A Deerskin bag

I have no idea why, but for whatever reason, the idea/concept/layout for this bag, or sack or whatever came to me fully-formed in my head this morning. Could'nt get the idea out of my head, so I just went ahead and made it.

I apologize , in advance, for the image-quality. The lighting/weather outside was awful, today, thanks to this Sandy storm which is passing by, just off-shore.

Initial layout- roughly 18 inch strip of Deerskin, I set some grommets into it for the flap-tie-down, and for holes for the strap, or sling to go through, when finished.

Then, I cut a strip of the skin from along the edge of this, to make the tie-string, knotted it from the back of the flap, through the grommet, and out the front.

Then I double-stitched-up the sides

For the sling, I did the same thing as the tie, but with Paracord (550 cord) ,and ran the ends through the grommets on the back.

And to test the hide, the side-stitching, and the sling's load-bearing ability, I crammed all the tools I used to make this into the bag. -(approx: 8-9 lbs)

And, good to go. I can either leave it as-is, or modify a dozen different ways, or add some bling to it, or whatever, from here. :)

Later that night, I decided to make another bag, same method, etc. But in my brown leather.

Purpleheart Modern Pugio for GQ (Cav Scout)

I am honored to begin work on a custom knife for our Iraqi Brother, "GQ" ,who is currently serving with a deployed Cavalry unit, as a scout.
He has chosen the Purpleheart wood for his handles/scales, and I will resume work on that, in the next week or so, when the weather has cleared up here.

In the meantime, I am beginning the design/layout for the sheath for the knife. The work here, is the initial/prototype work, and not the final product, as I need to design this sheath to be MilSpec compliant with his Molle/ Malice gear. The needs for the spec, is for mounting/ lash-down of the sheath in a variety of ways to his belt, vest, etc.
That's a bit more challenging than usual, with hand-made, 10 oz. leather vs. Kydex, or MilSpec Cordura/ Ballistic Nylon. Especially, since I use no machines to stitch things together.

So, here we go:

Initial layout of the main/back panel of the sheath, and it's attachment loop slots , 550 cord holes, and stitching holes for the front panel and welts.

Initial trim-up/squaring of the layout -

Rough-punching of the locations for the 550 cord grommet holes -

And with the rough-punch of the locations for the Molle loop lash-down points, and the stitch-holes for attaching the front-panel, and retention strap (at the handle)

And rough-shaping of the welts, which will be stitched-in just outside of the blade edges, and before the row of stitching for the front-panel

Stay tuned, over the coming weeks, as I will document the entire build as it progresses.



Ok. Hurricane Sandy has passed us by, and now the weather has cleared, so work resumes on sanding the handles for the knife.

This Purpleheart is hard, hard wood. Sanding-wise, one of the hardest I've yet worked with.

Here, I'm attempting to hand-sand it to where it is flush with the contours of the handle tang.

These are very thick boards of Purpleheart, but it gives me plenty to work with (and a ton of sanding) for when I begin contour-shaping/ beveling of the handle's final shape.

I will resume sanding tomorrow- for now, Im "popping" the grain, to bring out the Flame figure more -

More to come. This knife, and sheath, will be on the bench for a few more weeks, at least.

Now wet-forming my sheaths

Been meaning to try this for some time, but finally decided to take a stab at it.

Wet-forming my knife sheaths- leather soaked, now I wrap it tight around the knife and clamp it

A few hours later, as the leather dries a bit, it begins to form itself to the knife, as the drying leather shrinks-

Now, that took all of yesterday to dry. Now that it's dried, I begin cutting out the shape of the sheath

And punching the holes for the stitching and belt-loop attachment ..

And dying the leather

And, all stitched-up-

Hangs from the belt with a slight forward cant

And now, Im soaking the leather for the next one-

Lots more to come!