Fur skin possibles bag

[David LaPell]

I was at Fort William Henry today with my son and I noticed one of the guides/interpreters was wearing a fur possibles bag. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I really like this design. I have a decent size muskrat that would work but not sure how to sew up a fur pelt compared to leather.

 

[Phil Coffins]

About fifty years ago I tanned a coon then folded it twice and sewed up the sides. Added a strap with a couple of leather straps for the horn and have used it ever since. Nothing fancy or complicated about it.
IMG_0428 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[2 shots]

Phil, what are those things on that belt???

 

[Hermit Tim]

I was at Fort William Henry today with my son and I noticed one of the guides/interpreters was wearing a fur possibles bag. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I really like this design. I have a decent size muskrat that would work but not sure how to sew up a fur pelt compared to leather.

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Easy way: turn it inside out and stitch it. Then flip it right side out. You'll be stitching the skin side and not the fur side so it won't be much trouble. I haven't done one with fur but, for the leather bags I make, I'll glue it together around the edges and let the glue dry. Then use a two prong leather punch and go ahead and make the holes all the way around. Takes a few minutes but much easier than forcing the needle through for every stitch. Once it's sewed up I'll turn it out. I usually also put the strap or strap connectors on before stitching the two bag panels together though. I find that to be less agrivating.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Phil, what are those things on that belt???

Fishing tackle.

 

[smo]

Here’s a couple bags I made with fur still attached..

 

[longcruise]

I was at Fort William Henry today with my son and I noticed one of the guides/interpreters was wearing a fur possibles bag. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I really like this design. I have a decent size muskrat that would work but not sure how to sew up a fur pelt compared to leather.

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Fur bags are cool but I've never been a fan. I keep thinking about them getting wet in the rain 🌧.

Not to be picky or adversarial, but his bag wasn't what we, at least in this century, call a possibles bag. A possibles would be more like a haversack.

 

[Phil Coffins]

When I made mine during the last century we called it a possible bag, now this century I still call it a possible bag. That covers two centuries. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet!

 

[longcruise]

When I made mine during the last century we called it a possible bag, now this century I still call it a possible bag. That covers two centuries. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet!

Not referring to yours Phil. Was referring to the belt bag in the first post.

 

[longcruise]

Which may have some sort of string on it over the shoulder

 

[smo]

Nice catch!

I think you are correct ..

 

[smo]

Someone say haversack…?

Beaver fur don’t care about a little dampness..

Ain’t the first time I’ve protected my head in such a way….

 

[Snapper Petta01]

Not to start a fight but please consider that much of what you see at Fort William Henry is inappropriate. The entire physical structure is something that remains out of the 1950s and is pretty historically incorrect (blacktop anyone?). The last time I was there the Grenadier interpreter was wearing black, high-top canvas sneakers as part of his uniform. Just saying...

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[slwnbp]

When I made mine during the last century we called it a possible bag, now this century I still call it a possible bag. That covers two centuries. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet!

I have called them a possibles bag for over 50 years.

 

[Hermit Tim]

I have called them a possibles bag for over 50 years.

When I first got into BP back in 94 my wife bought me a TC suede bag at the local gun store. I didn't know anything then so, when it said possibles bag right there on the packaging, I assumed that's what it was. It is actually too small for a possibles bag but just right for a shooting bag for small calibers. I don't know what to call them now as some guys say rifle bag, shot bag, shot pouch, shooter's bag... So I still refer to it as a possibles bag sometimes. It's just a bit smaller than the possibles bag hanging off my other shoulder.

 

[Mad L]

Here’s a couple bags I made with fur still attached..

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SMO, from the look in that Coon's eyes I don't think he is too pleased with your choice in bag making designs!!

 

[DixieTexian]

You don't necessarily have to make a bag that needs to be turned.

 

[Mad L]

@Dixieis correct.
lots of wasy to skin a furry critter.
This is the only bag I have used for the last 6 or 7 years and it's is holding up as good as any other.
(Groundhog, buckskin, ticking cloth)

 

[Jay Templin]

In the 90s, I was the Head Guide at Fort William Henry for 6 years. Our “curator” was a retired high school art teacher who had been hired for his ability to design and build displays- I spent years doing all the research for him. I was able to fix some of the misinformation in the museum and on the tour, but there were only two things I was able to fix as far as the material culture went. One was to get them to stop issuing waistcoats with zippers up the front and gaiters that zipped up the outside of the leg. Even then, it only happened because I pointed out that missing button made a waistcoat look well-worn, but a zipper that threw a tooth required a replacement and that cost money. We had a half Comanche fella who would take tours in his Indian Wars western outfit until Last of the Mohicans came out, then he got decent Eastern Woodland clothing made- the Fort didn’t provide any clothing for anyone who wasn’t 44th Regiment British. Wore my own stuff for years because it was better. The second was convincing them to allow my anthropology professor, Dr. Maria Liston, to do an archaeological field school. As part of it, we got them to rebury the human remains they’d been displaying since the 1950s. I will always be grateful to the old place for launching my decades-long career in museums, but I will also never forget that it isn’t actually much of a museum itself.
Which is all to say, don’t take any of the material culture you see there as actually representative of the New York frontier in the 1750s.
Jay

 

[oreclan]

I was at Fort William Henry today with my son and I noticed one of the guides/interpreters was wearing a fur possibles bag. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I really like this design. I have a decent size muskrat that would work but not sure how to sew up a fur pelt compared to leather.

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Same technique. It's just thin leather.