Buckskin Tanner

First edition published under title, Deerskins into buckskins: how to tan with natural materials; a field guide for hunters and gatherers, c1997.

A detailed step-by-step guide to tanning, from locating hides and skinning to using the finished product.

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Buckskin Tanner is about an ancient craft that provided clothing, shelter, and many utilitarian items in the lives of Native Americans, hunters, trappers, pioneers and others who once lived close to nature. An animal taken for food also provided these things. "How I tan today is based on what I learned from historical accounts, trial and error, Indians, other buckskinners like myself, and even the tanning industry. It's an artful craft worth mastering and passing on to posterity."

This is the book that is mentioned on the NEW "grandpappy.org" hard times survival website. This book contains complete and detailed instructions on how to skin and butcher a wild animal. It also describes the process of creating delicious smoked meat that has a normal shelf life of approximately one year. The meat can be smoked over a normal fire but instructions and illustrations are also included on how to build a simple efficient smokehouse. You will then be guided through the entire hide tanning process, step by step. Next you will be shown how to take specific measurements at exact locations on the human body so you can create your own clothing patterns at home. You will then be shown how to combine your own homemade clothing patterns with your own tanned animal hides so that you can make your own high quality underwear, shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, jackets, ponchos, caps, and moccasins. This book also contains instructions on how to make ropes, whips, slings, and arrows. Also included are detailed instructions on how to make parchment, homemade ink, and a feather pen. In summary, this book will show you how to use almost every part of a wild game animal so that nothing of any real practical value is wasted. If you are a hunter and you do not currently save and process the hides of the wild game animals that your family eats, then this book will clearly explain how to accomplish this task so that you can begin to strategically use a part of the animals that you have been throwing away. If you are currently experiencing hard times and you are eating a lot of wild game meat, then this book will explain how to convert the hides of those animals into soft smooth buckskins that can be used to make high quality clothing for your family that will last for many, many years. In my opinion, every one of the practical skills that are described in this book could be of timeless value to you and to your descendants.

How to tan with natural materials.

Introduces the tools, equipment, and techniques used in tanning hides and tells how to make useful objects out of leather.