Sun tanning a pouch or effects of the sun on your pouch- A 30 DAY UPDATE

[James Rogers]

Thanks Gus,

I have often heard of cartridge pistol belts and holsters referred to as rigs and was wondering if that is how the term migrated to pouch and horn recently.

[Habu]

I don't recall seeing the pouch/horn combination referred to as a "rig" in any of the 19th century literature, or what little of the 18th century literature I've read.  I'm inclined to think of it as a modern use of the term. 

As for oiling and suntanning bags, my impression has been that sunlight darkens the bag a bit even after dying and oiling.  If you oil a piece of scrap and let it sit in the sun for a few weeks, it gets fairly dark--darker than un-oiled scrap set in the sun. 

[Cory Joe Stewart]

When I refer to a setup as a rig I am not invoking any historic term to my knowledge.  As for where I am from, and the folks that I am around we refer to all the stuff we carry to go shoot as "my rig."  Instead of saying I am going to go get my pouch, horn, primer, knife, patch material etc.  We just say rig. 

Coryjoe

[James Rogers]

Thanks Coryjoe,

Whether it be historical or modern, terminology and phraseology fascinates me. Especially interesting to me are the geographic distinctions.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Thanks Coryjoe,

Whether it be historical or modern, terminology and phraseology fascinates me. Especially interesting to me are the geographic distinctions.

I completely agree.  I do have another variation.  On one occasion I told a buddy of my to walk to the cabin and get the bag with all my $&%*# in it.

Coryjoe

[James Rogers]

That one seems to be universal in its use.

[Chuck Burrows]

Nicely done Cory and one of the advantages of living here in SW Colo at 7,000' ASL is the sun is VERY intense and darkens leather quite quickly...also olive oil will darken via oxidation faster than any other oil I've used on leather in the last 51 years of crafting with it - while the cold pressed Extra Virgin olive oil is the most expensive it's still the best to use since no high heat was used in the manufacturing process - the high heat can cause the oil to go rancid much, much faster then the cold pressed

some notes:
1) Braintan is technically a misnomer since it is the aldehydes/tannins in the smoke that actually tans the hide and thus will help keep it pliable after wetting (smoking alone doesn't soften the leather though - that's where all that hard work putting back oils into the leather does). Basically smoking does a similar process as bark tanning in that it "tans" the hide via the introduction of tannins/aldehydes.
2) The addition of brains or other water soluble oils such as eggs to the leather in brain tanning is doing nothing more than adding back oils to the leather for softening, the same way oils/fats are added back to bark tanned leather to soften it. As noted with braintan that has not been well smoked it will revert back to rawhide. In the old days of hide lodges here in the west, the heavily smoked tops were valued for moccasins and leggings.
3) While the common methods of brain tanning, either wet scrape or dry scrape, smoke the hides after braining there are certain tribes that use a pre-smoke method i.e. tanning the leather first then softening as is done with bark tan
4) As for smoking bark tan it will darken it - color will depend on type of wood used  the same and the amount of time smoked the same way it does for brain tan

[Chuck Burrows]

here's the etymology for rig

rig (v.) late 15c., originally nautical, "to fit with sails," probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Dan., Norw. rigge "to equip," Swed. rigga "to rig"), though these may be from English. Slang meaning "to pre-arrange or tamper with results" is attested from 1938.

Related: Rigged; rigging.rig (n.) "distinctive arrangement of sails, masts, etc. on a ship," 1822, from rig (v.); extended to horse vehicles (1831), which led to sense of "truck, bus, etc." (1851).

The phrase "jury rigged" has been in use since at least 1788 per the Oxford English Dictionary

From Webster's 1828 dictionary
RIG, v.t.
1. to dress; to put on; when applied to persons, not elegant, but rather a ludicrous word, to express the putting on of a gay, flaunting or unusual dress.
Jack was rigged out in his gold and silver lace, with a feather in his cap.
2. To furnish with apparatus or gear; to fit with tackling.
3. To rig a ship, in seamen''s language, is to fit the shrouds, stays, braces, &c. to their respective masts and yards.
RIG, n. [See the Verb.]
1. Dress; also, bluster.
2. A romp; a wanton; a strumpet.
To run the rig, to play a wanton trick.
To run the rig upon, to practice a sportive trick on.

Webster's 1913
Rig, n.
1. (Naut.) The peculiar fitting in shape, number, and arrangement of sails and masts, by which different types of vessels are distinguished; as, schooner rig, ship rig, etc. See Illustration in Appendix.
2. Dress; esp., odd or fanciful clothing. [Colloq.]

Rig, v. t. To make free with; hence, to steal; to pilfer. [Obs. or Prov.] Tusser. To rig the market (Stock Exchange), to raise or lower market prices, as by some fraud or trick. [Cant]

It was also applied to horse gear and gun leather by the mid-late 1800's when it shows up in the writings of the time.

[G. Elsenbeck]

Just an update from my original post to see if there was any significant color change since August 7th.  Here's the picture again from the original post:



Trying to keep about the same time of day and amount of sunlight that was available in August here's how the pouch looks this morning:



After looking at both pictures plus looking at the pouch in my hands the pictures tended to make the color look too light vs. in person, but that would be like anything else.  The color did increase in intensity, but only a bit as I did add some extra virgin olive oil about 2 weeks ago and as sun was available I would estimate the pouch was given an additional 24 hours exposure to full sun.   
I compared today's color to a Safari gun holster I've had over 30 years and it's only slightly less in color than that so I was pleased with this experiment and the color.   

This picture with the flap open will give you an idea of the contrast between the areas exposed and not. 
Gary

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

better be careful of skin cancer there.!

[G. Elsenbeck]

better be careful of skin cancer there.!

 

[sweed]

Please describe how you burnish leather?

Jerry
I used to build Saddles and harness. I'm not sure exactly what these folks mean when they refer to burnishing, but here is M2CW. Old time saddle makers would take an entire hide and soak it over night. Then drain and cover with something to retain moisture. (We put it in a plastic trash bag now). After 24 to 48 hours the hide was laid out flat on a large solid table, or hard floor. A bat was made having about 5lb of lead shot in a hide bag at the end of a 36"+/- handle, and the now damp, supple hide was given a real whippin. This compressed the leather, and stiffened it somewhat. Then it was allowed to dry out of the sun(slowly). This produced the hard leather you find on o l d saddles. It will wear forever with minimal care. This is also why you see many pistol holsters with "basket weave tooling". It hardens the leather and makes it hold its shape. 
Nowdays, this could be accomplished with a hard rubber roller as used in kitchen cabinet laminate counter top installation, or just a smooth shaped stick of hardwood. Any marks or indentations made here will stay! Just remember you must get the moister uniformly distributed thru the hide then get the moister out of the hide uniformly (overnight in the trash bag). Then the hide is ready to be shaped any way you desire. When it dries it will hold it shape.