Living Primitively

Natives around the world seems to rarely have used rucksacks, at least for small huntingtrips lasting only a day or so. I also find a rucksack noisy, encumbering and a general a pain in the ass. The common solution seems to be a bag thrown over a shoulder, containing some essentials like a knife, fire starting kit, extra bowstring, snares, needle and hooks for field repair of clothes etc… I decided on using the last big piece of buckskin I have left after making the mittens into such a bag. Sorry that most of my photos are out of focus.

First a photo of my youngest daughter, who wants to help just a little too much. 🙂

I find buckskin to be very forgiving stuff, 100% perfect tailoring doesn’t matter. So I’m trying to move away from the use of patterns into a more free way of making my gear. Spend a lot of time figuring out how you want it first though, because when you have started cutting, there is no turning back. You can not stitch it back up without it being very visible.

Do it free hand like above or with a guide (bone) below.

I like symmetry on the things I make, other people may not be so fuzzy about this. To achieve a symmetric top, fold it over before cutting and cut through both sides at once.

Here is the the bag ready for sewing, it needs to be wrung first compared to that photo. On things that’ll take as much abuse as this one probably will, I use a double running stitch for extra strength. Note the two needles holding the back and front together while punching the holes. This is to keep the it uniform and not sagging down on one side. Important! Start sewing from the opening and down, otherwise you’ll risk the dreaded stretching issue, causing one or both sides to get massively out of alignment.

The bag itself is essentially finished and wrung back. What lacks is decoration, a means of holding the cover over the bag and strap to carry it with.

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