Quick and Dirty Leather Crafting

hatchet sheath

Leather crafting is agreat skill to learn and know. You may have to rely on it as well.  You can make;  holsters, bags, pouches, scabbards … on and on.

Just think of all the things we encounter in daily life that are made of, or USED to be made of leather.The leather items that you make can also be used for barter  (in dire situations),  as well as useful stuff for your own self.  As far as survival goes, the final results don’t have to look  pretty  to do the job.

All that is needed are a few easily found items.

$1.00 worth of pigskin leather scraps

– Leather, of course, leather comes in a variety thickness and hardness.  If possible, choose your leather wisely for your specific projects. Remnant scraps are sold by leather dealers.  They are a cheap way to get started. There may come a time where you can not be so specific.   In  a pinch an old pair of boots, or an worn jacket will work.

 

leather awe

– A leather awe or even an ice-pick for punching holes in the leather.  Many pocket knives have semi – useful punches.

 

 

 

dental floss for sewing

– Strong waxed thread for sewing, good strong dental floss works too.

 

 

tapesty / leather needle

– Blunt tipped sewing needles.  There are all kinds of leather needles, tapestry needles are often used, as well.

 

 

 

hobby / needle nose pliers

– A pair of hobby pliers for assisting the needle through the holes punched into the leather.  Needle nose pliers are an “around the house” substitute.

 

 

 

xacto(tm) knife

– A Xacto ™ knife or a utility knife can be used for cutting the leather.

 

 

 

To make a your leather item, follow these steps.  It is really easy and surprisingly fun to do.

1.  Trace a pattern on a piece of leather

2.  Cut it out, Punch your holes as you go, Thread the needle & start sewing.

3.  Finally, when I am all done with my project, I sand the edges down fairly even. so, it looks nice!!

Making something useful from just scraps can be a very rewarding experience. Grab yourselves  some leather and start your leather crafting, it can be more than just a hobby.

Here is nice video that shows your pretty much the same thing.  It shows how really simple it is to start doing this.  It’s not our video so you will have to forgive the “hotel lobby” background music.

BTW;  here are two more sheaths made by the author.

Knife Sheaths Made by Author

Cammenga Model 27 arrives

My Cammenga Model 27 lensatic compass arrived today.   I figured we should fire off a starter video, we plan to keep them coming.  With some actual outdoor land navigation videos soon.   I give a brief run down of what I received and my appraisal so far.

Another video doing a better job recommending the Cammenga Compasses and echoing my sentiment that cheaper compasses are even dangerous.

You comments and additions are welcome.

Buying A Lensatic

After years of neglecting my tactical skills I decided to get back into using map and compass the way we used to.  The way I used to before I had a smart phone.  The same smart phone that has changed from a decent navigator to a dummy, that goes around in circles on side roads “…cause the voice tells me too”.

But … What if we did have a catastrophe that destroyed the GPS system’s functionality.  Recent solar flares and the certain possibility that there are many who would target the GPS system for failure if they could.

Step 1, buy a compass …

From what I can tell there are two basic respectable entry level military spec-ish compasses out there.   The first is the all out Mil-Spec one with Tritium costing around $80 – $90

It should noted that tritium only has a lifespan of a few years.

The other option is the cheaper 27 cammenga model, which from what I understand is basically the same thing for $30 bucks less.  Instead of Tritium you get glow in the dark phosphorous.  The $30 dollars for me  just aren’t worth it.

How to Prepare

The hard tack brigade is a group of decades long friends, who have been enthusiasts of survival, survival tech and prepping skills. Each with their own specialties, training and experience.

Here is where we plan on sharing, and if all goes well, growing to our host and content manager, soon.

We plan on covering the real nuts and bolts how too prepare. Giving sources and hopefully some respectable video as well, with practical how to guides.

“Scary” weaponry is only a portion of what has to be understood, if you and your family encounter a “Katrina Scale” collapse of normal order.  Real world skills are being forgotten, for example, navigating without a GPS, preserving food, and making a pair of boots from leather. These skills may prove invaluable in the future. We’ve not shared in this format before and your more than welcome to give you input. but we think now may be the time.

Participation is the only price  we would like you to pay. Where ever possible creative commons and open source licensing will be used.

Electric Energy from Wood with Redneck Tech

It may seem odd, to some, but internal combustion engines can be run on gas produced from plain old wood. The practice was somewhat common in petroleum starved axis countries during World War II. The trick here is gathering up all the parts and doing all the welding BEFORE the you go through an energy blackout.

One important thing to note is that the process basically pressure cooks the wood.  This can be an extremely risky affair since the device has a home made potential bomb built in.

For more information on wood gas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas

Edible Plants Nice Video

This link was recommended by a Mr. R. Shackleford