Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

3IOCAMPING AND WOODCRAFTas by the Indians, for moccasins, leggings, huntingshirts, gun covers and numerous other purposes. Itis warmer than cloth, pliable as kid, noiseless againstbushes, proof against thorns, collects no burs, wearslike iron and its soft neutral color renders theweaier inconspicuous amid any surroundings. Whenof good quality it can be washed like a piece ofcloth.Its only fault is that It Is very unpleasant towear in wet weather; but against this is the considerationthat buckskin can be prepared in the wilderness,with no materials save those furnished on thespot by the forest, the stream, and the animal itself.Not even salt is used in its manufacture.Neither tannin, nor any substitute for it, has toucheda piece of buckskin; its fibers have been loosenedand rendered permanently soft and flexible, itspores have been closed up, but there has been littleor no chemical change from the raw state of theskin and consequently it has no tendency to rot.Indian Tan.—Different Indian tribes have differentmethods of making buckskin, but the essentialprocesses are the same, namely : ( i ) soaking,(2) depilating and fleshing, (3) sti etching andtreating with brains, with repeated soaking and drying,(4) smoking". The skin of a deer, for example,is first soaked in water for three to fivedays, depending upon temperature. Elk or buffalohides are immersed In a lye of wood ashes andwater or rolled up in ashes moistened with warmwater. After soaking, the hide is taken to a graininglog, which is simply a piece of sapling or smalltree about 8 feet long and 6 or 8 inches thick atthe butt. The bark is removed from the thick endand the other end is stuck under a root or otherwisefastened In the ground at an angle, leaving thesmooth end about waist high, like a taimer's beam.Or, a short log may be used—one that will reach toa man's chin when stood on end ; in which case anotch is cut in the butt by which the stick is braced