Re: Possibles bag
[Re: EdP]
#6687099
12/08/19 04:17 PM
12/08/19 04:17 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 34 NW Colorado
COMuleman
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 34
NW Colorado
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A woodsman (or mtn man for that matter) doesn't carry his gun stuff in his equivalent of a day pack any more than you would put one round in your gun and ammo for follow-up shots in your day pack today. It has to be more handy than that or you won't keep your scalp very long. The shooting pouch is the first thing to go on and the last to be thrown off because the only gear more valuable to life is your gun. In most cases they only wore the possible bag and it doubled as a shooting bag. What I meant by the day pack equivalent is that it’s not just for shooting gear. A lot of times it was the shooting gear plus a few other odds and ends like fire kit and stuff they might need during a day of hunting.
When the time comes for a man to look his maker in the eye, where a better place for a meeting to be held than in the wilderness? - Dick Proenneke
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Re: Possibles bag
[Re: Miley]
#6687114
12/08/19 04:37 PM
12/08/19 04:37 PM
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 16,951 OH
Catch22
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 16,951
OH
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Bro did the the tanning and beadwork! Sexy man, I like it!
I wonder if tap dancers walk into a room, look at the floor, and think, I'd tap that. I wonder about things.....
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Re: Possibles bag
[Re: WakopaWalker]
#6687555
12/08/19 10:31 PM
12/08/19 10:31 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,872 meadowview, Virginia
EdP
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,872
meadowview, Virginia
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CoMuleman, I will note first off that none of your sources are primary source documents so cannot be counted on to be accurate. They MAY be accurate or may not. No telling if they are not primary source documents, but lets look at what they say.
From your first reference: POSSIBLES BAG: This bag served as the carrying pouch for items the mountain man might “possibly” have needed, such as tools for the firearms, tinder to start fires, bullets and personal gear. Here you have some support for your position, but mixing tinder to start fires and personal gear with bullets and firearm tools is not what I or anyone else I know does except for those items not likely to be needed close at hand.
From your second reference: Possibles Bag - A very important piece of the trapper’s gear, the possibles bag was used for the storage of any number of items, from flints and steels, to the castoreum box, awls, and other tools used in daily trapping life. There is no mention of anything that would be needed to keep a gun working.
From your 3rd reference: A possibles bag carried the mountain man’s necessities, such as knife and flint. Again nothing there about items to keep a gun working.
Another item from your 3rd reference: The mountain man carried a leather pouch called a possible bag. A possible bag contained everything a mountain man needed to survive in the wilderness. The mountain man carried the supplies he needed in the bag. He carried: • a metal tobacco tin with a glass disk to hold tobacco or flint and steel strikers to start fires • a spoon made from cow or buffalo horn and a crude fork • Beads and trinkets for trade with the American Indians Once again, nothing there about items to keep a gun working.
I do not believe your references help you make your case. I agree that a possibles bag was used like we would now use a day pack, and I use a haversack in exactly the same way when hunting in 18th century gear, but I carry a separate shooting pouch with the items needed to run my flintlock. The shooting pouch items include tools to pull a ball and clean the bore, spare flints, compass, patching, balls, turn screw, patch knife, vent pick, and a cows knee. There is no room for "personal items" or tinder or flint and steel and char cloth, or even a ball mold. Those items go in my haversack (possibles bag). If you look at the size of the bag pictured I think you will find it of a size more appropriate for those items that are needed and will fit in a shooting pouch.
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Re: Possibles bag
[Re: EdP]
#6687572
12/08/19 10:53 PM
12/08/19 10:53 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 34 NW Colorado
COMuleman
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 34
NW Colorado
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CoMuleman, I will note first off that none of your sources are primary source documents so cannot be counted on to be accurate. They MAY be accurate or may not. No telling if they are not primary source documents, but lets look at what they say.
From your first reference: POSSIBLES BAG: This bag served as the carrying pouch for items the mountain man might “possibly” have needed, such as tools for the firearms, tinder to start fires, bullets and personal gear. Here you have some support for your position, but mixing tinder to start fires and personal gear with bullets and firearm tools is not what I or anyone else I know does except for those items not likely to be needed close at hand.
From your second reference: Possibles Bag - A very important piece of the trapper’s gear, the possibles bag was used for the storage of any number of items, from flints and steels, to the castoreum box, awls, and other tools used in daily trapping life. There is no mention of anything that would be needed to keep a gun working.
From your 3rd reference: A possibles bag carried the mountain man’s necessities, such as knife and flint. Again nothing there about items to keep a gun working.
Another item from your 3rd reference: The mountain man carried a leather pouch called a possible bag. A possible bag contained everything a mountain man needed to survive in the wilderness. The mountain man carried the supplies he needed in the bag. He carried: • a metal tobacco tin with a glass disk to hold tobacco or flint and steel strikers to start fires • a spoon made from cow or buffalo horn and a crude fork • Beads and trinkets for trade with the American Indians Once again, nothing there about items to keep a gun working.
I do not believe your references help you make your case. I agree that a possibles bag was used like we would now use a day pack, and I use a haversack in exactly the same way when hunting in 18th century gear, but I carry a separate shooting pouch with the items needed to run my flintlock. The shooting pouch items include tools to pull a ball and clean the bore, spare flints, compass, patching, balls, turn screw, patch knife, vent pick, and a cows knee. There is no room for "personal items" or tinder or flint and steel and char cloth, or even a ball mold. Those items go in my haversack (possibles bag). If you look at the size of the bag pictured I think you will find it of a size more appropriate for those items that are needed and will fit in a shooting pouch. Fair enough, just a friendly debate. I could be completely wrong, that’s just the way I’ve taken it. I’m definitely going to look around and see what good references I can find. Do you happen to have any documents that you could show? I would love to see them. I’m always for learning and not afraid to admit if I’m wrong.
When the time comes for a man to look his maker in the eye, where a better place for a meeting to be held than in the wilderness? - Dick Proenneke
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Re: Possibles bag
[Re: 330-Trapper]
#6687763
12/09/19 07:56 AM
12/09/19 07:56 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,426 east central WI
k snow
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,426
east central WI
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Wow...someone believes their right Its a common theme among the living history/reenacting vs rendezvous crowd. I have been accused of being a stitch counter, oh well. There never was an item called a possibles bag pre-1850. That term was never used in any of the old journals, that I am aware of. Did trappers, etc carry knapsacks? All the time. Haversacks were a military item and there is VERY little evidence of them being used by civilians. We also have to keep in mind that western trappers and many of the eastern frontiersmen, were mounted 99% of the time. All of their gear was carried on their horses and mules. Not all trappers were the best prepared, like we want to believe they were. The old journals are full of people getting lost, cold, starving, running out of ammo, and all sorts of other problems.
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Re: Possibles bag
[Re: k snow]
#6687820
12/09/19 09:25 AM
12/09/19 09:25 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 63,231 Minnesota
330-Trapper
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 63,231
Minnesota
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Wow...someone believes their right Its a common theme among the living history/reenacting vs rendezvous crowd. I have been accused of being a stitch counter, oh well. There never was an item called a possibles bag pre-1850. That term was never used in any of the old journals, that I am aware of. Did trappers, etc carry knapsacks? All the time. Haversacks were a military item and there is VERY little evidence of them being used by civilians. We also have to keep in mind that western trappers and many of the eastern frontiersmen, were mounted 99% of the time. All of their gear was carried on their horses and mules. Not all trappers were the best prepared, like we want to believe they were. The old journals are full of people getting lost, cold, starving, running out of ammo, and all sorts of other problems. True stuff. And when reading writings of "old times" you have to know the author and time of writings. Just like they say about the internet....just because its there/ written dosen't make it fact.
NRA and NTA Life Member www.BackroadsRevised@etsy.com
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Re: Possibles bag
[Re: tomahawker]
#6687908
12/09/19 12:13 PM
12/09/19 12:13 PM
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 10,404 Northeast Oklahoma
Mike in A-town
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 10,404
Northeast Oklahoma
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[quote=tomahawker] Buck skin pouch with muskrat flap. Although not nearly as fancy, I feel it’s much closer to what you would find 200 years ago in the back of beyond. No thread, no metal, no beads. Simply 1 muskrat, wang and pouch out of 1 deer hide. [/q Very true. Most anything made on the frontier was fashioned with what was on hand. I have a book somewhere that showed some of the items carried in a [ insert preferred technical term here ] pouch... The one item that stuck out was an awl for leather work. And a lot of early trade knives had a "Spanish Notch" for stripping sinew... So with some tawed/tanned leather, an awl, and trade knife you could fashion most anything you needed... Clothing, shelter, pouches, mocassins, etc... Mike
One man with a gun may control 100 others who have none.
Vladimir Lenin
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