I just finished up a few accoutrements for trekking. I made myself a knapsack out of heavy weight linen and leather shoulder straps. The haversack and snapsack are of lighter weight linen. I made the flap on the knapsack and haversack of double thickness and a slit so it can be used for storage with smaller items.
Posts: 552 | Location: SC | Registered: 03 May 2009
Thanks! The knapsack looks smaller in this picture for some reason. It is the same width as the haversack but about two inches longer. I dyed the haversack in walnut dye but not the snapsack. I got the powdered hulls from Turkeyfoot Traders and boiled it up and mixed it with more water in a five gallon bucket. Before I made the knapsack I washed out a steel wool pad in dawn dish soap to get the oils out of it and let it rust. I added the rusty scrub pad to the dye and put in the knapsack. It came out a lot darker and won't wash out.
Posts: 552 | Location: SC | Registered: 03 May 2009
Actually the color will "wash out" or fade but without our using our packs or our hunting shirts every day for many months as they did..., the item will wear out before the color is noticed fading.
I read somewhere that the guys who did a lot of woods running would re-dye their shirts once or twice a year.
Wish I could find that actual reference...
LD
It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004
Originally posted by woods loper: A snapsack is a pack that is basically tube of cloth worn across the back with a single strap.Kinda like an arrow quiver.
Thanks. I Googled it. They look akward and uncomfortable to me. Not useful as I see it. OTOH, a blanket roll with stuff inside and tied at the ends is similar and better than nothing for carrying things.
Funny how the item lasted for several centuries. It may simply be that they really travelled light, especially since we see a lot of the artwork depicting such a pack is in military settings. Even as recent as WWII the German infantry placed their packs on horse drawn carts. Perhaps the snapsack was for personal property, and blankets, kettles, hatchets, etc. were carried on the "company-oxcart" or "company pack horses"?
LD
It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004
Hey Woods Loper, those look worthy of showing more pictures. Can you stuff them full and take Moore pictures of each one please? Something to gage size with each pic would be nice too. They sure look well made and I love details.