Buckskin haversack

[Man of Tanith]

I've never ever spent so much time focussed on one single project before.

this haversack was originally 3 manky looks bloody deerskins I have worked them all the way from that to this haversack.
I used Grain on buckskin (grain tan) for the gusset and lid as its more dirt resistant.
A ll stitched with buckskin thonging cut from the hides.
it has a decent capacity sufficient for a day's jaunt to the woods or if combined with some forethought and a bed roll it'd suffice for an overnighter once the weather gets a bit more pleasent

the masochist in me is now planning a rucksack and belt pouch to team with it

 

[bobnewboy]

What a great piece of work! You know the origin and every pore of those skins, and every stitch of the haversack is your own. There is nothing as satisfying as using gear you have made yourself. Every time you look at it, or someone asks you about it, you know that you would be able to give them absolutely chapter and verse about it. Keep up the good work

 

[Man of Tanith]

next on the list is a small belt pouch
and once i've processed the 9 hides there's gonna be a rucksack on a packframe made.

keeps me occupied whilst job hunting


thank you for your kind words

 

[John Fenna]

Fantastic!
When are you going to go into commercial production?

 

[Man of Tanith]

Fantastic!
When are you going to go into commercial production?

5th of Never John
The amount of work from manky bloody deer skin to haversack would make it impractical to charge even minimum wage for the hours put into it

i am debating making some smaller pieces potentially for commercial sales at some point

 

[crosslandkelly]

Wow! That looks great.

 

[Man of Tanith]

thanks Colin

 

[Janne]

Fantastic!

So you did everything, including the tanning? Which technique?

 

[Man of Tanith]

everything bar shooting the deer and skinning it was done by me.
i used eggs and a small splash of rapeseed oil as a brain substitute.
Hides were defleshed then bucked in lye solution.
i roughly followed the process detailed in "Deerskins to Buckskins by Matt Richards" including acidifying.
a few tricks learnt from friends and collegues may have been used too.
lots of hard work handsoftening and using cable as well.
i smoked the hides in a smoke tent in my back garden
all the lacing/thonging was spiral cut from circles cut from the buckskin hides.
all stitch holes were punched and i used an awl to open the holes to sew saddle stitch by hand

 

[Dogoak]

A lot of work gone in to that mate, I applaud you.
First thing I thought of when I saw the picture was 'I bet that feels lovely'.
It'd be great to see the results of your next endeavour!

 

[Toddy]

That's a power of work there, Sam
Kudos, many kudos

It's a lovely colour, but you're going to be hard pressed to keep it clean, no ? especially if you're intending it for trogging about.
Does smoking add much in the way of showerproofing ?

M

 

[Man of Tanith]

Mary
The grain on buckskin i used for the lid and gusset is more water resistant than standard buckskin, its also less prone to dirty marks.
also adds to the patina and "lived in" look.
smokin a hide doesn't do anything for showerproofing it's more for sealing in the tanning and softening. i have had it explained by Theresa to me many times but she "Sciences"me and apparently my eyes glaze over after a certain point

Dogoak
not gonna lie feels pretty good

 

[Mesquite]

Very impressive work Sam on all fronts.

I know you used scissors to cut the thonging and panels but did you use any other metal tools in its construction?

 

[Man of Tanith]

the awl was metal and the punch was too

i'm not precious about being that accurate

oh and the fleshing tool was metal too

 

[Buckshot]

Well done you
Impressive stuff