Makin' leggin's ???

[paulvallandigham]

I had to help peel a club member's leather shirt off of him. He made it with the shiny side OUT, and the damp coarse side stuck to him like glue.

Years later, a man more knowledgeable about "buckskinning" than me told me that the real hunters of the day NEVER put the shiny side out, except for ceremonial events. The rough side is put outward, to make a dull presentation to the light, and make it easier for them to blend( camouflage?) into the brush, and trees when avoiding enemies, or stalking game.

The only sure way I know to be able to get leggings or leather clothing off is if they have a fabric lining of some sort. This means you may have to wash these things in cold water and "woolite", or some other product to get the stink down to a level that lets you back in your own home :grin: ,but, that seems to be a small price to pay for being able to get OUT OF THOSE leather cloths when you want to do so. :shocked2: :rotf: :idunno: :surrender: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[jethro224]

This hide is about dime thickness. Pretty flexible. I wondered, too, if it would breath better than cowhide.

Hmph. I was expecting it to be thicker, cuzz the piece of javelina I have is about as thick as two nickels stacked, to "coin" a phrase. It's from the collar on the shoulders, so it just may be naturally thicker in that area of a hide. BTW- "dime" thick is a pretty close description of the pigskin lining I buy, but it's stiffer than deer or elk. Almost "papery."

Ah man, I better quit now, cuzz I've plum run out of adjectives! :rotf:

I checked and mine is really just a hair thicker than a penny. I underestimated it. :idunno:
It's stiffer than deer or elk but not a lot.

Dang! 2 nickels thick would make leg armour! :shocked2: You'll hafta put joints in the knees!
Devil's Club? :haha: I laugh in the face of Devil's Club!

 

[BrownBear]

Dang!...leg armour!....

Now there's a thought! I'd be happy if it covered knees and thighs, which take the worst beating along with elbows and forearms. When you hit the stuff or fend it off, the spines (up to half an inch long) go in and break off, then fester up a day or two later.

I can tell you straight up they'll go right through a pair of Carhart work pants with long johns underneath. And the stalks are commonly up to 6' or so and about as springy as a buggy whip. Step on the base and they go flat, but if your foot slides off they coming whipping right up at you. Worse is to trip on the base of one laying behind you, which whips it up into your back or head.

Dang.... On second thought, why do I like hunting around here? :rotf:

 

[BillinOregon]

Brownbear: I've battled my way through devils club and nettle thickets in the Washington Cascades in Boy Scouts back when I was a young, eager pup. Only thing nastier is some of the thorn and "wait-a-bit" scrub I encountered in Africa. It was like living barbed wire.
I think proper chaps/leggings could be a godsend, but I am not sure how well deer brain tan would stand up to those stickers. Might need elk, moose or bison, well-oiled or waxed.

 

[hoochiepapa]

We don't have anything like that here in Colorado :blah:

 

[BrownBear]

Naw, you've got genuine beavertail cactus, both the little ones close to the ground that decorate you pretty good during a branding, and the tall ones that bite if you back into them.

I'll take cactus any day over Devil's Club, until you get a little further south and west of you into cholla country. Locals also know them as "jumping cactus." It's one cactus never to be messed with! :shocked2:

 

[hoochiepapa]

My dad and I were deer hunting on the side of a very steep mountain. I lost my footing, and landed on my butt in a patch of that cactus, and my folks were pulling stickers out of my butt for hours.