Leather Rucksack

[Dreadhead]

I call this the Wandering Half-Goat Pack!

Made from oil tanned leather with goatskin trims. Some tooled veg tan panels and pockets, along with thick tooled veg tan straps. All hand stitched and hand tooled. Plenty of extra attachment points for a bedroll underneath and some on the side under large pocket.
9 buckles all made by hand from antler, some with a little cup and ring tooling.
Wooden frame folds into a chair also all made from scratch. Attached via buckles so can be removed and the pack used without it.

The most modern thing about this pack is the coppers rivets

The front panel is a carving of me and my dog in iron age style, wandering together

Thanks for reading

 

[CLEM]

Very impressive work as always. Superb stuff.

 

[Robbi]

That is one superb fishing rucksack !

cracking job mate.

 

[Muddypaws]

Absolutely stunning! You are a leatherworking genius.

 

[RonW]

Very nice work indeed, Hamish! Looks real good!
However.... a few remarks of an aesthetic nature; the flaps for closing the sidepockets etc. look shoddy/not finished/not on the same exquisite level as the rest of the pack. They are a colour mismatch too, looking at the dark brown and the reddish brown. Maybe darken the front pocket so it matches the lock better??

The celtic designs are superb and I love the braided straps. That detachable stool is brilliant!
You really need to flaunt this pack in the Norwegian highlands of Hedmark next autumn!

 

[crosslandkelly]

Wow! That's s beautiful Hamish.

 

[richy3333]

OMG that’s absolutely fantastic Hamish. Utterly amazed at how talented some people are with their hands. All credit to you pal.
Slainte
Richard

 

[Dreadhead]

Very nice work indeed, Hamish! Looks real good!
However.... a few remarks of an aesthetic nature; the flaps for closing the sidepockets etc. look shoddy/not finished/not on the same exquisite level as the rest of the pack. They are a colour mismatch too, looking at the dark brown and the reddish brown. Maybe darken the front pocket so it matches the lock better??

The celtic designs are superb and I love the braided straps. That detachable stool is brilliant!
You really need to flaunt this pack in the Norwegian highlands of Hedmark next autumn!

Aye I agree, I had to rush it a bit to finish it this week for a competition. I feel the same about the side pockets etc. I will no doubt take all the rusty goatskin trims off and replace them with something else. I have some nice sheepskin that may be better. But having put months of work into this already, i'm not quite ready to start picking it apart haha

 

[dwardo]

Thats a stunner bud. It all works in every way.

 

[Hunkyfunkster]

That's a work of art

 

[Polecatsteve]

Lovely. Dare I ask how much it weighs? Of the entire pack the thing I like most is how happy the little dog looks walking. Captured it perfectly! Makes me smile.

Very nice. I do second the side pocket "sides" they don't seem to fit the pack quite 100%

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Wow! That is one fine pack indeed, absolutely stunning craftmanship. Love it.

 

[John Fenna]

I love it!
Except for the pocket lids... but you have that in hand
If you made one that had a high frame stool back, not only would you have extra room to strap kit but also a back to the stool so that you could lean back and relax more comfortably - but you would need to get the extra rest after carrying the extra weight .....
Keep up the extraordinarily good work!

 

[Dreadhead]

Some more modifications to the Half-Goat bush pack

Swapped out the goatskin trim for some sheepskin which matches the colour better, added straps to carry my cook pot, lowered and widened the chair, and added a system so I can slot a belt in as a hip belt to bear more load on the hips. Also added some iron age bronze buckles to pull the trim taught at the back.

Currently working on building another two of these, they are rather taxing but fun

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Klenchblaize]

Hi

You clearly have a talent for both workmanship and aesthetics but at the risk of offending the construction of the article highlights a certain unfamiliarity with the finer points of handsewen leather construction. This is nowhere more evident than in the side pocket attachment detail that ensures they look like an afterthought, such is the lack of integration.

I would also like to see the main compartment with zero visable stitching - as in sewn inside out and then inverted. This would make for a slightly less boxy and aggressive look.

Probably best to leave the pack as is and if you wish start a new one rather than further modification that risks detracting from the original that has a certain charm and honesty.

There's many things to like about the pack and some very nice detailing.

All the best

K

 

[Dreadhead]

Hi

You clearly have a talent for both workmanship and aesthetics but at the risk of offending the construction of the article highlights a certain unfamiliarity with the finer points of handsewen leather construction. This is nowhere more evident than in the side pocket attachment detail that ensures they look like an afterthought, such is the lack of integration.

I would also like to see the main compartment with zero visable stitching - as in sewn inside out and then inverted. This would make for a slightly less boxy and aggressive look.

Probably best to leave the pack as is and if you wish start a new one rather than further modification that risks detracting from the original that has a certain charm and honesty.

There's many things to like about the pack and some very nice detailing.

All the best

K

No offense taken

Really this was a prototype pack for myself so I could play around with various styles and techniques.

I know what you mean about the stitching, but what you can't tell from just pictures is that the leather is 2-3mm thick so turning inside out would distort it too much. I wanted a box shape because it sits nice and square so I can slot boxes in easy when transporting leather goods for shows. When you turn the stitching to the inside, what usually happens is that the sides bunch right out, which would require more work around the top edge pulling it all-in and the side pockets would bunch right out. So I had considered other styles but purposely made it this way for the boxy look.

I agree the side pockets don't look right though, I wanted to try this technique and it doesn't sit right, I won't be making this way again. And after putting on the trims with the rustic edges, I may swap this out with a straight cut rolled edge trim maybe with wire running around the rolled edge to add more structure.

Best way to learn is to do
Currently working on two others, one for a customer, and another one for myself which will have corrected some of the lessons I learned with this pack

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[Kadushu]

The 2nd iteration really hits the spot. Love the colours and the visible stitching is an attractive feature. Awesome!