buckskins

[Mr Hawken]

hi all. i have a question about making buckskins. i don't know what type of animal hide to use to make pants and a shirt. should i use deer,moose or elk? i was told moose for pants that way you dont have to sew hides together. any answers would be a great help thanks

 

[bwhoffman]

I feel they all would work, "buck"skin being the traditional is deer. elk is heavier and larger and then there is the moose....evenmore heavier and thick! I bought a pair of mocs yesterday, wearing them as I type this, the material is great and soft BUT compared to buckskin, it is almost3X the thickness and weight.
I think you might want to consider what your outfit will weigh when worn and then when worn damp!

Food for thought.
by the way...from here on out, my mocs will be moose!

Brett

 

[RickD]

I think deer would be to thin...I`d go with elk or moose

 

[Bountyhunter]

My skins are made from the hides of deer that I killed. I sent the hides off and got them soft tanned and then made my pants from them.

They are not thin. I also have some elk hides and by my way of thinking, are too thick for pants. I had planned on making a coat from them but I believe that it would weigh 15 pounds.

 

[RickD]

Bountyhunter does have a point..I make Lakota style quivers from elk and bison and after thinking about it a pair of pants might weigh around 15 pounds..

 

[shmrck1]

Bountyhunter,
What does that cost to have the hides
tanned that way and how much prep work is
necessary prior to shipping them off. I would
like to have a vest made out of my next deer
harvest. Any thoughts?
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[Matt B]

After trying on my dad's elk pants, I decided on buckskins. My brother made his elk pants and they weighed about 15 - 20 pounds.

My pants pattern was an old pair of levis I pulled apart. Just cut about 1/2 inch wide around. Just so you compensate for when you sew them together.

 

[DrTimboone]

I suggest you splurge and get some Braintan or tan it yourself Braintan.com site Braintan weighs about 1/3 as much as commercial tan and has already been stretched so you don't get such a baggy butt or knees..

I have a braintanned buffalo robe that weighs just uner 14 lbs...Commercially tanned one the same size weighs over 40 lbs!!!

 

[davy]

I am just curious here .. why such a weight differential between brain tanned and commercial applications? :hmm:

Davy

 

[Twisted_1in66]

hi all. i have a question about making buckskins. i don't know what type of animal hide to use to make pants and a shirt. should i use deer,moose or elk? i was told moose for pants that way you dont have to sew hides together. any answers would be a great help thanks

Deer for garments, moose and elk for mocassins.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:

 

[Seamus]

When braintanning the skin is thinned in order to make it easier for the brain oils to penetrate.
When brain tanning with the hair off, the epidermis is scraped off along with the hair. With something like a buffalo robe the hide is thinned with a sharp tool from the flesh side.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

When braintanning the skin is thinned in order to make it easier for the brain oils to penetrate.
When brain tanning with the hair off, the epidermis is scraped off along with the hair. With something like a buffalo robe the hide is thinned with a sharp tool from the flesh side.

Good braintan is fluffy, soft, supple, easy to sew, and durable. Like Seamus said, the epidermis is removed as you remove the hair. The wet-scraping/de-fleshing's not so bad, but the softening that turns it into brain-tanned leather is a laborious process.

You can dry-scrape buckskin too, like they do with buffalo, but you don't need to thin the leather and you would need to lace it to a frame to do the dry-scraping, so most people wet-scrape it.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:

 

[DrTimboone]

As others have said the hide is worked and stretched thoroughly and I suppose some material and oils are eliminated??? Not sure exactly...but it is way lighter weight.

 

[aloyalistdawg]

Gee thanks anoither great link...
my best regards Loyalistdawg