The Kevin "Kiev" J. Kirby Water Canteen.

Kevin recently purchased this hollowed log water canteen pictured below, & kindly gave me permission to show it on this blog. By its size I would say it is a personal water bottle & not a field canteen which is unusual for this type of manufacture. Being a hollowed log type I really don't expect to find another exactly like it, but there may be similar ones. If anyone can add any information on this canteen, Kevin & I would very much appreciate it.
Because of its individual nature, I find it hard to date. At a guess I would say anywhere from mid 18th century to early 19th century. Following is a description supplied by Kiev:

"The canteen measures about 8 1/4" tall and 4" diameter at the base, which tapers slightly to about 3 1/2". The cylinder is a single piece of carved wood (not staved), and the brass bands appear to be hand-forged with dovetail joins. There are two openings at the top, one with a decorative brass spout".

A beautiful water bottle, if it was mine, I would be using it !

Keith.

More On Water Containers.

I have done a fair amount of research on 17th & 18th century water bottles, & I still find it difficult to know how some items are dated late, & others early. Personally I find little difference if any between some of them, & I can only assume they be dated re the site date. This though does not always hold true, as early items can easily have been used at a later date. However, I show you here a selection from early to late 18th century, & I guess we must date them as such until we can come up with something more positive.

This one is not certain, but simply guessed at 18th century.

Circa late 18th century.

 1700ad

1720ad

1730ad

Labled New England Canteen.

Pennsylvania German Wooden Water Bottle. Circa late 18thc.

18th Century Cider Canteen.

Shrink Pot Carving (from log to pot)

  My thanks to bygonetoni  for sending me the link to this video. This was in response to a question about making water bottles/canteens from wood.

Water Bottles. Alternatives.

There are a number of alternatives to the leather costrel for carrying water, but they are either heavier or hold less water. But for those who are just beginning or for those who carry less weight anyway, these alternatives may be a viable option.

1601-1700AD. Will suit a later period but this type is heavy to carry. Very good for normal events where little travel is involved.

Similar types of bottle ranging from 17th century to 18th century. I found two modern made replicas in a second hand shop.

Dated 1701 this type of bottle can still be bought today containing port. Does not hold a lot but not too heavy either. Can be carried in knapsack or haversack or you can cover it in leather and add a strap for carrying.

1741-1760AD, Wine bottles were rarely thrown away in the 18th century at least not by the middling sort. These bottles were reused for carrying water or to contain cooking oil. There are modern wine bottles available today of very similar shape.

1530-1550AD. This one is a great find. The leather cover is believed to have covered the whole bottle and included ears for attaching a carrying strap. This is a glass costrel. Once again glass bottles of this shape are still being made and available in bottle shops. Should not be too hard to add a leather cover and a carry strap.

This copper kidney canteen dates to the French & Indian War. This is a replica.

An even lighter and less expensive alternative is a gourd canteen. These you can grow and make yourself. Be careful of mould spores when cleaning out the inside after drying, and make sure you do a good job of sealing the inside with melted beeswax.

The Leather Costrel/Leather Water Bottle.

Above is an original medieval period costrel, note the short length of cordage for carrying.

This Costrel is dated in the 14th century.

A 17th century Costrel.

Both of these Costrels are believed to have been made in the 18th century, dated at 1730AD.

My own 18th century replica leather costrel. Note the short leather strap with a toggle on one side for securing to the waist belt.


Leather Costrels date from the medieval era and into the 18th century using roughly the same pattern right through. I have seen long straps attached to modern replicas of the Costrel but found in use that this just adds more weight to my shoulders that are already burdened carrying a shot pouch, knapsack, and haversack. Then I read somewhere that infact the leather costrel was originally carried on a waist belt by a short strap or length of cordage. I contacted the Reverend and this is what he had to say about the Costrel:

"The costrel pictured here has a short leather loop handle that I thread a waist belt through to carry it when I’m on the march. It sits very comfortably on the hip and can be quickly accessed by undoing the belt. Nothing else is on that particular belt. The original the design was copied from was allegedly worn in this manner".
http://leatherworkingreverend.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/costrels/

I already wear a waist belt which is also used to secure my hunting knife and my tomahawk and I think adding another waist belt would not be very practicle, so using the short strap I have seen on originals I devised a method using a wooden toggle which I carved from a piece of willow to secure the Costrel to my belt in such a manner as I could easily remove the costrel without taking off the belt.
Whether or not this method was ever used in the 18th century I cannot say, but it seems reasonable that a thinking person could easily have devised this method for the same reason as myself. Meanwhile I will continue to research this.

Experimentation on carrying the Costrel on the belt have so far been very favourable, and my toggle method works very well.