Possibles Bag -- Pictures or Patterns

[Greebe]

Hey everyone. Wondering if you guys know of any patterns for a possibles bag. I tried doing a search but did not find anything.

Also it would be great if you guys could post pictures of ones that you have made with rough dimensions so I know what size would be recommended.

Also I would be interested in any pockets or other things that you added to them to help organize and make life a bit easier.

Thanks a lot,
Greebe

 

[user 922]

I would recommend that you buy T. C. Albert's book "Recreating the 18th Century Hunting Pouch". It includes lots of examples and a couple of patterns. I'm not sure what the definition of a "possibles bag" is, but if you're looking to make a shooting bag this is a good book. It's available from TOW.

 

[necchi]

Here's a basic pattern, print it out in 8 pages.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/213425/

Then just start looking at back posts and the back pages here for lot's of photos folks have shared, just gotta dig, :wink:

 

[Black Hand]

First, we need to define what a "possibles bag" is?
Do you mean a haversack (used for carrying food and small items) or a gun/rifle bag (used to feed and care for your gun)?

 

[Greebe]

Thanks for the link to the pattern. I will print it out and use that as a general guide. I never build things exactly because I like to modify things to suite me, but it is nice to have general starting place.

 

[Greebe]

As far as a definition, here is what I find on the net that is what I have always understood it to be.

possibles bag
The bag where muzzleloader hunters keep all of their weapon essentials (powder, bullets, caps, etc)

http://www.huntwashingtonstate.com/HWS/hunting_dictionary.htm

POSSIBLES BAG
The leather bag in which the mountain man carried his possibles. everything from his
pipe and tobacco to his patches and balls. What could not be carried in the bag
were hung on the bags shoulder strap. Shooting needs were given first priority, kept
where they could be found with ease and speed.
Portage County Historical Society
http://www.pchswi.org/archives/misc/mmterms.html

Am I missing something?

 

[necchi]

Yeah well a Haversack is different, usually cloth and meant to carry food items.
Some folks split hairs when it comes to the title of a shooting pouch and/or a possibles bag because there are historical reference to each being used in a different manner.

You'll find a lot of info about that in this section. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showforum.php?fid/34/
I feel the discussion of what's Historically Accurate should be kept in that section, especially with new guy's that are seeking basic info about making a "bag"

 

[SpottedBull]

Ya know what?

make a bag that YOU like, that suits YOUR needs to carry what YOU want to carry in it, and call it whatever YOU want to call it!

Just my 2 cents... :hatsoff:

If ya want some patterns that I have made on Powerpoint that print out easily, send me a PM with your email address and I can email them to ya.

 

[Black Hand]

The reason for my question was to ensure that I understood what he was looking to make so he could be directed appropriately.

The term "possibles bag" has been applied to all sorts of bags from gun bags to bags the size of small suitcases. I never presume I know what someone else is thinking...

 

make a bag that YOU like, that suits YOUR needs to carry what YOU want to carry in it, and call it whatever YOU want to call it!

That's fine, as long as you don't mind others misinterpreting what you're talking about.

A shooting bag and a possibles bag are not the same thing, to a great many people.

If you order a pattern for a possibles bag (sight unseen), and you wanted a shooting bag, you might be disappointed in what you receive.

Some people call a smoothbore a rifle. I guess that's okay with some here too? After all, they are similar enough, right? :wink:

 

[BrownBear]

Here is a link to TC Albert's book.

It's invaluable for techniques, plus it includes a few patterns.

Be aware that the bags from his patterns will seem "small" when finished. If you're looking for something with lotsa room, keep looking. Same in truth for the bag pattern linked here on the site.

Flip side of the coin, you'll find that as you make and use bags, you'll go to smaller and smaller bags as you filter out stuff you don't really need for actual shooting, and take an interest in haversacks and such for everything else.

This book has been especially useful to me, too. With it in hand, I can look at photos or drawings from any source and come pretty darned close in making my own pattern and going from there. I wouldn't be without it or Albert's book.

 

[omarick1948]

Once again, it's time for some here to play expert and "word games" with a new person trying to get some basic information on making a shooting pouch, that he understands as being called a "possibles" bag or pouch! __ We all know what he is talking about and it has been called that name for many years, as such, even though the historically correct S.W.A.T. team members patrol the websites and are quick to point out anything that they can start an argument over! We want to help and support new people to the traditional black powder pastime and not give them the impression that we ALL are a bunch of arm chair expert know-it-all nit-pickers!

Rick

 

[Black Hand]

Sorry Rick, I'm going to call you on this. To me (and many others), a "possibles bag" is a haversack that carries your food/small essential items NOT a gun/rifle/shooting bag.

It was a legitimate question and in no way was intended to belittle the OP, play "word games" or start a fight (though others, including yourself, are trying to start one).

 

[Greebe]

necchih,
Spotted Bull,
horner75,

Thanks for your support with what I thought was a simple request for a bag design. I didn't come around here asking questions to irritate people as I seem to have done with several people in this post by not using a specific vernacular.

I guess things have changed from the 70's and 80's when my dad was big into this stuff. Growing up he always referred to what I am talking about as a possibles bag. Apparently according to him this is what everyone called them back then. Growing up in the 80's shooting with him, this was all I ever heard so that is why I used the term, even it is not historically correct now.

See now I don't even feel like continuing this post because I just wanted some ideas for a simple leather bag thing to hang over my should to carry stuff for shooting and possibly a few other things that I might want when out. Yippy for forums.

Thanks,
Greebe

 

[Greebe]

Thanks for offering something useful and on topic to me. I will send you a pm with my email.

Many thanks,
Greebe

 

[Greebe]

Thanks as well for the helpful post. I Will check into those books.

 

[user 922]

How about me? I offered some help.

I'm about done with these forums.

 

[Greebe]

To jack & black,

I do not know where you are coming from but my feeling is that you guys probably did know what I was referring to even if the wording was not historically correct. I think most people that hear the combination of words "Possibles Bag" would think what I was thinking, even it if is not HC.

Case in point. If you go a Google search for "Possibles Bag" (left) and then another for "Shooting Bag" (right) you will get the following:

As can be clearly seen, most people in the world of shooting would thing a "Possibles bag" is a small leather bag with strap that is carried over the shoulder containing muzzleloading tools, a knife, perhaps fire starting equipment, and maybe my pipe so that I can smoke and relax in the woods. The "Shooting Bag" is shown as a synthetic bag carried to the range with modern gun related stuff. Having been involved in cartridge shooting and competitions this is what I think of as well as any of the people I associate with when we hear the term "Shooting Bag'.

So I did not mean to start a debate about the history or wording of a little leather bag to be worn over the shoulder to carry shooting stuff's for a muzzleloader. All I had wanted was a pattern or example to which to go by for making such a bag at home.

If we want to get HC we shouldn't be calling ,black powder, black powder, we should be calling it gun powder, but everyone calls it black; and we shouldn't call muzzleloaders, muzzleloaders, as in the old days they were just called rifles as there was no other means of "loading" a rifle, i.e. no breach loading arms. However I think we know what others mean when they use these terms even if they are not accurate for the time period.

No hard feelings, just letting you know my perspective as someone who is new to the hobby. Had you just polity pointed out that the word "possibles bag" is actually incorrect, and correctly called a "shooting bag", all of this off topic banter would have been avoided.

Greebe

 

[Greebe]

Hey bud, sorry I didn't respond to your post. I read it and appreciated your response and thought I had responded to you. I apologize for that. So thanks for the response.

 

[Black Hand]

Had you just polity pointed out that the word "possibles bag" is actually incorrect, and correctly called a "shooting bag", all of this off topic banter would have been avoided.[/i][/b]

This is EXACTLY why I asked my original question.

I was unsure whether you were asking about a shooting bag or haversack, as there was no additional information provided for its use, and no context could be gained from the forum in which it was posted (The Craftsman rather than Shooting Accessories). Not being psychic or the guessing type, I asked. Others decided to make it a pi$$ing match.

It would have been presumptuous of me to correct you if I didn't know what you were asking about in the first place...