Fire lighting part 2 – using the bow and drill method:

So, imagine you really need a fire. You’ve found some relatively dry and sheltered spot, protection from the elements but, your one and only set of clothing is wet and therefore conducting the creeping cold through to your already shivering body at a much faster rate than it otherwise would. You have plenty of water for a brew (it’s been raining cats and dogs for an eternity) and a few soggy hot chocolate sachets but you know that drinking the freezing rain water, chocolaty or not would potentially lower your core temperature putting you at further risk from hypothermia. You also know that any surrounding vegetation which could otherwise provide some insulation from the cold earth, will be sodden and with night fast approaching and temperatures due to plummet your only real chance of making it through to see another morning is in getting that campfire going. You’ve collected plenty of dry standing dead wood from the surrounding woodlands and have even got a small but sturdy knife blade on your emergency multi tool to shave away the damp outer bark and split the larger sections exposing the dry material inside. An empty critters nest of shredded honey suckle bark and thistle down, hidden away inside the hollow buttress of an old tree was a lucky find, very slightly damp but nonetheless perfect tinder. Only problem is you’ve got no matches. Well, you have got matches but every single one is damp enough for the heads to disintegrate every time you attempt to produce that much needed flame. In the current situation you have two choices…curl up into a shivering miserable ball and count the chilly hours away until morning (if you make it that is) or alternatively start rubbing some of those dry sticks together!

Crazy though it sounds to those of us who live in a modern age of disposable lighters and self-igniting gas stoves, rubbing sticks together does actually work. You just need to know which sticks, how to prepare them, exactly how to rub them and for how long. The bow and drill method has been used in many environments for tens of thousands of years. As with other methods of lighting fire by friction (the hand drill, fire plough and fire saw) the basic principle involves one dry, seasoned wooden component rotating fast or in some other way being worked equally as speedily into another dry, seasoned wooden component. The two surfaces wear each other away creating very hot, blackened wood dust which is purposefully caught in a notch or groove carved into a wooden hearth board. The continual movement of one component working against the other at speed also serves to keep these tiny, hot, wood dust particles at a very high temperature. So much so that eventually they smoulder and begin to ignite. Individually these particles would burn out in the blink of an eye but working together in a cluster, their heat spreads and grows stronger, feeding and fusing the little heap of black powder into a single, glowing coal or ‘ember’. This small glowing ember is placed carefully inside a bundle of dry, fine tinder material (previously mentioned honeysuckle bark critters nest) and gently fed with oxygen by wafting or blowing until the diminutive heat source spreads to the fine tinder surrounding it, creating flame. The flaming tinder is introduced to your previously prepared kindling and bingo! No more hypothermia or cold brews. 

 

 

So although all methods of fire by friction are based on the above principles, the bow and drill method reigns supreme as the most reliable due to the mechanical advantage the bow offers. Preparation time is increased slightly by having to make the bow and bearing block but in doing so you’ll achieve far greater energy output, can get away with slightly less than perfect materials and can easily include other team members to double, or even treble up on the bowing and drilling making success more likely, even in the hands of a less skilled friction fire lighter. You should only need a small sharp blade of some sort to manufacture the individual components. Even a flint flake would do:

 

 

1.       Bow – This can be made from green wood about 2.5cm and as long as the distance between your armpit and your wrist. Straight wood can be used, but a slight bend is preferable. Carve a notch in each end to stop the cord slipping.

 

2.       Cord – You will need about 1m of strong cord. In an emergency, your bootlaces and jacket drawcords are all fair game. Twisted animal hide is a good substitute.

 

3.       Bearing block – Green wood preferably but could also be a stone with a natural hollow, a bone, shell or even a little jam jar. Needs to be a comfortable size to grip with one hand and if made from wood, should have a little socket carved into its underside. Stuff a waxy green leaf, such as holly, into this socket to create a shiny, friction-reduced surface where it connects with the top of the drill.

 

4.       Ember pan – Sliver of wood or a section of bark. Must be slim enough to slide under the hearth board and catch your charred wood dust.

 

5.       Tinder bundle – All buffed up and perfectly prepared, ready to accept a glowing ember.

 

 

Wild Clematis and birch bark mix - the rocket fuel of natural tinders

 

 

6.       Drill – Both drill and hearth board must be made from dry, well-seasoned, standing dead wood, which should be still firm and good to carve, not yet powdery. The softer hardwoods are best, such as lime, sycamore, alder, willow and poplar. Hazel makes an excellent drill in conjunction with these hearth-board woods. Carve the drill into a round cross section with a diameter about as thick as your thumb. It must be about 25cm long with a point on each end. The top should be sharply pointed to create a tiny surface area where it is held by the bearing block, minimizing friction. The bottom of the drill must have a blunt point to ensure that a wide surface area is in contact with the hearth, making as much friction as possible.

  

 

Standing dead wood. Although shown next to an axe, this was snapped into the lengths shown

 

 

7.       Hearth board – Your hearth board should be about 25cm long, 5cm wide and about as thick as your thumb. Carve a little pinpoint depression into one face of the hearth board, roughly central on its width and about a third in from one edge. This is for guiding the blunt point of the drill as you begin to bow. Once made, keep your hearth board, drill and tinder bundle somewhere dry until you need to use them.

 

Spindle carved correctly and hearth board split down to size on one end. Bow, ember pan and seasoned ash bearing block also shown

 

 

 

Using the bow and drill:

First, attach the cord to your bow with a knot that can easily be undone for adjustment. The cord should be slightly loose rather than taut like an archery bow string. You should only just be able to twist the cord one turn around your drill. The easiest way to do this is to lay the drill alongside the cord, rotate it slightly to overlay the cord and then twist it round to bring it vertical to the still-horizontal bow string. This wraps the cord tightly around the drill. Ensure the blunt point faces downwards. If the drill twists in too easily, you may have to re-tie your cord a little tighter.

 

Kneel down on your right knee only, using your left foot to clamp the hearth board (pinpoint depression uppermost) steady on the ground just to the right side of your foot. Locate the blunt point of the drill into this depression, and, holding the bearing block in your left hand, locate the sharper drill point into the socket on the underside of the bearing block, thus clamping the drill in a vertical position. Your bearing-block hand should be held tightly against your left shin to keep everything locked in place, otherwise you’ll expend a lot of energy just trying to keep the whole apparatus steady (this is a difficult position to get into and even harder to explain but luckily there’s an accompanying image below).

 

 

The drill must already be twisted into the bow string, and with a back-and-forth sawing action while bearing down slightly on the block, the drill should spin freely as you bow. This repetitive movement will spin the drill into the hearth board, creating heat through friction. As long as you’re bowing fast and hard enough, the point where drill and hearth meet will start to smoke as both wooden surfaces begin to char and consume one another. But don’t get too excited yet! When the drill has burnt a little charred socket in the hearth board of the same diameter as itself, stop and have a rest.

 

 

You will find that all around the blackened socket burnt wood dust, or ‘char’, has collected. This is the magic dust that eventually becomes an ember, and in order to catch it and keep it hot, a notch must be cut into the hearth board. Using a sharp blade or small saw, cut a triangular section from one side of the hearth board, the apex of which extends into the centre of your burnt socket (indicated by the dotted line on the 'parts of a bow drill' illustration and the image below).

 

Once sufficiently rested, get yourself back into the same awkward position, replace the waxy green leaf in the bearing block (the previous leaf will probably have disintegrated), tighten the bow string (which will probably have stretched a little) and slip the ember pan between hearth and ground right under the notch. Then take a few deep breaths and begin to spin the drill in its socket again by moving the bow back and forth. Pace yourself at this point, conserving your energy. Concentrate on keeping a regular, smooth action with just the right amount of downward pressure: too much and the drill will bind, or stick, in the hearth, causing the cord to slip; too little and your char dust will only be brown in colour and nowhere near hot enough. Keep the bow cord running centrally between top and bottom of the rotating drill, and apply more tension to it, if needed, by pinching the cord tighter against the bow with the fingers of your bowing hand. Use the full length of the bow to give a maximum number of revolutions for your energy output. You should see smoke and black char very soon. (If not, you may need to apply more pressure to the bearing block or pick up the bowing pace.)

 

Spindle rotating, heat building, both wood surfaces consuming one another becoming charred particles gathering in the notch

 

Notch filling with char, plenty of smoke, char starting to spill out around the spindle/socket

Most of the hot, black char should now be collecting on your ember pan inside your notch cut. As the smoke increases and thickens, your notch should completely fill with char. In damp conditions this could take a while, but in good conditions with a perfect technique you should be at this stage after about 30 seconds of quality bowing. Remember that there are 101 reasons why this technique might not have worked. If your ember attempt isn’t immediately successful, work out what needs tweaking and keep at it. You may need to reduce the friction where the drill sits inside the bearing block by sharpening the point and adding another waxy leaf, or the cord may be slipping and need to be re-tightened. However, if thick, acrid smoke is being produced and your ember notch is spilling over with jet-black wood dust, dig in and increase the pace considerably for a sprint finish. Thirty good fast strokes should ensure that your little mound of hot powder grows hot enough to burn all by itself.

 

Top tips...

If you REALLY need this technique to work and there's more than just you in your group then it makes perfect sense to halve the work by 'buddying up' on the bow drill set. Two people or even more can work in unison to produce quicker results. Remember, there’s no ‘I’ in team but there’s plenty in ‘I haven’t got my fire to light’. Don’t try and be a hero, many hands make light work!

'To me..to you' three die hards power away to create an ember

 

Once your notch is full of hot, smoking char, stop bowing and carefully roll the hearth board away to leave your miniature volcano intact. It should continue to smoke if it’s hot enough inside. You may even see a soft red glow from within.

 

Use a small twig to hold the fledgling ember in place as you roll away the hearth

 

 

While protecting the fragile ember from any gusts of wind (and try not to sneeze or cough), gently increase the flow of oxygen by slightly fanning with your hand, and you will see it glow red as it gradually solidifies into a hot little coal.

 

 

Once it’s strong enough, tip it into the middle of your tinder bundle and blow it into glorious flame as previously described.

Now sit back and enjoy the moment. Life will never be the same again!

 

A good ember is introduced to a tinder bundle of honeysuckle bark

 

 

Surround the ember with fuel and blow to increase oxygen flow through the heart of the tinder bundle

 

 

Thick smoke is a sure sign that ignition is only seconds away

 

 

BINGO!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fire lighting - effective techniques for all weathers

Your basic survival kit should be able to provide all the essentials for survival, but what if you don’t have your survival kit with you? The ability to improvise using whatever resources are close to hand is a vital skill that should be practiced and honed whenever you get the chance. In most cases shelter from the elements will be your primary consideration and it makes a lot of sense to initially search for some form of existing or natural shelter in the near vicinity. However, if natural cover isn't available, having a good understanding of the most fundamental shelter building principles , a working knowledge of natural materials and a simple but effective shelter option up your sleeve could save the day. So, even without our basic survival kit, effective protection from the elements can still be achieved and the immediate threat to life dealt with. In many cases, certainly in colder climates our next consideration must be to provide warmth and without specialised gear such as a sleeping bag or cold weather clothing, a warming camp fire may be the only option.

In survival terms a camp fire is so much more than just a provider of warmth. It’s flames and smoke provide an age old signalling device to alert rescuers, water can be made safe to drink by boiling, nuisance animals and insects can be kept at bay, wet clothing can be dried, the toxins in certain plant foods can be destroyed by heat making them safe to eat and food stuffs can be dried and smoked to preserve them. Wooden tools and weapons can be made more durable by baking them hard in the embers, in fact fire itself has even been used as a tool in days gone by, both for hunting by attracting fish to a flaming torch or driving animals from their hiding places and as a method of felling trees, sectioning the trunk and hollowing out the wood to make containers or even dug-out canoes. It’s pretty much wholly responsible for taking us out of the stone-age and onwards towards the manufacture of metal tools, shiny trinkets and the X box. In short, it really is such an essential element of our existence that, quite frankly if you feel that you don’t possess the skills to produce fire with or without modern equipment then you should probably question your current position as a serving member of the human race!

 

Don’t panic though, help is at hand. In this post I’ll cover the basics of preparing and lighting a fire, stripping the skill right back to basics assuming minimal access to modern gear. With this in mind, a keyword to remember above all else is ‘preparation’. If your only available method of ignition is an improvised one (think Tom Hanks in ‘Castaway’) then all attempts to produce flames could end in tears if you haven’t adequately prepared the materials necessary to turn smoke into fire. Throw some less than perfect weather conditions, a sprinkling of thirst and hunger plus a good dollop of tiredness into the mix and despite being supreme ruler of the barbeque at home, failure could well be waiting to pull the rug right out from under you.

Tinder:

 

Without your survival kit to fall back on, your first consideration must always be tinder. The definition of tinder is a material, so fine, dry and combustible that it will ignite from the smallest flame or coolest spark. Chances are, such a material will also be incredibly absorbent to moisture so if relying on locally foraged tinder then unless it’s a bright sunny day it’ll probably be anything from slightly damp to sodden. Collecting tinder early gives you the chance to dry it out by putting a little bit in all of your inside pockets and letting body-heat warm it through. Remember that to be a successful survivor you must be an opportunist and gathering tinder materials when you see them to squirrel away somewhere dry should be pretty high on the priority list. You’ll ideally want a bundle of tinder around the size of a grapefruit. In a typical European temperate environment look out for dead bracken, wild clematis or honeysuckle bark, dead grass, dead pine needles, thistle down and the lord of all tinders, birch bark. Birch trees naturally shed their outer bark in wispy, papery peelings perfect for catching a spark but best of all, this bark contains a natural tar substance that burns with a strong, bright flame.

Wild Clematis vine bark peelings

 

 'Cramp Ball' or 'King Alfred's Cakes' a fungus which grows on dead ash

 

Wild honeysuckle bark. Only remove the dead peelings

 

Thistle down. Perfect for catching a spark and turning it into flame but it must be surrounded by a more substantial, coarse tinder

 

 

Prepare the fire place:

Next, prepare your fireplace. For all it’s many good points, a fire lit in the wrong place can have disastrous consequences so regardless of your situation always be wary of the risk of your fire spreading and becoming out of control. Choose an area well away from combustible materials and clear all plant matter away for at least a metre all around the fireplace, paying close attention to any overhanging foliage. If possible, clear it right back to bare earth but even then be alert to the terrifying possibility that certain soil types will burn and smoulder (peaty soil or soil with shallow, interlocking root systems). Look for a sheltered place out of the wind or create a barrier with local materials. Avoid surrounding the fire with rocks if you can as the moisture inside will expand as they heat up, causing them to crack open with a loud bang at best. At worst, they’ll explode sending red hot shards of rock flying through the air! I’ve experienced this inside a natural shelter and it made me squeal! Good job nobody else was there to witness such a shameful spectacle. Instead, dig a shallow pit about the circumference and depth of an upturned dustbin lid in which to start your fire off. This will provide some shelter from the wind and keep it where you want it as it grows. Line the base of the pit with dry sticks to provide a dry platform for your tinder and allow plenty of air flow underneath. A wind barrier can be made using piles of firewood with the added bonus of allowing the wood a chance to dry out.

A well prepared fire site, instructor ready to attempt ignition

 

Taking no chances! This fireplace in coniferous woodland has been excavated and filled with a clay base to prevent accidental ignition of underground root systems 

 

 

Kindling:

A fire needs three elements to exist and grow – oxygen, heat and fuel. Oxygen is obviously all around us but can be restricted if your fire isn’t constructed so as to allow air flow easily through the fuel wood. It can also be increased if needs be by blowing or fanning when the fire’s struggling to get going. Heat relates to your chosen method of ignition and fuel, in most instances will be wood (but might also be blubber, bones, dung or peat depending on where in the world you happen to be). Fuel wood must be added to the tinder starting with the thinnest, driest stuff first to allow it to grow steadily. This important next stage in your fire’s development goes by the name of ‘kindling’ and can be anything from match stick up to finger in thickness. It should also be bone dry, gathered from dead tree trunks and suspended fallen branches rather than from the damp forest floor. In wet weather, strip the soggy bark away or better still, split down larger sections of dead, dry wood into thin splints. This is a highly underrated fire lighting technique that is well worth the investment in time and energy. In fact, in cold wet climates you’ll struggle to achieve a fire without doing this. Even when all the tinder and kindling in the wood is soaking wet, splitting open larger section dead wood will provide both. By using a lump of heavy wood as a batten with a knife, axe or even a piece of flint as a splitting wedge, even quite sizeable logs can be halved, quartered and so on with relative ease. By carefully carving the dry wood inside into paper thin shavings you have all the makings of a successful fire even in wet weather. With practice, these ‘feather sticks’ can be carved fine enough to light from a spark!

'Feathering' split dry standing deadwood to provide dry tinder in wet conditions

Building a jenga stack of split seasoned oak - maximum oxygen, fuel and heat for a hot ember bed

 

Fuel wood:

Fuel wood should only be added as the fire becomes established and able to support itself. Start with the thinnest pieces first and increase in size as the fire grows. Flinging a yule log on too early could smother the fire and put you right back to square one. Fuel wood must also be dead and well-seasoned, ranging from finger thick upwards depending on how much of an inferno you’re hoping to achieve. Not all woods burn the same and different species have different qualities. Oak and ash burn well providing excellent cooking embers, hawthorn and beech burn bright and hot, pine will provide plenty of light to work by after dark, fruit woods smell nice and sweet chestnut spits sparks out onto your sleeping bag all night long. Gather a sizeable stack while you still have daylight remaining, more than you think you’ll need. There’s nothing more depressing than trudging round a cold dark forest at 3am looking for firewood in your boots and underpants.

Sawing fuel wood to length and splitting it with an axe will help a fire in it's early stages or cold, damp conditions

 

 

Play it safe when splitting smaller pieces. The technique of bringing a small axe and small section of wood together onto a solid stump minimizes risk of a poorly placed chop 

Once the fire is established, feed long lengths into the centre. Unnecessary processing wastes energy. Note the log wall fire reflector - this throws radiated heat back at the shelter occupant and shields the fire from the wind, conserving fuel 

 

Light it up!

There are many ways to arrange your kindling and fuel wood around your tinder before introducing a method of ignition. A tepee arrangement starting with the thinnest kindling first will catch the flames from your tinder bundle and easily spread upwards and outwards to the thicker fuel wood, helped along by it’s chimney like structure encouraging good ‘draw’. It’s a classic for bad weather and damp materials. Around this build a kind of ‘log cabin’ alternating stack of ever increasingly thicker fuel wood providing plenty of air flow, combined with plenty of fuel and you’ll be guaranteed of a morale boosting blaze extremely quick. Kindling can also be propped up over the tinder using a thicker log, or even held above it using a little mini goalpost made from the largest kindling sticks.

 

 

IGNITION!

 

Providing a blast of oxygen right into the heart of the tinder bundle

Showing the bare minimum amount of ultra dry, match stick thin kindling you should gather

Propping up the kindling to allow the fire to grow upwards without smothering the flame

 

Adding the thinnest fuel wood in an alternating matrix to create a hot 'heart' to the fire. Increasingly thicker fuel wood is added in the same way. Now put the kettle on and never let it go out...

 

 

Whichever arrangement you use remember that fire needs fuel and oxygen as well as heat to grow and it naturally wants to spread upwards. If something isn’t working as you’d hoped then come back to these basic principles and re-arrange your materials accordingly. After sourcing suitable materials, success is really just a matter of trouble shooting.  If you’ve ever had to rely on fire as a tool for survival through necessity or choice then I’m sure you’ll agree that once those flames are dancing, suddenly everything else becomes possible.

But hang on. Before you reach for the marshmallows we need to discuss a method of ignition. Again, assuming no survival kit we’ll take it right back to basics and in the next post I’ll take a detailed look at the bow and drill method of friction fire lighting.

 

 

 

Moccasin boot hybrids - old meets new (traditional buckskin woodland footwear, with a modern twist..)

 

 

This is an article I wrote for a magazine around this time last year, re-posted for those who haven't yet seen it, anyone who has expressed an interest in how they were made having seen them on a course or on my social media images and anyone who likes looking at bluebells!

As an amateur designer and maker of home-made clothing and equipment, my holy grail has always been footwear. To look at a modern pair of training shoes for example, with a view to replicating them befuddles my brain beyond belief. Even a standard pair of leather boots seems to combine an unbelievable number of highly developed skills to stitch, shape and join the leather, rubber and metal in order to make something we all take for granted. 

The humble pair of boots has to fulfil an extraordinary task for which they are not given enough credit. They must be light in weight to ease the load for your weary legs but at the same time, strong enough to support our feeble 21stcentury feet. They must also be flexible to allow the twenty six bones and one hundred or so muscles, ligaments and tendons in each foot and ankle to flex, contract and expand freely. They must have a flexible but hardwearing sole to cope with the incredibly tough and unforgiving modern surfaces we are all expected to walk around on. Not only that but we prefer them to have a certain amount of cushioning and often require some insulation, waterproofing and breathability too. In short, we’re all wearing a pair of little miracles on our feet!

Surely then, to make one’s own footwear for the woods is a skill reserved for only an elite minority, the chosen few, a special kind of craftsman?

“Cobblers!” I exclaimed and set about researching the subject (that joke surely deserves an award of some kind…). I took my research right back to basics, to a time when nobody even knew what a Vibram sole was and tools and materials could be made rather than bought. After all, the sort of footwear I wanted to make would be for using only in the woods. I wanted a degree of protection for walking through spiky, stinging foliage and also from the elements. At the same time I wanted them to be extremely light weight, flexible and noise free underfoot.  When I’m out in the woods on my own I like to pad about as quietly and as stealthily as possible. It’s amazing what you see and hear when you aren’t crashing through the undergrowth in a pair of clumpy boots.

As I read every piece of literature I could find on the subject of traditional footwear I was astounded by the variation between cultures and environments. One quite disappointing truth that cropped up repeatedly was that back in the day, in relatively warm temperate environments most of us didn’t wear boots of any kind for much of the time. Even where some kind of footwear should really have been necessary due to the local flora and fauna, people just went without whenever they could. We were obviously tougher back then (well our feet were anyway) and with traditional materials wearing out pretty quick when worn as foot wear, to go barefoot was probably the preferred option. For someone who can’t walk across a pebbly beach barefoot without yelping and whining, this clearly wasn’t going to be an option.

While reading (well, looking at the pictures…) one type of traditional footwear had caught my eye more than once. The buckskin moccasin was, and still is renowned the world over for quietness, flexibility and just feeling closer to nature. Ellsworth Jaeger in his book ‘Wildwood Wisdom’ tells us that “moccasins are the best natural footwear that has ever been devised. The moccasined foot can feel it’s way along the trail and are light and warm at night. Moccasined feet are like the pads of animals”.  Jim Riggs author of the Blue Mountain Buckskin manual says quite simply “buckskin moccasins give you magic feet!” and who are we to argue with that.

Another advantage of this wonder footwear is that the fabric used to make traditional moccasins is born of the land itself. Buckskin is a material manufactured from animal hides (mainly deer species) thereby making good use of a natural resource and by-product of hunting for meat. To make buckskin is a fairly lengthy process, a subject in it’s own right. In a nutshell, the hide must first be scraped to remove any flesh, soaked in a lye solution of wood ash and water for several days then scraped to remove the top layer of skin along with the hair or fur. After a good rinsing the hide is scraped again to remove any membrane still clinging onto the flesh side then a solution of brains and warm water is massaged well into the fibres (whole eggs or pure soap and neat’s foot oil will also do the job). This oily solution is left to penetrate the hide for as long as possible, usually overnight, then firmly wrung out by twisting the hide around a wooden pole until it feels clammy rather than wet. The skin is then manipulated and stretched until dry, softened further by working the fibres over a slightly abrasive surface. Finally the now soft buckskin is force smoked over a punky fire to help preserve and keep it soft as well as colour it to the desired shade from a light tan to a rich brown. This fantastic fabric is virtually windproof and showerproof, retains some warmth when wet, is quiet in use, comfortable to wear, tough (quite literally as old boots) and very easy to make into clothing and equipment.

There were many designs of moccasin depending on where in the world the wearer lived. Some had hard soles made from thick rawhide to give a degree of protection from thorns and others kept the hair on for insulation. For the most part a soft sole seemed to be common place. As I had no desire to stay true to any particular tribal group or historical period I was happy to ‘mix and match’ where possible, even incorporating some modern ideas to hopefully tailor an existing design to my own British woodland environment. My first modern improvement would be a sewn in tongue to prevent grit and other debris finding it’s way inside through the laces. Also, the sole needed some attention for several reasons. Firstly, the sole of a traditional moccasin has a very limited lifespan, even when used only in the woods. Secondly, buckskin is also not really designed to be waterproofed (it’s just too breathable and flexible) and thirdly, in damp conditions buckskin can feel ‘slimy’ therefore making the soles incredibly slick and likely to put you on your backside without warning. My proposed solution was to add a thin, grippy rubber sole somehow. Lastly, many traditional designs had a very simple lacing system, basically a length of buckskin thonging to wrap around the lower leg several times and tie off. I wanted proper parachute cord laces and lacing tabs to pull the moccasins in tight and give me a better fit. With all this in mind I took some inspiration from Ellsworth Jaeger’s book which has several excellent moccasin designs and plenty of moccasin related information. The illustrations are quite cartoony and there is one character who frequently pops up in full buckskin garb, wearing a natty little pair of pucker toe moccasin/boot hybrids. His little cartoony feet became the inspiration behind my new footwear.

 

Scissors, saddlers needles, artificial sinew, awl, blunt pincers and rubber thimbles are all you need

 

The wonder fabric – buckskin

 

An animal hide, being a natural product has an inconsistent thickness. Some areas need to be stronger such as the area around the neck, the haunches and along the ridge of the back. The side flanks and underbelly are slightly thinner and therefore softer. These different qualities can be used to our advantage and incorporated into a clothing design. For example, moccasin soles need to be strong and thick but the uppers and tongue are better made from the thinner areas. When marking out a pattern it’s good to arrange the different pieces with all of this in mind. Also, some hides are generally thicker than others. The difference in thickness between a winter hide and a summer hide is notable but there is also a thickness variation between male and female and even different deer species. Roe deer will give the crafts person a thin and small hide, Muntjac is smaller still but quite thick, Red deer although much larger has quite an obvious thickness variation between the neck and flank area and also has a more open fibre structure making it wear quicker. Across the pond, Moose is the preferred choice of hide for making buckskin moccasins but we don’t have many in Wiltshire! I have found that winter Fallow deer hide will give a good thickness combined with a pretty good size, certainly suitable enough for making a pair of moccasin boots.

 

A well smoked buckskin showing the typical variation in thickness and strength

I based the bare bones of my design around the ‘pucker toe’ moccasin worn by the woodland tribes of North America. There are other, simpler designs that I had made before such as the side fold ‘mitten’ moccasin but I liked the way the puckering lifted up any stitching to the top of the foot, well away from ground level where it might leak or wear more quickly. I had also decided to use a liquid rubber mixed with shredded sticky rubber granules to paint a hard wearing, grippy sole onto the moccasins and I quite liked the idea of being able to extend this waterproof surface up the sides slightly and seal the stitching on the heel tab. Although in theory, buckskin costs nothing in monetary terms, it is priceless to the person who has just made it so not wanting to end up with a ruined buckskin, my initial attempt was to be made using calico stitched together with wool and a darning needle. Using this method, I could get the fit just right with the added advantage of being able to take the prototype moccasin apart and use it as a working pattern. After playing around with the puckering method and adding uppers and a sewn in ‘bellows’ tongue I felt confident enough to mark out my first moccasin on a nice, thick fallow buckskin and cut out the five pieces that would form it’s basic structure.





Pucker toe moccasin pieces showing foot placement. A-foot section. B – vamp tongue. C – upper. D – bellows tongue wings
 

 

It probably comes as no surprise to learn that there are also many methods of stitching buckskin. For rough and ready garments, an oversized running stitch or whip stitch using buckskin thonging is quick and effective. The fibres in buckskin ‘knit’ together quite nicely when joined in this way, with no need for hems. As the material is so thick, each stitch hole must first be made using a sharp awl. This isn’t as time consuming as it sounds once you get in a rhythm. The buckskin thonging even becomes it’s own needle by twisting one end into a point with licked fingers. Being a show off I decided to keep my stitching small and neat for maximum weatherproofing opting for sinew as a thread and a modern size 18 saddlers needle rather than a traditional bone or antler version. Highly weatherproof skin garments that were traditionally sewn using sinew are truly amazing. Sinew, again being a natural product, has it’s limitations. Although incredibly strong for it’s size, sinew only comes in short lengths so must be joined or twisted into thin cordage. Luckily there is a modern alternative in the form of synthetic sinew which comes on a huge roll. Hurrah!

 

Running stitch using buckskin thonging

 

Whip stitch using buckskin thonging

 

Punching holes through two thicknesses of buckskin using an awl, for fine stitching using artificial sinew

 

 

Using a pair of blunt pincers to help push and pull the needle through

My attempts at neat puckering weren’t quite as good as planned. It’s a difficult technique to master as you can see from the images, especially with thick buckskin. Each stich on the tongue vamp (B) corresponds with a wider spaced partner on the front foot section (A). As the stitching is pulled tight, the foot section ’puckers’ up to make the toe box. At this stage the moccasins were beginning to take shape but also looking worringly like a pair of granny slippers! The vamp, now stitched in place extends to form the tongue and soft, thin ‘wings’ (D) were sewn onto the sides of this for joining to the upper (C) later, forming a ‘bellows’ tongue. It’s worth pointing out here that due to the thickness of the fallow hide, I had soaked the buckskin to make it easier to crimp and sew the puckering. Even with pre-made awl holes, the needle proved difficult to push through two thicknesses of hide so a pair of blunt pincers proved invaluable.

 

Pucker toe stitching technique

 

 

Toe section finished and 'puckered up'

  While the foot section was still damp I pushed my foot inside to get a good fit before marking the correct position of the heel tab and stitching it together. Buckskin will stretch when damp so make your moccasins slightly small while the individual pieces are still dry. Once the moccasins are completely stitched soak them in water for a short while, plunge your feet within, lace them up and wear them until they dry again. In theory, they will stretch and mould to your exact foot shape!

 

Heel tab completed and uppers stitched into position

 

Upper added with bellows tongue and lace tabs

With the heel tab stitched in position the upper was then joined to the foot section with an overlapping seam and running stitch. Lastly, the tongue wings were stitched to the upper incorporating looped tabs for threading the parachute cord laces through. Both moccasins were soaked, stretched and worn until dry as previously mentioned. Magic feet here we come!

 

After a couple of experiments with ‘shoe goo’ and rubber flakes painted onto buckskin scraps, I felt confident enough to begin waving the paintbrush around threateningly near my precious new footwear. To help the rubber goo adhere to the buckskin surface I ‘roughed’ up the soles with coarse sandpaper and slapped the mixture on while it was still malleable and tacky. The goo starts to solidify quickly so the rubber flakes were patted into the pungent coating as soon as it was in position immediately giving a matt, textured finish. Warning – liquid rubber has pretty toxic fumes. Don’t do this with the shed windows shut or you’ll start to see pixies dancing around the room, possibly being encouraged by a singing unicorn wearing a fez!

 

Rubber paint, rubber flakes and roughened sole

Applying liquid rubber and rubber flakes in the workshop

 

 

The finished rubber sole - grippy and waterproof

 

 Having worn my woodland moccasin/boot hybrids several times in the last twelve months I must say that they certainly bring you closer to nature. The detail of the woodland floor can be felt with every step! The small packable size makes them perfect as back up footwear or for silently padding around camp. I’ve been using a selection of home-made buckskin equipment for several years now, knife sheaths, pouches and various bags and looking down at my moccasined feet I’m starting to think the fashion might be spreading. Will I get away with the trousers too? I think I just might…

 

Completed moccasin/boot hybrids airing in the wood smoke of a campfire