waterproofing a leather canteen

[sonny]

about twenty years ago, i bought an never used, a leather canteen. I am now into reinactment an it seems these are the way to go. I filled her up an out the door i went.When i finally got to the battle,it was have full with a wet leather spot on it. I never tried it again. The nozzle has black pitch on it, an the leather seems hard. I would love to make the darn thing work but don't know what is correct to "get her done". I noticed that this canteen has one row of stiches an a center piece of leather ,about 1"wide connecting the two sides.....whats better bee's wax or brewers pitch ? please help......sonny

[Artificer]

From my experience, beeswax melts quicker in Virginia sun.  I would try using brewer's pitch. 
Gus

[Black Hand]

I have used beewax on all the leather canteens I have made.  While never having worked with Brewers Pitch, it seems as if it would be less flexible and leave a pitchy taste to the water when it is warm outside.

I've never had problems with the wax melting even in 80-90F temps.  But then again, the melting temp of Beeswax is ~180-200F....