Although I've never been a smoker, when "out and about" I've carried a 2oz tobacco tin, full of "bits & bobs" for well over 35 years. At first it contained a selection of "survival" items, including pain killers, fire lighting kit, mini compass, brass wire, etc. which with the exception of the firelighting kit, were never used!
Then, once I became a member of my local T.A. unit, the contents changed a bit but the basic firelighting bias remained.
Others use these tins for all sorts of items, from spare parts for stoves, "survival kits", sweets, medical kit, flint and steel fire lighting sets and even, cigarettes etc!
These days, I use it to carry emergency tinder for my firesteel, in the form of cotton wool soaked with "liquid paraffin BP", a few strips of birch bark and "just in case" a disposable lighter.
Anyway, thinking along paddling lines, I wanted an alternative to stuffing the tin in a pocket of my trousers/shorts or jacket, so set about designing a belt pouch that would be sturdy, secure and also suited to getting a really good soaking. It didn't take long to work out, as I had a good idea of what I wanted and its really just a simple pouch with short sides.
I got hold of some decent quality, 3mm dyed through black, vegetable tanned leather and a new tin then set to.
This is what I came up with:
It's a pretty simple design, hand stitched with 18/3 linen thread and fastened with an all brass press stud, so no risk of anything rusting.
The two wide belt loops make it suited to most widths of belt I might wear, including military webbing belts but also allow the thing to be stowed easily in a rucksack,larger pouch, cargo pocket or dry bag when not required.
I deliberately made the tin a tight fit, in order to keep the lid from coming adrift while stowed, as well as keeping the tin secure in case of the lid flap being dislodged by accident and while this aspect of the design works perfectly, it does mean you have to pull pretty hard to get the tin out!
The other totally deliberate aspect of the design, was to leave the bottom inch or so of the sides of the pouch open, to allow immediate drainage if/when it gets a dunking.
I'm happy enough with the outcome.
thanks for looking
Steve
Others use these tins for all sorts of items, from spare parts for stoves, "survival kits", sweets, medical kit, flint and steel fire lighting sets and even, cigarettes etc!
These days, I use it to carry emergency tinder for my firesteel, in the form of cotton wool soaked with "liquid paraffin BP", a few strips of birch bark and "just in case" a disposable lighter.
Anyway, thinking along paddling lines, I wanted an alternative to stuffing the tin in a pocket of my trousers/shorts or jacket, so set about designing a belt pouch that would be sturdy, secure and also suited to getting a really good soaking. It didn't take long to work out, as I had a good idea of what I wanted and its really just a simple pouch with short sides.
I got hold of some decent quality, 3mm dyed through black, vegetable tanned leather and a new tin then set to.
This is what I came up with:
It's a pretty simple design, hand stitched with 18/3 linen thread and fastened with an all brass press stud, so no risk of anything rusting.
The two wide belt loops make it suited to most widths of belt I might wear, including military webbing belts but also allow the thing to be stowed easily in a rucksack,larger pouch, cargo pocket or dry bag when not required.
I deliberately made the tin a tight fit, in order to keep the lid from coming adrift while stowed, as well as keeping the tin secure in case of the lid flap being dislodged by accident and while this aspect of the design works perfectly, it does mean you have to pull pretty hard to get the tin out!
The other totally deliberate aspect of the design, was to leave the bottom inch or so of the sides of the pouch open, to allow immediate drainage if/when it gets a dunking.
I'm happy enough with the outcome.
thanks for looking
Steve
