Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: Dane on May 07, 2010, 07:12:20 am
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Hi all. Here is my first pair of moccasins. I was lent a great video, Constucting Woodland Moccasins with Michael Galban. and highly recommend this video. He makes it very easy to follow along. He gives instruction for the lower center seam style and this high top style.
I used cowhide instead of buckskin for this pair, just in case I blew it, and sewed it with artificial sinew and a glover's needle. It took perhaps 3 hours to make. It was a suprisingly easy project.
They seem very comfortable, but i have to still tromp around in the woods to properly test them.
Thanks for looking,
Dane
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Very nice....do they have the reinforced soles or the style where they packed grasses into them? They look like most things woodland, ie: practical.
Rich
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Nice, Dane. Those look like mine.
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Thanks, Rich and Mullet.
No reenforced soles. I wonder what kind of life expectancy these things have? I was just reading about the Lewis and Clark expedition. They made mostly eastern style mocs, and generally wore them out quickly, sometimes a pair a day. They are easy to make, so perhaps they aren't intended to last for a long time?
Dane
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well it looks interesting but they don't seem practical at all. Considering the life expectancy, my $30 Wal-Mart boots with Nitto 555RII rubber nailed to the soles are fancy.
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So, what is the life expectancy in a woodland setting? I should have ammended my comments to point out that the L&C guys were using woodland mocs in environments they were not really designed for.
And in any case, this kind of footgear, unlike your cheap Chinese boots, will not end up in a landfill for 50,000 years.
Dane
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That seemed to be a bit of a defensive response...and my earlier post seems to be bit of an offensive post. I assure you it wasn't meant as such and I should have worked to word it properly...or not have posted. I do apologize. The boots do look interesting and I like anything crafty and natural...I just have always had questions about the practicality of moccasins in these modern times.
I do, however, assure you that no part of my boots will be in a landfill for any period of time nearly as long as 60% of the car you drive or 95% of the computer you're posting from...except for my soles. My soles will be around as long as your tires and computer parts. I have allergies to certain synthetics...doesn't matter where they're made. My boots are 100% leather and cotton...except the Nitto 555RII part :)
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I like them. Let us know what they are like out and about if you do go out in them??
Thanks for your time.
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why does something as simple as a pair of moccasins seem to cause friction in the "brotherhood of bowmen, hunters, and woodsmen ?
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Howdy, I purchased a pair similar to these from a Hudson Bay trading outlet back in 1972. They're made out of smoked moose braintan. When I bought them I was also sold a pair of thick felt insoles. The outlet manager said the native americans he purchased from, routinely used similar moccasins and snowshoes to run their traplines in the winter. I never needed snowshoes to run my trap lines , (Hip waders were more the order of the day.) But I have used them for slippers on cold winter days and occasionally in the evenings on camping trips, nearly 30 years. Not exactly heavy use but definitely long lived!!!
I hope your new moccasins give you at least half the pleasure I've gotten from mine.
Ron
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Thanks Mackenzie. Guess we were both having a bad day? Your comments really didnt bother me much, actually, and the written word sometimes can give the wrong impression, something we can all be wary of.
There was this show a while back on History Channel about what happens if humans vanish overnight. Cars, books, buildings, bridges, all of it will pretty much vanish, and there will be little trace of us within a thousand years.
In a way, it is too bad more inorganic stuff was used by the ancients, so we would have a better archeology record of our ancestors.
Dane
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That is a long time, M-P. Wearing them will tell me what I need to know regarding wear and tear. Thanks for the posting.
Dane
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Dane;
Here is a pair of smoked, braintanned moose Mocassins I bought in Manitoba last year. The other pair I made about 10 years ago. I copied a Seminole pattern and used deer hide with the hair on. I've hunted in and wore them quite a bit in ten years, look at the sole. In the winter I put a sheep fur liner made by Dr. Scholl's in them.
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Now I know what to make with the Hair On Hide I have in the Garage...too soft for Quivers...would make a good pair of Moc's...
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Mullet, those are excellent looking footgear. Thanks for showing them. The low fur out mocs are fantastic. Sometime this summer, I'm getting some brain tan buckskin, and will make some more mocs. Nothing else is like the real stuff.
Dane
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cool,let us know how they work out.
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Very nice. I am new here and running through old posts and came across this. Mike G's vid is great stuff. I wrote an article awhile back on winter footwear (historically in the Great Lakes) for On The Trail Magazine. Here is a copy of the article for those interested... http://frenchinwisconsin.yolasite.com/resources/articlefootwear.pdf
I also did a how to on centerseams sewn with thong instead of thread/sinew here... http://frenchinwisconsin.yolasite.com/my-blog/makazinan-moccasins
Isaac
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Small world Isaac. I am friends with D. Dykema. We first met you and One Moc in Tnn., then on Howard's Creek with Gerry Barker. You did the best Native Indian. I gave you a blue/white wampum bracelet. Very cool seeing you here.
Read Issac's articles, he does a great job and is very knowledgeable about the Native American ways.
Lyman
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Here's a pair of fair weather type that i made last year from some brain tan deer that I did last year also, haven't wore these alot but feel pretty thin. Need to tuffin up my feet ;D ;D Bob
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those are all nice shoes, also alot af native people went barefoot in summer months and shoes were ment to keep out frostbite,snakebite, ect. there feet were as hard as rock. i have a hawian freind that never wore shoes as a child and could walk through landfills(his words) without a scratch. i have a pair made in canada that i can go just about anywhere in and the are real comfy :) crepe sole . keep on makin'em.
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I have worn center seam woodland mocs a lot when portraying an eastern longhunter. I have worn the mocs barefooted, with thick wool socks and made a second moc liner from blanket wool. Depending on my feet condition at the time and the general terrain I have cut a "Dr. Shoals" insert from what is called oil tanned or belt tanned weight leather. These are then slid into the moc as a buffer.
I never did it, but wanted to make an non-tanned deer hide, hair on (to the inside) winter moc. You could then wear your summer weight moc as a sock and slide it into the deer hair moc. It would be for very cold weather.
I will probably miss quote this, but "moccasins are just a decent way of going barefoot". Do not "EVER" think you can add oil, bear grease, lard or silicone (etc)and make a moccasin waterproof. You may get a commercially tanned leather to be water resistant for a few minutes. Also if you do not put any kind of "waterproof treatment" on the moc it will dry much faster.
Last, it is my thought that those who wore mocs as a way of life had soles like leather. The moc was to prevent briers and sticky things from getting between the toes as you walked or ran through the brush and brambles.
Here is a link to the eastern center seam moc...http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/moccasin/mocinstr.html
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Coming to this site a bit late, but nice Mocs. Eddie beat me to it, I was going to suggest you cut some sheep skin for soles, and even make a bootie to keep them piggies warm. When I was a kid, I hardly ever wore shoes, and I could run full out down our shell rock road, and not have the least problem. Even after the grader went down it. Not now! :o I watched a documentary about a guy who visited some south sea islands, and when a boat or supply boat would show up, the natives would all run out to greet it. The water was fairly shallow, and they ran out on the reef! The guy doing the video, showed the reef, and then his tennis shoe soles, that were cut to shreds, after ferrying supplies on to shore.
Wayne
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Nice work. Boy 3 hours, you work fast. Mine took me a few days and I still have the other one to make. I finished one and then didn't ever get to the other one. Thinking of getting it done and hunting with them this fall. In terms of purpose I think that have a place for stalking/ground hunting. We don't have slippery mountain slopes in MN.
Mine were from elk and I used buckskin for the wraps. Used artificial sinew for the thread as well. I have three layers in the bottom section but you can still feel the ground pretty well.
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/bamboo_archer/moc.jpg)
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Very nice, makes me want to have a pair for hunting! They would make it easy to sneak through the bush when you can feel every twig below your foot.
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Dane,great looking mocs. I wear them out and about the woods at home, even wore em for a 3D shoot once. Most comfy footwear I've worn in the woods, I was realy suprised and impressed the first time I wore them . The only drawback I find with them is they are slippery on wet leaves or grass. I wear them outside in the snow when I take the dog out if I'm feelintg too lazy to put on boots. If you never wore a pair in winter let me tell you those things can be a death trap. The heat from your foot turns the packed snow into ice and can be as slippery as hell.