Shooting pouch made out of boot tops?

[stuart cee dub]

A question for the shooting pouch makers here.
I was just about to throw away a pair of worn out pull on boots then recalled I had read an article about making a shooting pouch out of the tops of boots.
The tops at least are in good shape ,
Was this done? and if so when and where?
Thanks for any insights you can offer
Stuart   

[RobertS]

I've been wondering the same thing!  Thanks for asking, hope someone will speak up soon.

[Beaverman]

There was an article about 3 years ago in either Muzzleblast or Muzzleloader, can't remember which, got half timers, about this very topic, problem being .... your going to egt a real small pouch out of 2 boot tops!

[Randy Hedden]

Tim Albert, a member of this board, wrote an article for Muzzleloader magazine about making a pouch from a boot top.  However, I believe it was more recent then then 2 or 3 years ago.

Randy Hedden

[David Rase]

Tim's article, "Making the Traditional Tennessee Boot Pouch" was in the Sept/Oct 2007 issue of Muzzleloader Magazine.
DMR

[Dphariss]

I read that Harvey Logan (Kid Curry) the real killer of the Wild Bunch, used to carry 30-30 ammon in a cutoff boot top pouch hung on his saddle horn.

Americans have always been great recyclers.  But would the typical boot top of a given period be large enough to make a practical pouch would be my question.

Dan

[T.C.Albert]

Dan, yes, they were often small, but some at least felt comfortable with them...I owned a nice small bag that definately appeared to have been made from a portion of aboot top, and have seen several others in various collections as well...

Since you have the boots handy, why not make the bag and give it a try in the field to see what you think? I personall think they go very well with later southern mountain rifles and poor boys...
TCA     

[BrownBear]

I haven't found the right boot yet, but I will speak up in favor of small pouches!  It really helps you cut what you carry back to essentials for day hunts. And after you've carried a small bag for a single day, you'll start to wonder why you ever carried anything larger.

[Beaverman]

I haven't found the right boot yet, but I will speak up in favor of small pouches!  It really helps you cut what you carry back to essentials for day hunts. And after you've carried a small bag for a single day, you'll start to wonder why you ever carried anything larger.

Amen to that, when I have a customer that wants me to make them a suitcase to shoot out of, I try as hard as I can to lead them down the path of practical reasoning and to really take a hard look at what they NEED to shoot their rifle gun (not what they think they have to carry in their portable roll away), most times it works, sometimes though, ya just got to build the suitcase!

[BrownBear]

One critical dimension for happiness with small bags (and the reason I'm still searching for the right boot) is opening size, probably expressed as width.  I've got really wide hands, and bags are no fun if you can't get your fist out of them when you reach in and grab something. 

[Lloyd]

The shooting pouch in the attached photo is one that I made out of an old pair of RedWing work boots. 

I was able to retrieve enough leather out of the tops and front of the foot to make the body of the bag and the flap is the back of the top.

I removed all of the stitching from the old boot, wet and pressed the leather flat until it was dry then I started laying out the pieces to get the best pouch that I could.

Dave Peelgren of Spokane, WA was my inspriation for making this pouch as he made one and was giving a class at the Washington Historical Gunmakers Guild meeting.


Lloyd Moler
Priest River, Idaho

[Ken G]

Lloyd,
Thanks for posting the picture of the gun and boot pouch.  Recon you could post some pics of that most interesting rifle in a different thread in the contemporary or gun building  section?  I don't want to highjack this thread but would like to know more about the rifle.  
Thanks,
Ken

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Lloyd, That is one nice looking kit!!  Very nice work on all!!  Thanks for showing the pictures and Welcome to ALR!!

[mill creek trading]

Lioyd  I also would like to see more pictures of the gun, but I would also like to have the dimensions of the bag and maybe a few more pictures.  Dennis

[Nate McKenzie]

Lloyd. Love the gun! yes' more pictures. What did you use for the neat folksy artwork.

[Jefferson58]

Stuart:

Following is a photo of an original Virginia pouch I own that was made from a boot. If you look closely at the lower corners, you can see where the pulls were sewed on. It is about 6.5" wide by 6" deep. There is a full inside divider. The strap is a piece of old harness and is laced together at the top. The pouch was laced together with thin strips of leather. I have made two copies of it and they were both great, useful pouches.

I have also examined and photographed another original Virginia pouch from Staunton that was made from a boot. The "pulls" were evident on it as well. A photo is attached. You can see the edges of the pulls on the sides.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

[Lloyd]

guys,
I will take some photo's of the pouch with a ruler next to it and post them here.

I think I should post the rifle info over in a different part of the board....

Will try to get some of it done tomorrow....

Thanks for all the good words.

Lloyd

[Lloyd]

Here are pictures of the pouch that I made out of the Redwing boot.
I put a 13 inch ruler in the photo's so you can estimate the size.

Front flap.  You can see the stitching lines of the heel of the boot that I made the front flap from.  The edging and hinge are made of buckskin.


The interior of the pouch, lined with hemp fabric and with ball bag made in...


The backside of the pouch.


Hope this answers your questions
Thanks
Lloyd

[stuart cee dub]

Thanks Lloyd for the pictures I see now how you did it.
I did find the article David mentioned and concluded that the pouch construction shown would be too small . The boots in the article  and the boots  I have to work with are in fact the same style of redwing pull-on work boots. Must be popular among the muzzleloading crowd.
If I'm reading what you did correctly Lloyd you used both boots to make one pouch whereas the article in Muzzleloader magazine used a single boot to make a smaller pouch. I like your solution and am going to study it further before cutting up my boots .Thank you very much showing us your fine work .
 
I like your smaller ball/patch pouch inside  and the scoop for access. The nice thing about boot leather  is that they have built- in character without too much distress and are period correct the sense in that they reuse usable materials .
  
 Thanks Jeff for the fine pictures from your collection of historic examples, the proportions look good .Looks like those were from tall boots .Glad to know it was in fact done .

[Lloyd]

As I said before, the credit for most of the design goes to Dave Peelgren, to include the ball bag...

Yes, I used two boots to get the one pouch... 

[RobertS]

Great discussion, and Stuart Cee, please let us know how it turns out.  I have a few old Justins I have been saving with the same thing in mind.