The Awl in the Knapsack.

Thirdly. That four or five hundred pairs of good Indian shoes be made ready, fit for the service for the English and Indians, that must improve the whale boats and birch canoes; for they will be very proper and safe for that service. And let there be a good store of cow hides well tanned, for a supply of such shoes, and hemp to make thread, and wax to mend and make more such shoes when wanted, and a good store of awls."

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=DBATAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA213&ots=zlvgn-7t1j&dq=benjamin+church+whale+boats&pg=PA246&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20church%20whale%20boats&f=false

Extract from the 1756-1760 journal of Louis Antoine de Bougainville, in part, re-translated by the author. This is an inventory of clothing and equipment issued to French soldiers going on a winter expedition in the New World.

One overcoat

One blanket

One wool cap

Two cotton shirts

One pair of leggings

One breechclout

Two hanks of thread

Six needles

Two pair of deerskin moccasins

One dressed deerskin

Two portage collars

One butcher knife

One pair of snowshoes

One oilcloth per officer, one large one to every four men

Two Siamese knives (folding knives)

One weskit

One awl

One flint, steel and tinderbox with tinder

One drag rope

One comb

One worm

One bearskin

One tomahawk

Two pair of stockings

One pair of mittens

Reference (7).

Grand Portage National Monument.

Grand Portage National Monument

Grand Portage National Monument

These three lower awls are typical of those supplied through trade, and they are made so the owner can add their own handle.

My thanks to Tim Cochrane at the Grand Portage National Monument for the use of these images.