Patch knife carry

[WonkyEye]

I went through a bunch of effort to cut a blade from sawzall, shaped a rat tail, and wet set it into an antler. I made a wooden scabbard, stitched a leather cover and made a leather tube around my strap that it friction fits into. I was pre-lubing strips of ticking with a grease/wax blend and kept spares rolled up in the bag. I'd tie a new strap to the bag and just cut at the muzzle. After a few outings I found it to be fiddly, too fiddly and I dry balled a couple times. I also found that I prefer a homebrew liquid lube, so I've been using precut patches and a silver snug box that I fill and saturate before a shoot. My knife is just for show now

 

[david_1]

I hate fumbling around looking for my patch knife (Thank you @TwoFeathers for two great, xtra sharp patch knives), takes two hands. I had Two Feathers make me a sheath with tabs so I could sew on to my bag strap for my .40 Flinter, Then under a little instruction from Two Feathers, I made another sheath for my .54. Love it. The weight of the bag makes it easy to pull the knife, cut the patch, and back in the sheath, all with one hand. The sheath is tight enough, no problem of it falling out.

 

[Bushfire]

Agreed, its more practical to precut lubed patches, but rather than fumble for them in a bag I pierce around 10 of them with my Vent pick and hang them that way like a mutli-layered sandwich. I keep a back-up pack of them in a small tin in my shooting bag, where I can draw on them to resupply the pierced ones on the vent pick if needed.

What lube do you use? It’s what’s stopped me going to a similar setup.

 

[RobertIN]

 

[RobertIN]

What lube do you use? It’s what’s stopped me going to a similar setup.

I use Frontiers bear paws grease when cutting at the muzzle, typically when hunting. Otherwise I just use spit pouches at the range.

I cut strips of cotton drill about 1 1/4" across, roll em up tight and stick a pin through to keep them together. Melt the grease and sit the roll in it until it soaks it up. Squeeze out the excess and let it resolidify. Once that's done they more or less stay rolled up. When ready to use tie the strip off to my possibles bag strap and stuff the length into the bag.

 

[Bushfire]

I use Frontiers bear paws grease when cutting at the muzzle, typically when hunting. Otherwise I just use spit pouches at the range.

I cut strips of cotton drill about 1 1/4" across, roll em up tight and stick a pin through to keep them together. Melt the grease and sit the roll in it until it soaks it up. Squeeze out the excess and let it resolidify. Once that's done they more or less stay rolled up. When ready to use tie the strip off to my possibles bag strap and stuff the length into the bag.

We’re pretty limited in this part of the world to making most of our own. I’ve tried a few things but dishwashing liquid 50/50 with water is doing well for fouling. Wouldn’t hold up to being outside a tin though.

 

[WonkyEye]

What lube do you use? It’s what’s stopped me going to a similar setup.

I looked at the patent for Lehigh valley lube, and attempted a recreation that has worked very well. I didn't have access to tall oil, so I blended castor, lanolin, oleic acid, and jojoba to get roughly the same composition of lineic, oleic and stearic acids, and made a soap from it with lye, that still has significant unsaponified oils From there I dissolved the solids in ethenol, d-limeonene and terpenol. I added just a touch of boric acid as an Antimicrobial. It has worked very well, and probably $80 in materials had got me enough to shoot for the rest of my lifetime. Half the guys in here probably think I'm soft in the head for not using spit, and the handful that have a chem background probably think I'm a moron. But, when I use it, I haven't had to stop and swab yet, and cleanup has been very easy in my not so smooth bore Hawken. I keep a ton full of patches and saturate it when I fill it up.

 

[Coinneach]

What lube do you use? It’s what’s stopped me going to a similar setup.

For range work I use a 6 to 1 mix of water and water soluble machinists oil, only prepared prior to a range activity.

For stored patches its Lanolin and Crisco mix in a roughly 1 to 4 mix.
Both variant of patches briefly semi "dried" between paper towel.

 

[david_1]

50/50 mix of pure 100% neatsfoot oil and Track of the Wolf's Mink Oil. I used to use 100% Tracks Mink Oil, but found, just as effective and less messy the 50/50 mix. Not easy mixing it all, but in the long run works for me.

 

[Mike in FL]

The older I get the less I carry. I never thought I'd abandon period correct. Now I don't even carry a horn nor a ball board. I do all my loading into speed loaders at home and I carry plenty in my bag. And they are store-bought PLASTIC things that hold one load to include powder, felt wad, pre-cut and lubed patches, and round ball. Priming is in one of those springy plunger things attached to strap. But just to look at my gear it seems period because those loaders are out of sight in the bag. The loaders are air and water tight so the loads don't deteriorate over time.
Even at the range I use pre-measured powder charges in vials marked with the amount. Many years ago I thought I could have both period correct (sort of} and had a machinist at my wife's work hollow out short lengths of dowel rods to match the rifle caliber to use as push-thru loaders open on each end but had a cork in one end to keep the powder in. Not really period correct, I mean who ever heard of that, but at least it was made of natural material and MIGHT have been used. Very likely not, though.

 

[longcruise]

I looked at the patent for Lehigh valley lube, and attempted a recreation that has worked very well

I acquired some Lehigh Valley lube back when it first came out. It was getting good reviews from shooters I knew and respected. I was very happy with the results! I shot it in midwinter in a mountain Valley in cold weather. Even under those conditions it was effective and easy to use.

The next time I went shooting I found the bottle empty. The cap was tight but it was laying on it's side and being alcohol based it found it's way out. I had this same experience with alcohol based leather dye that leaked around a tight cap.

I decided to try making something similar. All I used was denatured alcohol and castor oil. Can't remember the quantities but much more alcohol than oil. It worked very good too.

 

[WonkyEye]

I acquired some Lehigh Valley lube back when it first came out. It was getting good reviews from shooters I knew and respected. I was very happy with the results! I shot it in midwinter in a mountain Valley in cold weather. Even under those conditions it was effective and easy to use.

The next time I went shooting I found the bottle empty. The cap was tight but it was laying on it's side and being alcohol based it found it's way out. I had this same experience with alcohol based leather dye that leaked around a tight cap.

I decided to try making something similar. All I used was denatured alcohol and castor oil. Can't remember the quantities but much more alcohol than oil. It worked very good too.

I could see castor and alcohol being a very good lube, even for a lock, maybe even too slippery for PRB. How was the accuracy?

I never shot the original, but one of the guys I shoot with is still nursing an OG bottle that he refers to as his "precious". Joking for the Lord of the rings fans . He told me about it and started me down this path.

As I said I was using a snuff box with saturated patches. I injured my knee in March and didn't get surgery until late May. Next time I shot it was dry-ish, but I wouldn't say it was dry. It still performed well, although it did get tougher to stuff after 10 shots or so, I never did have to swab. I think the addition of a bit of extra oils mixed with the soaps (the patent didn't say anything about this one way or the other, it was my own doing to ensure PH was favorable wasn't corrosive), but perhaps I stumbled on an improvement.

 

[Banjoman]

The older I get the less I carry. I never thought I'd abandon period correct. Now I don't even carry a horn nor a ball board. I do all my loading into speed loaders at home and I carry plenty in my bag. And they are store-bought PLASTIC things that hold one load to include powder, felt wad, pre-cut and lubed patches, and round ball. Priming is in one of those springy plunger things attached to strap. But just to look at my gear it seems period because those loaders are out of sight in the bag. The loaders are air and water tight so the loads don't deteriorate over time.
Even at the range I use pre-measured powder charges in vials marked with the amount. Many years ago I thought I could have both period correct (sort of} and had a machinist at my wife's work hollow out short lengths of dowel rods to match the rifle caliber to use as push-thru loaders open on each end but had a cork in one end to keep the powder in. Not really period correct, I mean who ever heard of that, but at least it was made of natural material and MIGHT have been used. Very likely not, though.

Oh No! Did you use the P word?! Arrghh!!

 

[longcruise]

How was the accuracy?

Yes, it was just as accurate as any other lube.

What got me started was using Dutch's dry patch method with the Napa cutting oil. It was fine but a little hard to load and absolutely required wiping between shots. On an elk hunt I shot a big cow and she took off at top speed down the valley. In my haste to reload I forgot to wipe and halfway down the ball wouldn't move. I rammed the end of the rod into a spruce tree repeatedly and seated the ball. The threads of the rod tip were filled with sap. !! Didn't need the reload. Elk was dead about 100 yards down the valley.

Since then I've played with various mixes of oil and alcohol. They all worked fine. Most recently is veg oil mixed with 91% rubbing alcohol. La6 out a strip and squirt it end to end and leave it for the alcohol to evaporate. Only takes a few minutes.

Now, I've been fooling around with Morrell lard. I might be on my way back to crisco.

 

[James Dietz]

I have mine on the bag strap. I used the holes I have for the strap length adjustment so I can take it off If I would need to and not have any unneeded holes in the strap. I also use precut patches, but don't have to dig through my bag when the need to cut something pops up!

I carry my patch knife like Big Tom 52! I will sometimes lube up a strand of linen and tie it to the strap. Then I cut at the muzzle. Plus side is they are always nicely centered. Downside is I get a bit greasy.

 

[WonkyEye]

Since I didn't share a pic before, this is my current setup. All made by me except the horn and strap that came from vendors at Kempton this year. I'm thinking about sewing the knife sheath to the bag, and using the strap space for a sleeve for the priming horn. Right now it just dangles on a cord and annoys me

 

[Coinneach]

Since I didn't share a pic before, this is my current setup. All made by me except the horn and strap that came from vendors at Kempton this year. I'm thinking about sewing the knife sheath to the bag, and using the strap space for a sleeve for the priming horn. Right now it just dangles on a cord and annoys me

Why not hang your Priming horn on a cord around your neck, Ive been doing it that way for years with nary a problem.

 

[Tenring]

I have been working on a Patch Knife/Skinner but before I get into it let me give you a little back ground on this knife. There was a shooting bag found about thirty years ago in bucks county and I remember reading about it in either a Boys Life magazine or a Boy Scout magazine years and years ago at the doctors office and the journal from the the owners pack read as such he said he carried if my memory serves me well that he called it a Cloth or Linen knife he goes on to say that he cuts the ball close to the crown so he must have used it for a patch knife and the reason I say Skinner also is because he says he prepares game with it. The host of the article gave dimensions and a sketch of the Bag and Knife and the knife dimensions are really weird it’s a straight bar knife with a regular upswept blade and handle scales do not go all the way to the end there about 3/8th of an inch showing in the back the dimensions are 7 3/4” x 1/2” x 1/8” thick more like a Razor Knife. Like I said I have started on it out of a piece of 1095 I’ll fire it and temper it, here is a pic so far.

 

[Tenring]

I’ll put a Scande or a saber grind on it and Curly Maple Scales with red liners for a little pop and leather sheath and will see how she turns out. If I remember correctly the guy’s journal was from about 1790 or a little latter I think it’s been some time ago.

 

[Jedidiah]

I have a small bag and a medium size bag. One bag has Horn attached, one bag has a Running Fox patch knife attached(which i do not use)but looks good! This is just basic shooting gear. You can see what i carry. Only necessities. Anything else i need goes into a small backpack I take with me, I am too old to worry about period corr3ct. Now I worry about "making it back alive"! Works for me.