Tanning for beginners

[Yooper Bowyer]

Honestly, I'm an artisan first, archer second, and hunter last.  I love working with natural materials because they are often free, look great, and work as well as anything else.  I have made a Plains style and a few back quivers, and I can see how back quivers are best for target shooting and plains quivers are best for hunting.  I need to tweak my pattern for the plains style, it still feels a little awkward.

I've only used cow hide so far, but I'd like to see if stiff deer hide is comparable.

[gutpile]

there is the problem of your plains style quiver.. you want soft pliable material ,not cowhide leather.. it won't work properly or should I say as it should in the plains style... the stiffer cowhide is more adaptable to the back style quiver... gut

[Outbackbob48]

tradcraftsman,  Gutpile pretty much sums up what I was trying to say. Brains are lets just say Traditional but lots of stuff works and each has its pro and cons. Deer hide  with hair one is nice to look at but not very durable as far as wear. Deer hair is hollow and pretty brittle, I also think that hair on tanning is harder to make soft because of only one side penetration, one of the reasons grain removing is so talked about. When I do a hide and have poor grain removeing I usually have stiff spots on my hides.  A good in my  opinion quiver should be very soft so that when you bend over the leather folds and grips arrows in stead of letting them slide out of a stiff tube. Good Luck with your project and lets see some pics of your finshed materials, Remember  try and keep it fun . Bob