ecently completed horn/bag/knife set-Opinions please

[Brasilikilt]

Hello everyone.

I set out to make this setup to be a somewhat generic late 18th/early 19th century style, while attempting to be as accurate as I could be with what materials I had to work with.









I haven't hammered out the fine details of my persona, but the broad strokes are that I am a Scots/Irish/English blacksmith (doubling as a carpenter and/or moonshiner when necessity dictates)who is among the earliest waves of Europeans to settle the Pacific Northwest in the 1810's.
My guy (acting on boredom and his Scottish cheapness) would have made a shooting bag during his sea voyage out West using whatever he could scrounge or bring with him.
He later found out the hard way that the original bag didn't hold up. Apparently the local harness maker wouldn't work for "Blue Ruin" Whiskey, so he had to do the repairs and modifications himself....The results are what you see here.

I realize that I am probably over-thinking this. On the other hand I'd like to know if there are any glaringly obvious oversights or mistakes I am making with my accouterments.
As always, comments and constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated

Thanks, Iain

 

[thecapgunkid]

Nice job. You might want to empty the bag and get a lighter to burn the ends of the knotted thread. It'll secure them and look befittingly neat because your bag does.

Just clip the ends to about 3/8 inch and touch the flame to the end. It'll melt and you can blow it out to form a little button well before the house burns down.

This bag is as good as anybody's out there inasmuch as you used the materials at hand. It's character and quality will come through over time in a more pleasing way each year.

 

[Elnathan]

Well, as a bag it looks pretty nice. Whether a bag patterned on American bags from the Eastern Woodlands would be appropriate for a British guy settling on the West Coast (off a ship?) would be dependent on the details on the backstory...Similar issues with the horn: While horns with that type of throat did find their way into Britain in the 18th century and some horns continued to be made in that style up to the 1830s, I think, they seem to have largely been high-end/commemorative horns and I'm not sure that that a blacksmith/carpenter would be likely to use one as a day-to-day piece of equipment...

The knife looks like a modern design to me, but 19th century knives aren't my area of expertise, so I could easily be wrong.

Another thing: Your character would be living south of the Russians in Alaska, north of the Spanish in California, and in the near (?) vicinity of some Indian nations with fairly distinctive decorative styles, something to consider if you are looking to include some unique details in your kit...

 

[tenngun]

It looks great. Bags are a pia when it comes to research. Many bags are thought to be old because they are matched with an old gun, but we don't know if its original or added later. paintings are short on detail. Dive in the waters fine, I think bags are our greyest area. There are some good books on it but they are head spiners :haha:

 

[Short Arm]

Nice job

 

[crockett]

I'll raise some points the answers of which I don't know- maybe someone else does. The nails on the powder horn- holding in the plug. Were the originals square iron or something else? The peg on the horn- nice looking but were fancy pegs like that original or would just a plain peg be better? The buckle of the bag's strap- I think roller buckles are pc and there were harness buckles of various sorts- I'd make sure the buckle is pc. The knife. I know there were full tangs but I think half tangs were more common.
All very minor points and all of what you did looks good and is probably pc- I'm just raising some q's since you asked :hmm:
and.. just noticed the heavy thong holding the peg on the horn. Those heavy thongs always look odd to me and I don't know if they are pc. I ended up using a heavy three strand of waxed linen thread that I braided and has a smaller diameter. I've asked before about this thong through the peg issue but there wasn't a lot of response on how this was done on original horns. The originals may have had no thong to hold the peg. Once again, I don't know and I'm just asking others who may know.

 

[matt denison]

That nice white horn is ripe for some scrimshaw. Take advantage of that. A man on a long trip around the Horn on his way to the Pac. Northwest would have lots of time to scratch his horn with a nail or whatever.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Looking fine. :thumbsup: I admire guys who do for themselves.

 

[Jaeger]

Looks like outstanding work to me! I notice you have iron pins in your knife handle: well done!

 

[LRB]

Nice job. You might want to empty the bag and get a lighter to burn the ends of the knotted thread. It'll secure them and look befittingly neat because your bag does.

Just clip the ends to about 3/8 inch and touch the flame to the end. It'll melt and you can blow it out to form a little button well before the house burns down.

This bag is as good as anybody's out there inasmuch as you used the materials at hand. It's character and quality will come through over time in a more pleasing way each year.

I don't see where he mentions what kind of thread he used. The burn trick only works with synthetics.

 

[thecapgunkid]

That's a good point. I had to be taught how to do it with the commercial, pre-waxed cotton thread (as opposed to the synthetic artificial sinew) which basically involved cutting the stub shorter and being quick to snuff it.

 

[erock1980]

I can't speak to your attempts to tie to it to a time period or persona, but it looks to be well-made and neatly assembled.

 

[omarick1948]

Very nice generic set and well made!

As to pins or pegs for holding in the base plug, there are many historic examples of originals with square and round irons(mostly later for round), wood and thorn fasteners used. Also, I would say that the stopper wasn't too fancy for the period, as making a carved wood stopper is fun to do under a big oak tree and I'm sure some of the old timer's might of did the same. Beats a whittled stick!

Rick

 

[Brasilikilt]

Hello again

First of all, thanks to all of you who shared your ideas and made meaningful compliments.
It may not seem like much to you guys, but is extremely helpful for somebody trying to make adequate gear out of not so accurate materials.
Thanks for that everyone.

The threads! I only saw this after the picture was posted, didn't think much of it, and didn't think anyone else would notice.. Of course it gets mentioned in the first response :grin:

The setup does indeed emulate common Eastern Woodland styles,and the bag doesn't look so different from some Fur trade era examples I've seen as well. Some styles seem to have been popular and were copied repeatedly for years afterwards.
Also, back in the day-wouldn't it have been commonplace for a son to put his father's older gear back into use?

Anyway..I need to hit the sack, and write more on this later.

 

[MSW]

very nice work!

 

[mtcurman]

Looks great to me! :thumbsup:

 

[Wes/Tex]

Looks good with me!