I’ve tanned a few deer hides in my day, but this is my first time trying to tan fur. Considering that it was my first attempt, I decided to make it easier on myself by working something small. I had a little red squirrel in my freezer that I’d been saving for just such a project. Typically, I like to read up on things before I dive in, so I went to braintan.com where they have some good articles that cover fur tanning. They primarily tend to focus on the production of brain tanned buckskin, but there are also numerous articles covering other aspects of traditional tanning as well. They also sell a great book and video companion that details the entire process and makes it very easy for the first-time tanner to succeed at making buckskin.

So, on to the fur tanning:

I decided to case-skin the squirrel hide and work it that way.  No real reason here, I just went with it. For convenience sake, I used the egg yolk from one chicken egg and mixed it with some warm water as a substitute for the brain solution. I wanted to do this in a simple fashion, so I didn’t use any tools for the majority of the process (e.x., fleshing tool, cable, etc.). I scraped as much of the flesh from the hide with my fingernail then allowed it to dry a little. Next, I rubbed the egg yolk solution onto the flesh side of the hide and let it partially dry again. Before it dried out completely, I applied another coat of egg. I repeated this process until the egg yolk solution was used up – about four applications in total. Then I just worked the hide in my hands, stretching it back and forth for about an hour, until it was dry. I have to tell you that it didn’t come out perfect. A large area on the lower half of the back came out rather papery. But, with the exception of this and the head/face area, the rest of the fur came out nice and soft. I haven’t smoked it yet because I’m considering adding more yolk solution to the stiff spots and working it some more. I often hear folks say you can case out certain critters and use their hide as an improvised glove or sock. But this squirrel was way too small to cover the four fingers of my hand. Next time I try tanning a squirrel hide, I think I’ll open-skin it and work it that way. I believe I’ll be able to work it much more easily and more thoroughly and possibly be able to do more with it as an open fur. We’ll have to see…..

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As the saying goes, “you have to break a few eggs before you can make an omelet.” The same holds true for flint knapping. Of course, with flint knapping, the whole premise revolves around fracturing a piece of stone in a predictable manner in order to produce an edged tool. However, it usually doesn’t take long in your knapping career before something happens that you weren’t prepared for. For example, the other day I was working a dry piece of keokuk that I had shaped into a nice little biface. It was cool and windy outside, my hands were cold, and I was rushing a bit so I could get back in the house to warm up. Somewhere along the line I thought to myself that I should finish up or take a break because I noticed my billet swings were getting sloppy and I wasn’t taking the time to adequately prepare the striking platforms. But I decided to push through, reasoning to myself that I was almost done with the reduction process. Then, just a few moments later, SNAP – followed by a fairly loud expletive! I had landed a poorly placed swing on too stout of a platform which left me with two pieces of keokuk instead of one. Everyone knows that these kinds of things are a part of flint knapping, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept when it happens. I’d like to think that I learned something from this experience, but truth be told,  I tend to put these kinds of lessons behind me rather quickly. So, I’ve decided to write a post about it to help remind myself and any others out there to take your time and to listen to that little voice inside your head when it tells you to take a break. So, with that being said, I expect I’ll be breaking some more pieces this way in the future. I’m just hoping there will be fewer of them.

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This is just the coolest thing. I learned about this from Fredde over at SwedishBushcraft. If you haven’t seen this guys work, do yourself a favor and check out his YouTube site. Not only is his take on bushcraft interesting and original, but his craftsmanship is superb and the way he uses a knife is an absolute joy to watch. And these hooks are just one example of some of the cool stuff you’ll see from him. You’ll get more from his video and the associated comments than I can explain here so be sure to check it out if you’re at all interested in making this for yourself. As you may be able to see in the photo, mine isn’t nearly as refined as Fredde’s, but it works.  I can’t say that for my first two attempts – they barely held together.

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I pumped out a little point made from normanskill chert today. I know many flint knappers who favor using materials that occur locally within their state or surrounding geographic area, and I am no exception. Many knappers also enjoy producing historically accurate replicas of point-types known to occur in their area from the archeological record, and this can only be done by using the appropriate type of stone. In general, New York lithic materials are not considered beautiful or easy to work, but for those of us who enjoy knapping them, the end result can leave you with a great sense of satisfaction (or frustration, as is often times the case). For me, using local rock connects me to the previous inhabitants who relied upon the same material to sustain their lives.  And it also provides me with a level of assurance knowing that I can utilize the same resource in a similar way if need be. The more common New York cherts include onondaga, normanskill, and esopus and they can be found in different parts of the state.

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I came across this neat Instructables article for making a pocket sized oil lantern and I wanted to make one for myself. Aside from being somewhat of a bastardized kudlik, it doesn’t really fall into the bushcraft or stone tools categories, so I’ve added a new one for self reliance; hopefully with additional articles to follow in the future. Anyway, the construction process was straight forward and simple enough that I won’t describe any of the details involved in making it because that was already done in the article. The lamp’s versatility, small size and ease of portability gives it some potential camping and bushcraft applications and it may be worth taking one along next time out.

Popularity: 34%