallraven Ovik blanket, G100, for a ground cover, backed with thin wool, very useful:

cutting tools, Gransfors small forest axe, Gary Mills Timberwolf, woodlore buck saw, Laplander saw, Kellam fixed blade pocket knife, Buffalo river Damascus ranger knife:

Mors pot, MSR Titan kettle, Tamarack titanium mug, MSR mugmate for coffee (all nests together):

Hudson's bay copper tinder box and pouch:

Silva compass and home made antler ranger beads, LMF army oak firesteel, write in the rain notepad:

frost river accessory pouch, Bilbank bag, hobo hand line, dc4 sharpening stone, titanium spork, Deerhunter torch with red, green and white lights, brass whistle and home made repair kit:

UCO brass cancel lantern and home made beaver fur pouch:

klean Kanteen 64oz, Lifeventure 32oz, juniper kuksa:

here are the clothes I wear when I am out

Pinewood Lyon cotton flannel shirt:

Bison Bushcraft moleskin trousers and Shark designs leather belt:

bison Bushcraft shirt:

Lundhags Forest boot, Aclima merino wool hunter socks, Bison Bushcraft wool socks, cotton hiking sock:

handline upclose shots:

from A.finlay primitive crafts, hides a lot more tackle inside, one of my favourite bits of kit!

few other random shots:

I've dug out some group shots of some kit off a while backs, so it's in different shape etc now but here they are

hope you enjoyed that, jus thought id throw some photos up .
I think I will just keep,posting rNdom pictures & kit updates in this thread too .

 

[ADz-1983]

Great photos mate, and some cracking kit! Made me very envious!

There wasn't any need to quote the whole OP.

 

[richardhomer]

There wasn't any need to quote the whole OP.

Lol, sorry. I got carried away while looking at the photos and did not realise that they were all in one post. I thought that they were split into a few.posts.

 

[Clouston98]

UK 'traditional' gear isn't going to be canvas, it will be wool and flax. I think Toddy might know a thing or two about flax.

Woven wool has been a long tradition here. Tweed being a fairly modern alternative I guess.

Yes when I say traditional I don't mean period correct more traditional themed gear

 

[Clouston98]

The original denim was flax not cotton. It's longer fibres help it shed the wet and evaporate it more easily. It's also very long wearing. Too much of the modern stuff is cut fibres though (so it's more easily spun on adapted cotton machinery), but that's improving as both hemp, another long staple fibre, and flax cloth becomes more available from Eastern Europe.

British woollens are, and were, utterly superb. They've been prime exports since before the Romans came here. It's why the Chancellor still sits on a wool sack

I haven't made myself a canvas pack yet, but when I do, I'm going to source flax or hemp canvas and not cotton.

M

Interesting stuff! A hemp or flax pack would be fantastic to see!

 

[Clouston98]

The more I study the photos, the more I see. Only today did I notice the stove, which is one thing I don't have. I don't have that many axes but I'm surprised at how many knives I have when I get them all out. I don't see any rope (not cord) but I don't have any myself either. Otherwise, I have as much stuff as I can find room for and it would be embarrassing to ask for anything more.

Remember, that traditional gear is what we used last year, not what was used 200 years ago. The fact that what we used last year is the same kind of gear used a hundred years ago is purely a coincidence.

Thanks again for all the work that taking the photos must have involved.

Yeah I like the stove- lovely bit of gear. Cheers glad you like them .

 

[Clouston98]

Great photos mate, and some cracking kit! Made me very envious!

Cheers Rich! Yeah it was a big quote

 

[BlueTrain]

I'd be thrilled to live in a log house or cabin with a fireplace. That's about as traditional as it gets. Strangely enough, the log house I actually did live in when I was still in high school was missing the fireplace and no one anywhere around there had a fireplace. Maybe it's more romantic than practical. But we didn't have a telephone, either. It might be interesting to live in a tent for a summer, too, if the tent were large enough.

But, I'm married.

 

[Clouston98]

I'd be thrilled to live in a log house or cabin with a fireplace. That's about as traditional as it gets. Strangely enough, the log house I actually did live in when I was still in high school was missing the fireplace and no one anywhere around there had a fireplace. Maybe it's more romantic than practical. But we didn't have a telephone, either. It might be interesting to live in a tent for a summer, too, if the tent were large enough.

But, I'm married.

Yeah log homes are nice. The tent thing is a bit like the journal of the hurt thing dave canterbury did- although that was a yurt not a tent. I'd like to but I don't think I'd ever get round to doing it for a whole summer or a month - maybe a week or two though .

 

[BlueTrain]

Log houses can be nice but it doesn't follow that they necessarily are. The one I lived in wasn't. My boss grew up in Northern Rhodesia and lived in a grass hut with a thatched roof. You might note that neither of us live in either a log house or a grass hut now.

 

[Goatboy]

I think Clouston needs a rather large log cabin built for him to house and turn into a museum for all his Gucci kit - gonna have to be a big one though! I salivate everytime I wander through this thread, but never feel jealous, I know he deserves and looks after it all.