Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990 
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Post by Keith on Feb 6, 2019 0:48:44 GMT -7
I am not claiming that every woodsrunner carried these tools, as a matter of fact woodsrunners on the whole tended to travel very light without much equipment at all. Today we would think this fool hardy, but in the 18th century this was common practice. However, not all woodsrunners survived, we only read about the ones that did survive, many by shear luck! I learnt early on not to rely on luck, so when I pack for the trail, I pack for long term but still follow two principles in which there must be some compromise: minimum weight & maximum self reliance. Yes I can survive with the barest of equipment, in fact with no equipment at all, but with no hope of finding a trader in the wilderness far from home when I am exploring, I choose to carry a few items that will make life easier. I can of course convert my flintlock to a matchlock or tinderlock should a lock spring break, but I would prefer to keep my flintlock functional as it is supposed to be if possible.  Left to right: turnscrew, lock grease, screw & pin punch, flint leather & two spare flints. These I carry in my shot pouch.
 Top to bottom: Mainspring vise, spare lock screws, spare lock springs, a spare hammer & my 20 gauge wad punch.  My lead ladle & ball mould which I carry in the bottom of my shot pouch. The ladle I copied from an original.
The goose shot mould I carry in the bottom of my knapsack.To date I have never had to use any spare lock parts, but I did have a hammer stop sparking one time many years ago on a rifle. I had no spares, so I heated the hammer in the camp fire to cherry red & quenched it in my cold cup of coffee. It worked just fine & is still sparking well. Keith. |
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Post by Sicilianhunter on May 31, 2019 14:10:54 GMT -7
I am not claiming that every woodsrunner carried these tools, as a matter of fact woodsrunners on the whole tended to travel very light without much equipment at all. Today we would think this fool hardy, but in the 18th century this was common practice. However, not all woodsrunners survived, we only read about the ones that did survive, many by shear luck! I learnt early on not to rely on luck, so when I pack for the trail, I pack for long term but still follow two principles in which there must be some compromise: minimum weight & maximum self reliance. Yes I can survive with the barest of equipment, in fact with no equipment at all, but with no hope of finding a trader in the wilderness far from home when I am exploring, I choose to carry a few items that will make life easier. I can of course convert my flintlock to a matchlock or tinderlock should a lock spring break, but I would prefer to keep my flintlock functional as it is supposed to be if possible. Left to right: turnscrew, lock grease, screw & pin punch, flint leather & two spare flints. These I carry in my shot pouch.
Top to bottom: Mainspring vise, spare lock screws, spare lock springs, a spare hammer & my 20 gauge wad punch. My lead ladle & ball mould which I carry in the bottom of my shot pouch. The ladle I copied from an original.
The goose shot mould I carry in the bottom of my knapsack.To date I have never had to use any spare lock parts, but I did have a hammer stop sparking one time many years ago on a rifle. I had no spares, so I heated the hammer in the camp fire to cherry red & quenched it in my cold cup of coffee. It worked just fine & is still sparking well. Keith. LeLoup, I've been chided for just wanting to carry a main spring vise!! My offense was it added, get this: "too much weight"!!?? I like your thought process: better to have these items somewhere in your kit than not at all. I have no problem carrying the weight either in my shooting pouch or knap sack or both. I've also been warned off of carrying a bag mold. Even if I carry shot of whatever size, I like the idea of being able to make ball out of it afield if need be. Options, flexibility and adaptability are all essential to survival. I remember you mentioning that on a trek you suddenly heard feral pigs close by and dropped some buck shot on top of your loaded ball as "pig insurance"! You may need the tools/supplies to adapt that quickly |
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Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990
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Post by Keith on May 31, 2019 18:30:05 GMT -7
I am not claiming that every woodsrunner carried these tools, as a matter of fact woodsrunners on the whole tended to travel very light without much equipment at all. Today we would think this fool hardy, but in the 18th century this was common practice. However, not all woodsrunners survived, we only read about the ones that did survive, many by shear luck! I learnt early on not to rely on luck, so when I pack for the trail, I pack for long term but still follow two principles in which there must be some compromise: minimum weight & maximum self reliance. Yes I can survive with the barest of equipment, in fact with no equipment at all, but with no hope of finding a trader in the wilderness far from home when I am exploring, I choose to carry a few items that will make life easier. I can of course convert my flintlock to a matchlock or tinderlock should a lock spring break, but I would prefer to keep my flintlock functional as it is supposed to be if possible. Left to right: turnscrew, lock grease, screw & pin punch, flint leather & two spare flints. These I carry in my shot pouch.
Top to bottom: Mainspring vise, spare lock screws, spare lock springs, a spare hammer & my 20 gauge wad punch. My lead ladle & ball mould which I carry in the bottom of my shot pouch. The ladle I copied from an original.
The goose shot mould I carry in the bottom of my knapsack.To date I have never had to use any spare lock parts, but I did have a hammer stop sparking one time many years ago on a rifle. I had no spares, so I heated the hammer in the camp fire to cherry red & quenched it in my cold cup of coffee. It worked just fine & is still sparking well. Keith. LeLoup, I've been chided for just wanting to carry a main spring vise!! My offense was it added, get this: "too much weight"!!?? I like your thought process: better to have these items somewhere in your kit than not at all. I have no problem carrying the weight either in my shooting pouch or knap sack or both. I've also been warned off of carrying a bag mold. Even if I carry shot of whatever size, I like the idea of being able to make ball out of it afield if need be. Options, flexibility and adaptability are all essential to survival. I remember you mentioning that on a trek you suddenly heard feral pigs close by and dropped some buck shot on top of your loaded ball as "pig insurance"! You may need the tools/supplies to adapt that quickly I carry a ball mould & ladle in my shot pouch so that I can retrieve lead from shot game & remould it in the field. This saves me from having to carry extra lead which really does add weight! Extra gunpowder in gunpowder bags weighs very little, & once a bag is empty I store spare tinder in this bag. takes fire readily from the spark of a steel: but it is much improved by being kept dry in a bag that has contained gunpowder.”
~Samuel Hearne, Northern Canada, 1772
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Keith. |
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jun 1, 2019 8:30:35 GMT -7
Your absolutely right about the lead!
I've seen several period examples and some were bars (more like rods) and another set were what looked like large coins on a string.
I like your ladle, I have a folding one but it takes up more room that yours does.
I knew it was done but I hadn't considered retrieving my own lead, Thanks for the tip!!
I'll have to make a gunpowder bag now!! LOL
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