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Newby has lingo question

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As far as I know the possibles bag predates the ladies shoulder bag so....I would say that a purse is like a possibles bag.

Though my wife and daughters refer to mine as a collection of "man purses" of "murses"....I've always preferred the historical "shot pouch". :wink:

Enjoy, J.D.
 
Ill bet that the possibles bag came first... :hmm:

Today I refer to MINE as a "European Shoulder Bag".
:wink:
 
Yes. :shocked2:
Really, in fairness the use of terms varies with who is saying it, locale, who owns the jug that is being passed, etc.
A 'possibles' bag may be a relatively recent term. It is often used to mean the 'shooting bag' carried with yer reload stuff and some ml tools. Others claim it is called 'possibles' because that means it contains everything a man could possibly need alone in the woods.
Opinions vary on what I just said.
Methinks it means the items needed for shooting and maintaining yer rifle while in the woods. For carrying personal items not rifle related a man might have a cloth haversack carried on the opposite side from his possibles/shooting bag.
 
With all the stuff my wife keeps in her shoulder purse and the length of time it takes her to find what she's looking for I think a better name for it is the "impossibles" bag.
:rotf:
 
The term "possibles bag" may date to the mountain man era (certainly made popular by some mountain man movies) and there is some debate as to whether it means a shooting bag or is actually describing a general purpose 'little bit of everything' pouch with misc. gear. The term is in popular use at many rondys (which go by a pre 1840 date for gear) to describe the bag holding one's gun gear (and often a bunch of other stuff). Events based on earlier timeframes and period documents from those earlier times use the terms of "shooting" or "hunting" combined with "bag" or "pouch" to describe the bag which holds the gun's gear, and there is a school of thought that holds that such shooting pouches or hunting bags are intended to hold only the minimum gear for a specific gun and that each gun had it's companion bag. A search of past topics will show you what various Forum members do (or do not) carry in their pouches.
 
A possibles bag was/is used to carry things other than shooting equipment. In other words, camping stuff, skillet, eating utensils, other camp gear, anything one can "possibly" carry. Many of these were/are made of canvas.

What we wear resembling a purse is a shooting bag. It carries tools for shooting the rifle. They didn't have pockets much back then. Many of these are/were made of leather. Of course, we'll let Cynthialee carry lipstick in her bag, if she wants.

If you want to carry a purth, then carry a purth! :rotf: :shake:
 
I use 2 bags a small shooting bag that carries enough to to fire 6 shots, extra flint and powder in 6 quick load tubes.
This is the bag I gab to get the firearm into a shootable state fast.

The other bag is larger, its the possibles bag. It carries extra balls, patches, OP wads, tools, jags, worm etc.....

I alway bring the larger possibles bag with me but not always out in the field as it weighs a ton with all the extra stuff in it that I won't need unless I leave the bag at home.
I often leave it in the vehicle where I can get if I need it.
 
Actually purse is a very old term from medieval times for a money bag that is normally cinched closed and tied to one's belt. Hence the term cutpurse for a type of thief who would cut the purse strings to steal a money bag, or cut the actual bag and pick up the coins as they fell out. The term Winning a purse in a horse race or other game/wager comes from this as well, as the prize was a bag of money...aka a purse. It extended to naval prizes, and the money awarded the captain for the sale of a captured ship and/or its cargo was also called a purse. From that money came shares or percentages for the crewmen, and the Ship's Perser handled the accounting and the dolling out of the money.

The over the shoulder bag carried by women known as a "purse" actually stems from the earlier "handbag" and is Victorian, with the "shoulder bag" variation much younger. True, over the shoulder bags for men and for women are much older, but the use of the modern woman's purse more closely follows the purpose of the Victorian handbag (container for money, handkerchief, scent, and a fan) than any of the previous, historic, shoulder bags used by women.

LD
 
necchi said:
That's a tag line the ladies use at rendezvous,
They call it a Man Purse, :slap:


for whatever it's worth, i would call a small bag a shooting bag and a large one a possibles bag ... i do not think 'manpurse' is correct, cute or funny ... i think it's like calling a kilt a skirt..

just the free opinion of the resident grumpy old man - free and no doubt well worth the price ...

:wink:
 
MSW said:
i do not think 'manpurse' is correct, cute or funny ... i think it's like calling a kilt a skirt.
I Know, get's yer goat when they say it.

The responce is usually asking them why they're not barefoot, Who gave you shows in the first place and just exactly what, are you doing out of the kitchen ?!!
 
necchi said:
MSW said:
i do not think 'manpurse' is correct, cute or funny ... i think it's like calling a kilt a skirt.
I Know, get's yer goat when they say it.

The responce is usually asking them why they're not barefoot, Who gave you shows in the first place and just exactly what, are you doing out of the kitchen ?!!

A kilt isnt a skirt? :stir:
:rotf: :rotf:
 
Gee, you just discovered my source of possible bags. Good will leather purses! :hmm: :hmm:
 
YES, they are readily available around here at various donation thrift shops like Goodwill and others. Don't worry how they look at you at checkout. :wink:
 
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