PLAIN bag for a PLAIN old man ...

[BillinOregon]

Not having much talent for crafts, I decided to make a very simple hunting pouch truer to 18th-century tradition than 19th, as I have a flint smoothie inbound.
I happened to be watching one of Ben Hoffman's Youtubes and took some of his guidance. I made the pattern out of a manilla folder then cut the front and back halves of the bag from 3-ounce vegetable-tanned cowhide and stitched in a welt to give some strength. The day before, I had started some 0000 steel wool well-washed to remove any oils in a cup or two of white vinegar for a fresh batch of vinegaroon. In less than 24 hours it yielded a usable black-blue stain, and I then rubbed in some mink oil to soften and protect. Added a pewter button for closure. I should see my hemp webbing in the mail today from Turkeyfoot Traders and then I can attach the simple strap. Might consider dying the hemp, although I hear it is not among the easiest of natural fibers to take and hold a dye. The bag will hold a worm and tow, a couple of spare flints, a few appropriate wads, a small pouch of shot and a small pouch of .690 round balls -- not the contents of the Library of Congress!

 

[Compressorguy]

Well that’s plain outstanding!

 

[Banjoman]

I plain like it.

 

[64Springer]

Making plain bags great again.

 

[waarp8nt]

That could be carried on a plane.

 

[andy52]

I'm just plain dubious as to how plain that will be in 20 years or so. I made a plain bag for myself 30 years ago and still have it; it's not so plain anymore I've added all kings of little frou-frous over the years. That's a lot of plains....

 

[Brokennock]

Not having much talent for crafts, I decided to make a very simple hunting pouch truer to 18th-century tradition than 19th, as I have a flint smoothie inbound.
I happened to be watching one of Ben Hoffman's Youtubes and took some of his guidance. I made the pattern out of a manilla folder then cut the front and back halves of the bag from 3-ounce vegetable-tanned cowhide and stitched in a welt to give some strength. The day before, I had started some 0000 steel wool well-washed to remove any oils in a cup or two of white vinegar for a fresh batch of vinegaroon. In less than 24 hours it yielded a usable black-blue stain, and I then rubbed in some mink oil to soften and protect. Added a pewter button for closure. I should see my hemp webbing in the mail today from Turkeyfoot Traders and then I can attach the simple strap. Might consider dying the hemp, although I hear it is not among the easiest of natural fibers to take and hold a dye. The bag will hold a worm and tow, a couple of spare flints, a few appropriate wads, a small pouch of shot and a small pouch of .690 round balls -- not the contents of the Library of Congress!

Well done.
I have gotten some of Turkey Foot's hemp webbing in the past.
It may not need dye, but it will probably need a good airing out, maybe a soaking in some baking soda and water..... the stuff I go from them stank pretty bad.

-- not the contents of the Library of Congress!

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Cool. I'd pack that around.

 

[TDM]

It looks great, should serve you well.

 

[Mrdix]

Very nice , I think I know the gun your bag will support !

 

[BillinOregon]

Brokennock, I have had a couple of balls of heavy hemp twine from Turkeyfoot in my craft box for years. Don't recall an unusual odor. I think a lot of it came from Romania in those days.
By the way, I cast some of those .690 balls from the Lee mold yesterday. They are running about .688 from my soft range scrap, and weigh in the immediate neighborhood of 480 grains. Methinks the chubby toots are capable of some serious work when dispatched at a reasonable clip.

 

[Thingamajiggy]

I won't com'plain' about all the bad puns going on in this thread but that's a great bag! I like it.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

I can plainly see that it is a very nice piece. Huzzah!

 

[Butch Martin]

Not having much talent for crafts, I decided to make a very simple hunting pouch truer to 18th-century tradition than 19th, as I have a flint smoothie inbound.
I happened to be watching one of Ben Hoffman's Youtubes and took some of his guidance. I made the pattern out of a manilla folder then cut the front and back halves of the bag from 3-ounce vegetable-tanned cowhide and stitched in a welt to give some strength. The day before, I had started some 0000 steel wool well-washed to remove any oils in a cup or two of white vinegar for a fresh batch of vinegaroon. In less than 24 hours it yielded a usable black-blue stain, and I then rubbed in some mink oil to soften and protect. Added a pewter button for closure. I should see my hemp webbing in the mail today from Turkeyfoot Traders and then I can attach the simple strap. Might consider dying the hemp, although I hear it is not among the easiest of natural fibers to take and hold a dye. The bag will hold a worm and tow, a couple of spare flints, a few appropriate wads, a small pouch of shot and a small pouch of .690 round balls -- not the contents of the Library of Congress!

Papa's got a brand new bag!

 

[gibby]

I think I like that better than most I've seen. Just looks right.

 

[oreclan]

Not having much talent for crafts, I decided to make a very simple hunting pouch truer to 18th-century tradition than 19th, as I have a flint smoothie inbound.
I happened to be watching one of Ben Hoffman's Youtubes and took some of his guidance. I made the pattern out of a manilla folder then cut the front and back halves of the bag from 3-ounce vegetable-tanned cowhide and stitched in a welt to give some strength. The day before, I had started some 0000 steel wool well-washed to remove any oils in a cup or two of white vinegar for a fresh batch of vinegaroon. In less than 24 hours it yielded a usable black-blue stain, and I then rubbed in some mink oil to soften and protect. Added a pewter button for closure. I should see my hemp webbing in the mail today from Turkeyfoot Traders and then I can attach the simple strap. Might consider dying the hemp, although I hear it is not among the easiest of natural fibers to take and hold a dye. The bag will hold a worm and tow, a couple of spare flints, a few appropriate wads, a small pouch of shot and a small pouch of .690 round balls -- not the contents of the Library of Congress!

Very nice bag! Most of mine are simple as
well. You can always use a simple bag with a later style rifle/ fowler , but not the other way around.
What are the dimensions?

 

[Dobegrant]

Very nice, simple works.

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

Not having much talent for crafts, I decided to make a very simple hunting pouch truer to 18th-century tradition than 19th, as I have a flint smoothie inbound.
I happened to be watching one of Ben Hoffman's Youtubes and took some of his guidance. I made the pattern out of a manilla folder then cut the front and back halves of the bag from 3-ounce vegetable-tanned cowhide and stitched in a welt to give some strength. The day before, I had started some 0000 steel wool well-washed to remove any oils in a cup or two of white vinegar for a fresh batch of vinegaroon. In less than 24 hours it yielded a usable black-blue stain, and I then rubbed in some mink oil to soften and protect. Added a pewter button for closure. I should see my hemp webbing in the mail today from Turkeyfoot Traders and then I can attach the simple strap. Might consider dying the hemp, although I hear it is not among the easiest of natural fibers to take and hold a dye. The bag will hold a worm and tow, a couple of spare flints, a few appropriate wads, a small pouch of shot and a small pouch of .690 round balls -- not the contents of the Library of Congress!

looks good to me

 

[loflyr55]

If it holds yer stuff, it’s good nuff.

 

[appalichian hunter]

I like it, I make all my own bags and most of the other things that goes along with shooting these guns, and sometimes I think we get a bit carried away on construction and design. As I know of no actually proven documented bags from the F&I period, I would bet that most folks on the frontier then would have had plain simple bags. Sure, there were leather workers in the settlements and there were better off folks who could afford such items, but my thinking as too the common person scratching out a new life on the frontier would make as much on their own as they could.