Pouch knife: strap or bag mounted?

[Deadeye]

If you put it where it's convenient for your use, just as the people of the 18th century put it where it was convenient for their use, you won't be far wrong. The knife and horn attached to the pouch was for those who wanted to be able to grab the pouch and gun and have everything needed to shoot, convenience was the name of the game in those days or so I believe.

 

[LRB]

From what I have read, it would seem that horns were not commonly attached to bags during the 18th century, but rather slung over the shoulder on their own strap and sometimes not on the same shoulder as the bag. As far as patch knives, I do not carry one. I have precut patches in a container in my bag and use a loading block on my strap when I need a fast reload, which is seldom. Were I to need a knife to cut a patch, I would use my belt knife. I have a folding knife in my bag for skinning. For me, an aditional knife is just not needed, but everyone has their own way of doing things and as long as it works, whose to judge?

 

[Deadeye]

Wick, I have one bag that I made for a York county rifle that I attached a map horn of that area other than that I have them on seperate straps but if you look in books about
shooting bags you'll find lots of them with attached horns.
My great grandfather(born in 1851) had his attached to the bag. I can still remember his rifle hanging over the back door and the bag with horn attached hanging with it.

 

[LRB]

Deadeye, I said 18th century, and I said, not "commonly" attached. There aren't many bags that can be dated 18th century. The best we can go on is paintings and illustrations from that time, which seldom if ever show such an attachment. Perhaps late 18th, I am not an expert on the subject, but I have seen none that I can remember at the moment. This would be a good subject for TG to get in on.

 

[2172]

Just stumbled on to this thread. My first pouch, made about 30 years ago, was my daughter's high school era should pocket book. She was tossing it out, so I cut it apart and reversed the leather, so the "suede" side would be out. I sewed a sheath on the strap, and hung a horn from the straps...I was very proud of my authentic stuff...when I got a little deeper into the game, I designed and made a pouch out of "purpose bought" leather,,has a fancy weeping heart cut out backed by red leather...it has a sheath sewn at a 45 degree angle on the back of the pouch....as I carry my horn on the other side, there is no banging between the knife and the horn. I'm about to make a new pouch. It'll be a lot smaller, will have two internal pockets, one for the priming horn, the other for the odds and ends...there won't be a sheath on it, as I don't use cut patches...but pre-cuts, and I will use a bullet block while hunting. I'm not trying to get more PC, just simplifying...even when cartridge hunting, my whacking great bowie has been replaced by a folding Buck knife....one very good point that I would like to support is Reged's warning about positioning knives where they can do us harm...my strap knife was from an old straight razor, but even so, I thought about it a while before I put it near by heart....years ago, working in NYC, I was horrified to read about a fellow commuter who'd fallen on the station platform (tripped) and had had his pen go through his heart...carried in a breast pocket...Hank

 

[robertl]

I like the knife on the strap arrangement. The pouch I use the most has this configuration and the sheath is low enough on the strap ( bottom of sheath is just above the bag strap attachment point) that it doesn;t get in the way of the powder horn strap or 'worm' a hole in my chest when I wear it all day.

I'm seriously thinking about doing away with any small knife on the bag or strap and only using my belt knife. It's easy to get way too much stuf hanging off of yourself and most is duplicated or not really necessary. Just try running through the woods fast as you can, as though your life depended on it and after 50 yards stop and backtrack, slowly, and pick up all the things that got dropped or tore loose on the underbrush.

One good knife should be enough, don't ya think?

 

I tend to agree that most old timers carried only one "big knife"--generally in the belt, however records indicate that folding knives were common as well--most likely carried in the bag or haversack. An eyewitness once described Daniel Boone riding by and remarked that he carried "two knives"--apparently a remarkable occurrence. I have seen few early references to "patch knives" as separate items from the normally carried "butcher" knife. I have seen references from the late flintlock period of hunters carrying only a folding knife with them--used for cutting patches as well as cleaning game. The big knife was more important in the days of Indian dangers and bear hunting with flintlocks--and it could serve multiple purposes.

 

[tg]

The current train of thought is that it was not common to have a horn on the same strap as the bag, but with so little in the way if examples from the 18th century it is one of those topics that is a tough one to call right or wrong, much like which side do you carry the horn or bag which side do you carry the knife or hawk, some things may very well have been greatly influenced by personal choice, and we may well be chaseing our tails to try and have a do or don't method that will hold water. I have a bag with horn attatched that came with a 18th century type gun I purchased used, I kind of like having the whole works there in one grab, but I do find priming from the main horn a bit easier with the horn on a seperate strap.I do carry a small knife on the strap of most of my bags just so I always have a knife, they useually get used to open up a deer or cut cheese.

 

[Charles/NM]

This is going to very un-politically correct, but I suspect my ancient ancesters would have had a black slave or indentured white man-servant carrying some of his hunting stuff for him and possibly even load his rifle for him. The extra hands and back would have also come in handy for carrying game home and preparing it for smoking or preserving. These people were almost like hunting buddies and very close friends. I once suggested one of my hunting partners perform that task and got a less than friendly reply.