Show me the INSIDE of your bags

[hockeyref]

Guys,
Do you have any special arrangements or pockets inside your bags, or do you just dump it all in and go fishing for it when you need it?

 

[rabjr]

Usually double pockets on the rear panel. Sometimes one on the front panel, either inside of it or out.

 

[BrownBear]

I generally make mine with a vertical loop inside at one end for a short starter. I like a flat pocket on the back panel for minimal tools in the bottom with patching on top. If the gun is percussion I add a small pocket to one strap for a little leather capper.

After that, it's a single open pocket. I prefer bags that are sewn "inside out" and reversed after sewing, along with a gusset and welts for a little more finger room at the bottom. Nothing makes me nuttier than having small things drop down into the fold on bags that are sewn flat.

BTW- Odds are you'll own a succession of bags. You'll start out with one big enough for everything including lunch, but with time you'll put less and less in your shooting bag, simply to keep the extras out of the way. I used to think lots of bags were ridiculously small, but now I'm a convert. I put NOTHING in them that won't be used for loading the next shot. My favorite bags these days are roughly 6x6" with a 1" gusset.

Peek in my serious hunting bag and you'll see a 2-shot loading block, a small powder horn that holds enough for about half a dozen shots and an attached powder measure, and maybe a couple of loose balls. In truth the loose balls usually go in the small inside pocket along with the tools and spare patching. I've tinkered with ways to carry a minimum of spare lube and think I've found it. I have some old tins of fly line dressing that are about the size of a half dollar and not even 1'4" thick. One of those is going to be filled with lube, and it will ride in the little inside pocket too.

Bottom line, the main compartment holds only a small loading block and the small horn with attached measure. Everything else is out of the way so it won't interfere with a quick reload.

 

[Black Hand]

Single small pocket (~2.5x3.5) in the rear of the bag holds my license, flint/striker and a bone whistle. The remainder of the stuff is in the main pocket arranged with the less used things in the bottom and the most used on top. No fishing involved...

Contains:
Ball bag, tin with patches/worm/ballscrew, folding knife, small leather bag with extra flints, hand-forged pliers, small copper funnel (for filling the horn), a couple of rolls of extra cleaning material, compass and a length of hemp twine having a wad of tow tied to the end.

 

[hockeyref]

Version one was just an expedient stand-in.... a leather purse from a thrift store. I initially thought the internal pockets would help, but they were cloth and stuff got lost in them. Interior was too big too... more of a "possibles bag size at 12" wide, 5" front to back, and 10" deep (top to bottom). I tried to shoot the longhunters vs aliens match out of the bag and it just got int he way. The cloth liner wrapped my hand and my stuff... BIIIG no go.

Found another leather purse that is serving as a material donor. Going to sew one up that is ~2" front to back, ~5" deep, and ~7" long. At least one 5"x5" or so back pocket and maybe a couple item specific pockets otherwise (powder measure, patch box, lube tin, etc).

What would you give a pocket and what would you leave loose in the bottom?

 

[jethro224]

I like to keep a few cleaning patches, a jag, a ball screw, and a spare flint (or 2) or nipple (and nipple wrench/pick if caplock) in either a pocket or small pouch inside my hunting bag.
Besides that there is a small screwdriver (which also serves as flint knapper), ball bag, and small tin of pre-lubed patches. I have my powder measure on a short whang attached to the strap so it can go in the bag but be pulled free without even putting my hand in the bag and a touch hole pick on an even shorter whang attached to the strap and poked thru and then back thru the strap just above the bag.