'Traditional' bushcraft timeline

[Toddy]

I look on leather making as three methods.
Brain, egg or oil tanned.
Tannin from bark tanned.
Chemically tanned (usually chromium salts)

Does PEG work on hide though ?

I do know that making it by the first method is damned hard work, and the second one can be almost as much.

M

 

[santaman2000]

I look on leather making as three methods.
Brain, egg or oil tanned.
Tannin from bark tanned.
Chemically tanned (usually chromium salts)

Does PEG work on hide though ?

I do know that making it by the first method is damned hard work, and the second one can be almost as much.

M

To be honest, just skinning the critter can be damned hard work. What's "PEG?"

 

[Janne]

To be honest, just skinning the critter can be damned hard work. What's "PEG?"

Polyethylene glycol.

They preserved the sunken war ship Vasa with it.
I had no clue you could use it for leather tanning!

 

[boatman]

At our displays I love asking the old question as to what is the main use of pigskin or deer hide.


The answer of course is to keep the wobbly bits of the animal inside as it walks around.

This then opens up people's minds to ask about and talk about the various processes and uses of animal skins. A surprising number of visitors have tried their hand at curing at least rabbit skins. Maybe our visitors tend to be self-selecting history or bushcraft enthusiasts but it does indicate the high level of potential self-sufficiency when linked with the numbers of gardeners and home craftsmen we meet.