Possibles bag

[Artificer]

Sorry, forgot to mention one more thing I carry when I will be far away from my vehicle. That is a rolled up Ace bandage with the double end metal hooks. I make sure I have at least two, if not three of the hooks.

If it is raining or snowing, then wrapping this bandage over a band aid will help keep the band aid in place.

I have been fortunate I have never had to use these First Aid Items on myself (POUNDING and not just knocking on wood) but I have used them a few times for other folks I have hunted with.

Gus

 

[coloradoclyde]

We have a tendency to pack our bags full like we were going on an expedition or to stuff every fancy gadget or do-dad that we can in them.....This just leads to a cluster of clutter in the field and usually something gets lost in the process.

I am always trying to streamline and reduce my bag contents to the bare minimum and efficiency.

My advice is....If you can't fit your whole hand into the bag and turn it around when all your gear is in there....you have too much in there.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Only what is needed to shoot and care for your gun. Resist the urge to fill it with unnecessary junk or things you think are needed....

:thumbsup: If you take everything you think you need, you'll end up with a backpack. :shocked2:

:thumbsup: X2

 

[nhmoose]

Not to Clyde

Modern survival or HC. Please.

I Am not HC when surviving sorry but I DO want to survive.

A line of acceptable needs to be defined here. I feel staying alive counts #1.

PC #2 and accept fail, but please stay alive.

My bag has my gun stuff nothing else.

 

[mushka]

I have a back pack with the necessaries for first aid and fire and game care and a couple of comfort items. I've just never hunted much with a muzzle loader. Best advice I've gotten here I think is to take what it takes to service the gun, load, and partially clean. My bag is new and seven by eight inches and about two inches wide with a pocket inside and two places where a ball starter and capping tool might go. I probably just need to use the bag a bunch of times instead of shooting off the tailgate of my truck like I usually do and get familiar with it. Thanks for all the advice and knowledge that goes with using these guns and accessories.

 

[azmntman]

My advice is....If you can't fit your whole hand into the bag and turn it around when all your gear is in there....you have too much in there.[/quote]

I always go by the more H/C rule....if yer wal-mart bag is tearing and needs to be doubled you are taking too much stuff :redface:

:slap:

 

[BrownBear]

I probably just need to use the bag a bunch of times instead of shooting off the tailgate of my truck like I usually do and get familiar with it.

There ya go.

Same applies for the shooting bench at the range. Step away from it with your bag over your shoulder, and don't dare use that table (or tailgate) for laying stuff like your ramrod. You'll figure it out real quick, and the lessons will serve you well come hunting season.... Or your next walk in the hills.

 

[oldude]

The OP asked about a Possibles bag , but I see answers about a shooting bag, ball bag or gun bag I thought a possibles bag was kinda between a shooting bag and a Haversack.
In my shooting bag its 6-18 ball, patching and caps to fire them, a patch worm and a nipple wrench and pick and that's about it.

 

[S.Kenton]

I have several bags, as well as a haversack. Each bag has its own gear and is designated for each rifle I own. I put the minimal amount of stuff I need in them. The last thing I want is to be bogged down with a heavy shooting bag while on a woods walk or hunt.
Items I have in my flinter bag:
Cleaning jag, ball puller, patch worm ...in a small tin
Very small Primer horn
Extra flint or two
Turn screw
Prelubed patches in a small tin
My short start is on my bag strap, ball bag is around my neck..
As I look inside my bag... that’s about it. The percussion rifle bag is about the same, except I have a caller added to my small collection. My bags are all medium size and I can easily dig around to find stuff.
In my early days of the sport I had the thought process of “more is better” and “what if I need this stuff?” I quickly found out that less is better, when at rondys I found myself digging around in my bag to find stuff while everyone else was shooting.

 

[MSW]

here's an idea, for what it's worth ”¦ make yourself a quick cloth bag about the size of the bag you contemplate six inches by eight inches, for instance.

put all the assorted stuff you think you can't do without and then go on a woods- walk, shooting at whatever you feel you need to ventilate.

as you take various stuff from the bag, do not return it to the bag but put it elsewhere; a pocket or another container of some sort.

you probably don't really need anything left in the bag when you're done.

use this information to decide about the size of your bag, then get a copy of Recreating the 18th Century Hunting Pouch by T.C. Albert ”¦ here's a link: https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/49/1/BOOK-R18-CHP ”¦

begin work...

enjoy: the coolest tools are the ones you make for yourself

make good smoke!

 

[Jimbo47]

The OP asked about a Possibles bag , but I see answers about a shooting bag, ball bag or gun bag I thought a possibles bag was kinda between a shooting bag and a Haversack.
In my shooting bag its 6-18 ball, patching and caps to fire them, a patch worm and a nipple wrench and pick and that's about it.

The next time you go out to shoot, whether it be hunting, or just shooting at a target a few times.
Load into your possibles bag only those items that will allow you to shoot and swab your bore between shots and clean after you are done.
Leave all the rest at least 100 yards from where you are shooting either in camp, or in your vehicle.
Whatever you have left in the bag and didn't use is going to tell you all you need to know.

 

[tenngun]

The OP asked about a Possibles bag , but I see answers about a shooting bag, ball bag or gun bag I thought a possibles bag was kinda between a shooting bag and a Haversack.
In my shooting bag its 6-18 ball, patching and caps to fire them, a patch worm and a nipple wrench and pick and that's about it.

a possibles bag is for your possibles. A bag with random stuff packed into it, fire kit, shaving kit, smoke, and any other thing you think you need. We could say ditty bag, war bag, duffel bag, saddle bag ect, even panniers could be counted as possible bags. You may wear a bag, and you may even stick shooting stuff in it, but shooting bags are not the same as a possibles bag.
That said, making any to-do over it is for the angels on the head of a pin group. Its meaningless to kick it around. Shooting bag, hunters bag, rifle bag, possibles bag, all, pouch or sack.
Normaly I carry about five to ten ball and patching, a tin with my cleaning kit and ball screw, some flints and a turn screw, a powder measure, a small tin of lube.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Yep. He asked about using a possibles bag for hunting.

So you add a deer drag, lunch and licenses to a shooting bag and it is then a possibles bag. Because it "possible" you might be out past lunch and get a deer.

A haversack, that is carried in addition to a shooting bag. For the non-firelock related stuff.

 

[stubshaft]

Now that's a great idea :hatsoff:

 

[mushka]

Well, I took my brand new shiny "possibles" bag to the shoot site and tried to do like they did in the old days. It flat a$$ didn't work as planned. Brass powder thrower too big, brass powder measure too big. Loose balls hard to get out of the bottom of the bag. Patches in a cap can weren't too bad. Capper wasn't too bad but would get lost in the bottom of the bag. Ball starterwasin a receptacle on the outside of the bag. Altoids container was a giant PITA with the maintenance stuff in it. Too big and noisy.

This was a huge learning experience and the bag proved to be troublesome except for carrying extra stuff that might be better served by a packor a peanut butter and jelly sammich. Got to rethink this stuff but now I see why they used powder horns over the should strap and powder measures hanging outside the bag on the strap or bag. Also found out it takes a longer time to load up the gun than it does at a table. Many good lessons learned yesterday.

 

[BrownBear]

...lost in the bottom of the bag. ....

That would be a great title for a fireside song! :rotf:

You're right on course in every department. Good to learn these things (and find solutions!) BEFORE you head out on a hunt.

Gotta make sure you know what is being said when folks say "haversack." It's not like a day pack with 2 straps. It's a single-strap bag like an overgrown shooting bag, but usually made from softer materials. I stick my head and one arm through the strap of mine, then slide it around onto my back out of the way for carry. It goes on the opposite shoulder from my shooting bag, and I put it on first before the shooting bag. That way the shooting bag is free to slide around.

Truth be known when it comes time to load, I slide my shooting bag from its carry position under my arm around to the front so I can see right into it for grabbing stuff while loading. Once loaded I slide it back under my arm where my elbow can squeeze it and hold it in place in tough terrain.

Bottom line, yeah. Gotta get all that extra manure out of the way for shooting. After all, we're out there to shoot rather than put ourselves on display for the admiration of the masses. :wink:

 

[Jimbo47]

Get yourself a ball bag (pouch) which will keep them from rolling around, and you can attach it to your belt or it's easy to find it reaching into the bag.
Also sewing in a pocket inside the bag will help keep things organized as well.
There are things that can easily be done to personalize it just for you.

 

[Artie Peltier]

Great idea for double use of the pan primer. I shoot both and never thought of using the pan primer for my cap gun. Makes it a lot easier than trying to dribble some in for either a ignition problem or the rare but possible dry balling scenario. 😀

 

[Black Hand]

My bag and contents:

 

[Black Hand]

The OP asked about a Possibles bag , but I see answers about a shooting bag, ball bag or gun bag I thought a possibles bag was kinda between a shooting bag and a Haversack.

From the context of the OP's original question, he was asking about a bag use to carry items needed for his gun.

The problem when one starts is that one is usually surrounded by many well-meaning but uninformed people. When I started in this hobby, people kept calling a gun/rifle bag a "possibles bag" because they crammed everything possible in their bag (inevitably meaning they couldn't find anything without fully emptying their "possibles bag" on the ground - amusing to watch in camp, annoying on the firing line). Later I learned that there was really no such thing as a "possibles bag", rather there was a gun/rifle bag and then some other bag that carried stuff (Haversack, Snapsack, Knapsack, Market Wallet/Split-belly Pouch).