New baker tent!

[Eric_Methven]

Nigel, I agree about the wildlife aspect completely. The grizly was shot in 1936 and has an export stamp on the back of the hide to show it was taken and exported under proper and legal circumstances. The timber wolf hide is from eastern europe and was taken as part of an authorised cull. I use these skins to make period clothing where faux fur just wouldn't look authentic. However, I never buy pelts unless they have the proper stamp/paperwork with them. Nor do I ever take an animal just for it's skin. Rabbits are taken for their meat - the pelt is a by product and it's the same with deer. However, most deer skins I take are from recent roadkills. I've never hunted deer although if given the opportunity of being part of an organised cull, I'd probably jump at the chance. However, bad taste is just a matter of opinion.

Eric

 

[Tony]

Great setup there Eric It looks like it cold weather the storm easy enough. IF the weather gets too bad can you lower the top flap a bit? or it is just fine as long as it's situated right?

 

[Nigel]

For authenticity it’s OK. I like your justification. I think it would be better if you where to advertise that you are using synthetic fur for you period costumes, who really cares how authentic they look. Legal stamping is just a formality, for the organized gangs they have no problem in obtaining these documents.

Nigel

 

[bothyman]

Eric


Did you make it yourself ???????????

MickT

 

[stovie]

Okay! So I Googled it...

From Tentsmiths

"...Henry David Thoreau describes what can only be a Baker in a journal entry he made in 1853. He does not lead one to believe that it is a new style, just a warmer tent than he was using at the time which happened to be a wedge. He explains the name came from it's similarity in appearance to a "Yankee Baker" or, as we call it today, a reflector oven!"

Well there you go.

 

[Eric_Methven]

Nigel, I don't really advertise anything about the pelts - I don't sell them on or anything, but my living history group wouldn't tolerate synthetic in any shape or form. That's why we only use veggie tanned leather and only use linen thread and linen cloth to make our kit. They do make good props at events though. I know what you mean about the dodgy paperwork. All I can do though is buy in good faith.

Mick, No I didn't make this one myself. I bought the canvas and did a deal with a lady who makes yurts. She made it from my drawing. Her son fell in love with one of my american flat bows (the one with the snake skin backing) and a quiver of arrows. She didn't have the money to buy it for him, so I suggested she make me a tent in exchange.

Tony, the front flap can close right down to the ground if necessary, but it works best with a reflector fire just under the flap with the heat radiating back into the tent. In really cold weather, a yurt with a small wood burner works best.

Eric

 

[Toddy]

I do take your point Nigel, and we do share your concerns, but I too produce authentic kit for Heritage centres, Museums and re-enactors, and fake just doesn't pass. Like Eric I source as carefully and as ethically as I can.
Most wolfskins that come into the country are wolf/cross that are regularly culled, and generally have the paws removed to make it clear that it is a cross regardless of how wolf the skin looks.
There are a lot of older bearskins out there, maybe why there are so few bears now , but I know of one Canadian lady who has a huge black bearskin in her freezer, waiting until she has time to cure it properly. The beast died on her property and she decided she wasn't going to waste it. We don't take things to extremes, big cat pelts are a *no* for instance, but an older bear skin with complete papers was very good find Eric. From Donagh?
Fake fur is a health and safety fire hazard risk, the d*mned stuff melts

Excellent tent too. Monarch has one that has the bell ends. It adds a lot of space but doesn't go up quite the same.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[longshot]

Dang Eric, i was giving you credit for using real pelts with such a historic tent. Synthocrap just looks fake and takes away from that authenticity the i have always found in your presentations.

:You_Rock_


Cheers
dean

 

[Eric_Methven]

Cheers Dean, I always use authentic stuff, even if some of it is not seen as PC by some. I've never been PC anyway so what the heck!

The wolf skin with the paws and claws still on will be used in the colder months as a shoulder and neck wrap. The pelt goes across my shoulders and the head lies over my right upper arm and the tail lies over my left upper arm. Its left legs get pinned together under my chin to keep it in place.

The wolf/coyote cross will be turned into a davy crocket/mountainman hat with the face of the animal at the front of the hat. The remainder of the pelt will be kept and used as trim for other projects.

The grizly will just be used as a sleeping mat on the floor. A jumper stuffed inside it's head raises it enough to be used as a fine and warm pillow.

I'm after a wild boar skin next - still with it's face and trotters intact. There's a place that breeds them for meat and they have started having the skins tanned.

If I were to go down the synthetic route I might as well just give up. It's not just looking the part, but feeling the part as well. It just don't feel right wearing man made fibres when you are portraying something ancient.

At Chopwell last weekend (where the photos were taken) I got some awful looks from a few animal rights types. But there was lots more positive interest in the skins from the ordinary public.

Eric

 

[tomtom]

has it been tested in any proper british rain storms yet Eric? im really interested in the design..

 

[Squidders]

I have no comment to make regarding the unnecessary use of animal parts other than it is entirely subjective and that it is the fault of humans that some animals aren't as prolific as they could be and that people wearing leather belts and shoes should not comment about someone elses use of the same material from a diferent animal.

I would just like to say that the tent looks very nice indeed, well thought out and by the sound of it, well executed. I someday may make my own to see how its done.

If I were to go down the synthetic route I might as well just give up. It's not just looking the part, but feeling the part as well. It just don't feel right wearing man made fibres when you are portraying something ancient.

One thought though... how can you honestly feel the part 6 foot from what looks like a Ford Transit van?

 

[Hoodoo]

Very nice! Brings back youthful memories as that's the kind of tent I slept in when I was in Boy Scouts. Only there was no curtain. Bill Mason calls it a campfire tent but I always knew it as a Baker tent.

 

[Tony]

Mick, No I didn't make this one myself. I bought the canvas and did a deal with a lady who makes yurts. She made it from my drawing. Her son fell in love with one of my american flat bows (the one with the snake skin backing) and a quiver of arrows. She didn't have the money to buy it for him, so I suggested she make me a tent in exchange.

Eric

Excellent, there's something great about trading

 

[scruff]

Wow!

Eric thats a really great set up, I'd love to have seen it first hand.

Hope your feeling a little better.

ps. Your grandsome is sporting some pretty groovey shoes, are they your handy work too?

 

[Nigel]

Eric, well done, you are a real hero m8. I guess some one should have explained that, to all the other endangered or extinct animals (Authenticity).
Traditional Herbal medicine made from anything else other than that of Black Rhino horn it’s just not authentic and does not feel right.

 

[chewie]

Eric, well done, you are a real hero m8. I guess some one should have explained that, to all the other endangered or extinct animals (Authenticity).
Traditional Herbal medicine made from anything else other than that of Black Rhino horn it’s just not authentic and does not feel right.

Let's try to avoid handbags at ten paces please. To each their own.

 

[jdlenton]

Let's try to avoid handbags at ten paces please. To each their own.

my thoughts exactly

play nice and dont let this thread go down hill its a great thread so far lets keep it that way

James

 

[Eric_Methven]

Thanks James and Chewie, appreciate the input.

Nigel, can I remind you that this is a thread about my new tent. If you want to express your opinions about the use of animal skins, please feel free to send me a PM. I realise you have very strong feelings about this, but here might not be the best place to express them.

Eric

 

[Eric_Methven]

Scruff, yes the shoes my grandson is wearing were hand made by me. They were made from really thin veggie tanned leather. The hide is known as a 'kip'. It's the skin from a small indian cow. The kind with a big hump on the back of its neck.

His shirt and trousers were hand made by Toddy.

Eric

 

[scruff]

Very nice work from the two of you then.

Ah yes I've seen kip for sale somewhere but I didn't know thats where it came from. Very interesting.

The colour of that shirt is great. Do you know if its a natural dye?

(Sorry to steer away from your superb tent by the way )