"kit" bags

out of lack of something better to call these small bags I'm calling them "kit" bags as they're a perfect size for a fishing kit, gun-cleaning kit, sewing kit or just to carry some extra flints in your shooting pouch, 2"x4" in size made out of braintan deer, the darker one is dyed using walnuts/sumac & they have tin or brass cones with deer hair tassels on the thong & some white pound beads around the outside.

my first flintlock

I got into this hobby as a senior in high-school way back in 1984 & it wasn't long before I had my first smokepole in the form of a Traditions Pennsylvania longrifle in percussion, well, I thought I had the "real deal" but soon realized I wanted a shorter barrel to make it easier to hunt with so out went the Traditions & in came a T/C Renegade percussion, yep, that was the "real deal" for me...UNTIL, the first time I saw someone discharge a flintlock! PRAISE THE LORD! This was like a whole new revalation for me, I've GOT to get one of those!
Enter Curly Gostomski from North Star who I met in '85 at my first real rendezvous, the High Plains in central Nebraska. Well, what a guy & the coolest looking smoothbores I'd ever seen up to this point, the dropping of spare change started in a jar & well it was a couple years or so later I decided I needed to call Curly back about his trade guns. Now for those of you who havn't heard about Curly Gostomski & what he did for the modern day flintlock shooter in his days, you need to ask anyone who's been in this for a few years & hopefully they can set you straight, long story short he started making trade gun parts based on original trade guns that to this day hang in the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, NE

Well, I decided I wanted the Chief's Grade Trade Gun with a 30" barrel to negotiate from a horse & I needed a lefty as I'm a "Southpaw". Curly could set me up but he was way up there in years & having some health issues so he advised me to order the kit & have a reputable builder make it for me. DANG! I felt like it was going to be forever, who do I get to build this thing for me that I can trust for my first flintlock?

HMMM, I remember a guy I had met at our local muzzleloading convention over the past couple years whose handmade flintlocks really stood out, even though they were mostly "those longrifles from back east & an earlier time period" I'll give him a call. Enter Larry Cruise from St. Edward, NE, very talented builder & now proud to say a good friend & fellow Contempoary Longrifle Assoc. member.

Larry Cruise built this up for me way back then in a timely manner & treated me like a friend from the start & I couldn't be more pleased about my "first flintlock" I've used this gun for years in the woods, mostly for quail & rabbits, it's yet to take a deer because another fine Larry Cruise built longrifle took that duty over just a few years after I got this one (I'll save that for a future post) Anyways, it's been a joy to carry, shoot & hunt with this gun & I'd like to thank ol' Curly (RIP my friend) & Larry who's still making some of the finest flintlocks I've had the pleasure of handling/shooting.

Some "edged" tools

My dad collects knives of all kinds & I guess I have a weak spot for edged tools or "weapons" as I seem to have my fair share of them also. these are some cherished hawks/axes that I have, the first one is basically a "skull splitter" known as a spike hawk, it could be used to split kindling but pretty impractical for that.

The middle is my "go to" axe that is kind of like having a swiss army knife along & I keep this baby honed as sharp as possible. A couple years ago my oldest son shot a nice white-tailed buck & ironically between both of us we had no knife, not even a pocket knife (I know, that's just wrong!) I did however have this axe along & it was sharp enough that we did the entire field dressing of the deer with it, sure a lot handier splitting the sternum & pelvis with this than a pocket knife. This & the spike hawk were made by the talented blacksmith Joe DelaRonde, last I heard he was living in Mancos, CO.

Now the third one I've had for I guess around 21 years as I think my wife got it for me for Christmas the first year we were married. It is a Ft. Meigs style head from George Ainslie from Lavina, MT & it came without the handle for $45. He's selling them today WITH a handle for $160! AHHH...Inflation I guess, anyways, for a handcrafted, handforged item that is useful as well as a work of art it's still a small price to pay in my book.

This is my "go to" axe from Joe in a sheath with a shoulder strap that I made for it to carry when in the woods.

Copper powder horn funnels

Somewhere I saw these, not sure if there is any actual documentation for them but Jim Webb's book shows some out of leather & cow horn that were used to fill the powder horn. Anyways, not wanting to spend $20 on one but thinking I "wanted" one (you know how "wants" are vs. "needs") I knocked these 2 out today in an hour or so out of some scrap copper pipe & a couple of finishing nails for the hoops, the one on the left is the size of a quarter & the right one is more half dollar size. They have just enough dish to them to make them work to fill a powder horn & I believe I'll make more to have on hand for my trade blanket for future events.

Whimsical Native shooting bag

I've never done a Native portrayal but always been intrigued with how their items were adorned with beadwork, porcupine quills & the deer-hair tin cones to make some of the most beautiful items I've ever laid eyes on in books & museums. Well, not having the $$$ to be able to own any of the modern day artists items that fall into this category I decided to try & build my own a couple years ago & this was the result of that.

This one's made out of my first ever attempt of a bark-tan deer hide that I didn't get broke well enough so it's pretty stiff, similar to a "half-tan" hide, the flap is brain-tan with edge beading & I say this bag is "whimsical" because it has a wampum band sewn on the flap, my own artistic license there as I've never seen any original reference to this being done on an original bag. The deer-hair, tin cones were made up by Mark "Rooster" Roster & added as well as the woven wool strap by C.J. Wilde.

split-belly pouches

Split-belly pouches or small market wallets can be used for all kinds of stuff & these are small enough to wear looped over your belt, sash or even your powder horn for use as a day bag for hunting. They have a slit in them that you put your items in on both ends of the bag to balance it out & these 2 I've taken liberty to dress up a bit, this top one is made of fustian with some of my free-hand embroidery on it, I'll bet my Grandma or Mom never thought I'd be doing embroidery someday!
This one is made of deerskin, lined in checked cotton & the opening is bound in red wool, I took some stiff bark-tan deer hide that I had & cut the designs out on each end & inlaid the bark-tan in behind it for something different. I've used this one to carry a fire starting kit as well as a sewing kit in the past & I've made quite a few others in various styles but they always seem to sell pretty good at events. I completely hand sew these using linen thread, isn't folk art GREAT!

Jessie McGlemary hunting pouch

I built this pouch after the Jessie McGlemary pouch in Jim Webb's excellent book "Sketches of Hunting Pouches, Powder Horns & Accoutrements of Southern Appalachia" Jessie & his brothers came from Ulster northern Ireland to settle in Rutherford Co. N.C. & this pouch is mostly laced together & I used hemp twine instead of leather lacing like the original, it has 6 rows of fringe on the front body of the bag & I put a small pouch on the inside that buttons shut to carry small items like flints or cleaning jags. The strap is in the same colors as the original & is woven out of wool by the talented Susan Wallace from Silver Shuttle in Memphis, TN.

It was just a matter of time!

I've been thinking about starting this blog for some time now to seperate my other long time hobby of "living in the past". I got into this hobby in 1984 & it's been a progression ever since but I've now got it narrowed down to a later 18th century time period & most of my gear reflects that.

When I go out to the woods to shoot or hunt I prefer to do it as our forefathers did who helped settle this great country with a flintlock, powder horn & shooting bag. For years I've been crafting what is now labeled as "folk art" in the form of leather bags, knife sheaths, beadwork, handmade wing-bone turkey calls, clothing, etc. This blog will feature pics of some of the items I make, use & collect as well as some of the other "folk art" I have by other very talented artists. It will also be the new home of me & my boys' hunting & woods running forays.

The header pic is of one of my fondest memories when my oldest son Delley took his first ever deer with a handcrafted flintlock by the talented Larry Cruise, I'll never forget that hunt & will probably do a detailed account of it sometime. My son's moved on to hunting mostly with modern firearms & archery equipment, but I hope he will always remember that special first deer with "dad's ol' flintlock", & who knows, maybe someday he'll return to his "roots" (I hope!) ENJOY!