Possibles bag - 2 questions

[jamieorr]

Looking at making a bag for woods walking, either sewn from canvas already on hand or maybe from leather. Not having a bag to examine I'm wondering whether to put in partitions and/or pockets inside. What does the inside of your bag look like and how is your stuff organized?

I figure I need to carry powder (I have a cylindrical brass powder flask), priming powder/dispenser, balls, patches, spare flint/leather, patch worm, ball puller (hopefully never to be used), screwdriver and vent pick. Have I missed anything?

Thanks,

Jamie

 

[Artificer]

Jamie,

When you refer to "woods walking," do you mean a timed event match where you move between spots to shoot at targets OR do you mean walking through the woods as if you are hunting?

It could/would mean quite a difference for making a shooting pouch, depending on which definition you mean.

Gus

 

[jamieorr]

I meant the first choice, moving from target to target in the woods. I didn't realize it could make a difference.

For now it'll be non-timed, just for fun.

Jamie

 

[tenngun]

If you want to look old timey and not wanting to be hc a larger square bag is handy. Small bags in some what of a d shape were common in the old days. You can find a wide varieties of bags for reseach in to what you want on the ox yoke web sight. If you want to be hc you have to do a lot of reseach and most is questiable. Shooting bags are a world all on there own.

 

[longcruise]

I've made them single pocket with and without gussets, double with and without gussets and quite small to large. What has been most useful for me is a.medium size single with a fairly wide gusset full length of the perimeter with one inner pocket sewn on to the inside back.

The problem for you is that powder flask. That will require a larger bag, maybe with a separate inner compartment to hold it. You might want to consider using a powder horn.

 

[jethro224]

I am in agreement with marmotslayer on this;

The problem for you is that powder flask. That will require a larger bag, maybe with a separate inner compartment to hold it. You might want to consider using a powder horn.

Cylinder flasks are fine for bench shooters, and they work OK for some when used in a belt hanger, but a horn is much more convenient when shooting from the bag in my experience.

Your preferences will be your own when choosing a bag. Some folks like 'em big, some like 'em small, etc. It all depends on what you want your bag to do and what works best for your style of loading/shooting.

A smaller sized bag with one inside pocket of about 4" square has come to be my personal preference. I also like a gusset which tapers toward the top of the bag and ends an inch or so below the opening. The tapered gusset helps keep the top of the bag from flopping open while still giving plenty of room in the bottom. The main compartment measures about 6" wide x7"-8" tall. (I have several.)
All of the small tools that I need are carried inside of the small pocket on the inside back panel. Jag, worm, screw, screwdriver, and extra flints.
A handfull of balls are thrown in the main compartment loose, no separate ball bag. Otherwise just a small priming horn and an antler-handled t-shaped short starter are carried in the main compartment. On a woodswalk the priming horn usually ends up stuffed in the front of my shirt.
I tie a strip of ticking to the strap of my powder horn for patching which will be cut at the muzzle. On a woodswalk or range shooting I only use spit for lube. When hunting I will use a greased strip of ticking that I carry in a small well-greased deerskin bag which also rides in the main compartment of my shooting bag.
My powder measure and a vent pick are attached to the strap of my bag by leather strings. When not in use the pick is stored in and back out of 2 small holes in the strap, like a single stitch. The measure rides inside at the bottom of the bag.

Enjoy your search for the perfect bag for you. :thumbsup:

 

[Artificer]

Jamie,

OK, a "Woods Walk Match" is a timed event where a combination of the score from your shots and the time it took you to go along and fire at each target, then the time is stopped after you fire the last round or when you cross a finish line. So the time or speed of the match counts for a lot along with the score from the targets. For that kind of a match, folks often use the very minimum amount of gear and thus smaller pouches - so they carry no "extra" gear that would slow them down. Actually, a small 18th century “day pouch” works well for that ”“ but like Marmotslayer mentioned, if you want to carry the flask in the pouch rather than in a pocket, the shooting pouch has to be bigger to get the flask inside.

The first pouch I made was from “gold coloured” split cowhide with a 1” wide gusset all around the edge that actually gave about ¾” width inside the pouch. It was a DISASTER to use as the leather was so soft, that it folded in on itself, whenever I tried to find and get anything out of the pouch. NO more soft pouches for me!!

So a LOT more thought went into my next pouch and I also had a chance to look at a lot of pouches folks were using on the Primitive Range at Friendship. (There was no such thing as the Internet to see a huge variety of shooting pouches then or books to make the pouches.) In those days, I could only afford to make one pouch to use for both my Brown Bess Carbine and the .45 cal. flint rifle, both of which I shot in competition. I also wanted to use the pouch for reenacting, so I made a sort of civilian version of a Cartridge Pouch out of fairly thick brown oiled leather. This pouch also has a full gusset all around and a pocket in the rear to hold the things that I didn’t use as often OR were “sharp or pointy things” - so I didn’t cut or stab myself when I quickly reached into pouch for timed events. I sewed loops on the inside of the gusset, to hold my ball starter and adjustable powder measure in an upright position, one on each end of the pouch. I made the pouch thick enough to hold a double row wood cartridge block for .75 cal. paper cartridges to use for reenacting. When I wasn’t reenacting, I just took the cartridge block out of the pouch. It was very easy to switch over the different short starters and other gear when I went back and forth between the musket and rifle AND it was very easy to find and get things out of the pouch when shooting in competition. However, that shooting pouch is larger than one I would normally carry into the woods to hunt with.

Though this may sound a bit trite, it is not meant to be. The first thing you have to do is lay out the items you intend to actually carry in the pouch. Personally I like the idea of a divider in the back of the pouch to hold the flint wallet, turnscrew/screwdriver, ball screw/puller and in your case the cylindrical powder flask. The front of the pouch would not need to have a lot of room as the only things I would put there would be the balls or ball pouch and pre-cut patches or patching material. You might also think about making a non-adjustable powder measure and carrying it there, as well. I normally have a flint whisk and pick hung from the strap on my pouch, but I would likely make a small pouch on the pouch strap for the vent pick for the kind of pouch you would need. Or, you could make a pouch in the flint wallet to hold the vent pick. (Can you tell I have impaled myself more than once on vent picks over the years? :redface: Grin.) Now, you also have to make the pouch big enough to get your hand in it comfortably, so don’t forget that. What I recommend is you make a pouch out of scrap cloth to get the dimensions correct and see if there is enough room for your hand and how you want to carry your things. Then make it out of vegetable tanned leather.

You can’t go wrong with Marmotslayer’s recommendation of “a medium size single with a fairly wide gusset full length of the perimeter with one inner pocket sewn on to the inside back,” though you may decide later on to make a smaller “day pouch.”

Gus

 

[crockett]

I personally don't like partitions but it is a matter of personal choice. What I do is wrap up all the seldom used tools and such in pillow ticking I use for patches. That bundle goes in the bottom of the bag. Then a small bullet board with greased patched balls, short starter, etc. is on top of the bundle.
I think original bags were sometimes two bags sewn together- so two large, equal sized compartments. I think it was the same idea- all the things needed to reload in the outside bag and the seldom used in the other.
Canvas ought to be okay. If it is white you can soak in extra strong tea and dye in a suede leather shade. Use cheap upholstery strap webbing for a strap- you can double it over lengthwise.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I used to go for shooting bags that had multiple partitions. My shotgunning bag had a divider, and that divider had three pockets on it (wads and cards). Plus it had a pocket for a cap tin, sleeves for the capper and a jag. Still have it.

But lately I have gone to simpler bags. My rifle bah has a small pocket that holds three flints and the rest is just a plain bag. My shotgun bag has a single divider. What I do instead now is use tool rolls or tins to keep the smaller components together. For my rifle I like a ball block with five to seven patched balls lubed and ready to go. That means I really don't have to root around in the bag except to refill the ball block.

Rifle:

Fowler:

 

[longcruise]

Hmmmm, what's in that corked bottle :haha: :shocked2:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Little bit 'o isopropyl alcohol. Or Moose Juice if I'm shooting wet loads.

Rum is in something else. ;-)

 

[majg1234]

I started out with bags with several compartments,now the only one like that is for my fowler.I too use small tins or small pockets of leather/ticking to hold my flints etc.The ball board for rifles and for my smooth bore hunting I use rolled cartridges for ball and shot that I tie up before hand.A couple of tins of each go into my pockets or pouch and only my priming horn or primer tool goes out with me strung around my neck.this sure lightened the load and quieted the rattling about.I've found as a rule about 6 charges of shot and ball are more than enough for my forays YMMV however

 

[jethro224]

OK, a "Woods Walk Match" is a timed event where a combination of the score from your shots and the time it took you to go along and fire at each target, then the time is stopped after you fire the last round or when you cross a finish line.

The woods walks you go to are different than the ones I go to. I have been to many woods walks and none have ever been timed.
What you describe sounds more like a "Seneca run" in these parts.

 

[jamieorr]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, and particularly for the pictures which were the first I'd seen of the inside of a bag.

Guess I'll go ahead with a medium-ish bag in canvas with two main pockets and a few loops/pockets for the small stuff. Using that should tell me what I want when/if I make a leather bag.

Jamie

 

[longcruise]

We call that a "mountain man run". It is timed and involves throwing hawks, knives, several shots at various targets and starting a fire.

We have a woods walk also which involves walking from shooting station to shooting station. Very casual and unhurried.

 

[Artificer]

No doubt there are different names for the same matches, in each part of the country.

Maybe as our crowd ages, we stopped running and started walking between the targets? :rotf:

My favorite match used to be the Trade Gun Aggregate fired with smoothbores with no rear sights. It was not a timed event, BUT once you stepped across the designated line, you were not allowed to go back and retrieve something you forgot. IOW, if you did not have any item or items on you that you needed for the match, you made do or lost points. It required shooting both ball and shot, throwing a knife and tomahawk and starting a fire with flint and steel - which was the only part of the match that was timed as you had to get flame under 10 seconds.

Gus

 

[jamieorr]

Were you allowed to use your powder for tinder? Ten seconds seems very short otherwise.

Jamie

 

[jethro224]

Almost always, no powder allowed in your tinder.
Good way to get a powder burn.

10 seconds isn't that hard. My personal best was 3.26 seconds. I came in second to a guy who got 3.16 seconds. :surrender:

 

[Artificer]

Like Jethro mentioned, no powder is allowed, nor is steel wool. Just char cloth or other types of natural char tinder.

My personal best was just under Four Seconds and the Tow nest caught fire so fast that it surprised me and I singed my eyebrows! Needless to say, that and the fact I had red hair in those days was the source of many jokes and ribbing over the years. :redface: :grin:

Gus

 

[Leatherbark]

Hmmmm, what's in that corked bottle :haha: :shocked2:

Ginger Brandy for me! No matter what the experts say it warms me up well on a cold day.

Bob