Tools Of The Trade UPDATE.

I have updated my equipment of late, I removed the pewter bolster from my hunting knife & fitted a new handle. This one as you can see is antler. Also shown is my fairly new clasp knife.

Keith.

Cleaning Your Gun In The field.

Cleaning Your Gun In The Field is part of my "A Woodsrunner's Day" series.

The Road Not Taken, By Robert Frost. For my young friend Swamp Fox who has just graduated.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

Daniel Boone, the Kentucky Pioneer.

http://www.history1700s.com/index.php/articles/8-biography/1611-daniel-boone-the-kentucky-pioneer.html

Updated Images Of My Blades & Guns.

Blades & Gun Update.

A subscriber to my video channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHEOMSZJETfj3GnoyONuvCQ?view_as=public) said they would like a closer look at my knife, so I decided it was easier for me to post images of the blades & guns I carry here on my blog so it is there for future reference.

My .62 caliber/20 gauge flintlock fusil. 42 inch smoothbore barrel with a steel ramrod.

My .70 caliber smoothbore flintlock pistol.

My axe/tomahawk.

Hunting knife.

Legging knife.

Stag handle friction clasp knife.

Buckskinning. In The Beginning.

Early Mountain Man days camping in the woods.

It really was a lifestyle back then, no water on tap, no electricity, & yes I had to hunt to put meat on the table.

Buckskinning.
That is what it was called when I first got into this hobby/lifestyle that we now call Living History. Back then we made “primitive stuff”, if it was made from natural materials, then it was okay. Later I learned that in fact it was not “okay”. Just because it was made from natural materials, didn’t make it authentic to the period. The period then was the 19^th century, everyone wanted to be a “Mountain Man” regardless of whether we had a horse or not, & of course we had to have a Hawken rifle!

The Hawken rifle was another mistake, because it was not as popular as it was made out to be. People moving into the mountains to trap beaver for furs carried whatever gun they could lay their hands on, probably spending more money on traps than on their gun. Another mistake was using a caplock gun. At the time of the Mountain Man & the height of the beaver fur trade, 1825 to 1840, flintlocks were still preferred to caplocks; the flintlock being more reliable when you are far from the settlements & a new supply of percussion caps.

But I enjoyed those days just the same, though had I known the right path when I started, I would not have wasted so much money on items that I did not need. But having found the right way to go about things; research first before doing anything, then I found it was just as much fun starting over again, this time, for me at least, with a new persona & an earlier period, the early to mid 18^th century. Now all my spare time was spent in further research & making new equipment. My wife helped me with the clothing as she is far more skilled at pattern making & sewing. I made my own leather leggings & woodland Indian style center seam moccasins, I also finger wove my legging garters & beaded the fringe with French glass beads.

Then there was the skills. Fortunately I was born & raised in the country, so I learnt many of the life skills when I was very young. There was however still many more skills to learn before I could consider myself a common woodsman of the 18^th century. Again this learning was a lot of fun, just like the making of my equipment was, except that the skills learning never ends, experience being the teacher, & I consider 40 years later that I still have much to learn.

Improving, but still a ways to go.

My hair turns grey, & finally I get there.

The Well Equipped Woodsrunner.

This post is just to encourage people to improve on their equipment when ever they have the opportunity. In our busy lives we can sometimes lose track of the things that are truly important to us, things that give us pleasure, and in some cases security. These things are worth spending time and money on when they are available.
Collecting things is fun, but be careful to distinguish between what you like to have in your possession and what you need to carry in your pack and on your person. There must be some compromise between minimum weight & maximum self-reliance.

The compass is probably not a necessity, but it can make life easier when moving in unknown territory. The angling tackle and flint and steel to me are a priority.

Knapsack equipped for a long stay in the woods, with the added market wallet, oilcloth secured under the flap closure, blanket roll containing extra clothing for winter use and spare moccasins. 

I very much doubt that woodsrunners carried much in the way of a medical kit, possibly some herbs. But I think that anyone who spends time away from home in the woods should carry a medical kit regardless. This kit of mine is very basic, but if I were travelling far long term, I would be packing a modern medical kit.

Shot pouch and contents. Make sure you have a ball mould & lead ladle for re moulding spent ball retrieved from shot game.

Patched ball was not commonly used in smoothbores, and at the rages in which I hunt I have no need for great accuracy, but I do carry two patched ball in a loading block for faster reloading if I should need it.

These tools, grease, spare flint leather and flints are carried in my shot pouch.

These spare lock parts and tools are carried in my knapsack.

Carrying a quality powder horn is essential, it does not have to be flash looking, but it does have to be serviceable. No leaks at spout plug or base plug, and the base plug should NEVER be glued. It should be sealed with beeswax only, and secured with metal pins.

One of three gunpowder bags that I can use to carry extra gunpowder should I need to. A lighter option than carrying extra powder horns. When empty I use this one to carry spare tinder for fire lighting.

Good blades are essential to wilderness living and survival. Choose wisely, only use them for their intended purpose and look after them.

Rifle or smoothbore long gun is your choice. Consider what type of game you are likely to be hunting, and the type of area you are likely to be hunting in. Also consider your capabilities regarding weight of the arm and your eyesight.

A good pistol for a back-up can be useful, and sometimes necessary. Choose a pistol that matches your longarm if you can, especially if it is a rifle. Other options are smoothbore pistols and you can carry shot. I carry a .62 caliber fusil, but my pistol is .70 caliber. However I can still use shot, and I can use a leather patched . 60 caliber ball in this pistol.
This is a left hand lock pistol, so I can carry it under my equipment belt on the right hand side. I am not left handed.

These two leather covered glass water flasks have proved to work very well. Not too heavy, and easy to accommodate in my pack and haversack.

I tend to alternate between carrying my kettle or my tin cup. The cup is obviously lighter, but the kettle holds more. I think that when travelling alone the tin cup suits my purpose better, & if I am in company, then someone else can carry the kettle!

I do carry other items such as soap, comb, whetstone, metal file, wooden spoon, awl, housewife sewing kit etc, but these are personal choices that some may not bother carrying.

The housewife sewing kit how ever does have other uses besides repairing clothing, shelter & packs. The needles are good for removing splinters and if necessary used to sew up a wound that can not be closed with a bandage.