Brokennock
Cannon
And this would all be incorrect.When I hear “shot bags” or “shot pouches”, I think of small bags used to carry shot/pellets for smoothbore firearms.
A possibles bag, on the other hand, carries all the “possibles” (everything you might need for shooting or repairs) for a muzzleloader.
This seems to be the generally accepted definition of each.
Everything else that’s essential for survival in the wilderness would go in a haversack or pack.
There is no historical reference to anyone in the original muzzleloader period calling the small bag they used for shooting necessities a "possibles bag."
Everything else that’s essential for survival in the wilderness would go in a haversack or pack.
I agree. The term "possibles bag," for the bag all the other stuff goes in is less than adequate as well, but I think there is one, as in singular, late period reference suggesting it.
Just because something is a, "commonly accepted term," doesn't make it right.