Canteens and Costrels

Huzzah! John Townsend to the rescue, once again. In an earlier post, I described period correct canteens, along with leather covered glass bottles, as period correct ways to slake one's thirst while on a trek. This video popped up in a search of the Townsend channel, and I wish I had seen it earlier. It was originally posted in 2010, so it has been around for some time.

Costrels are an alternative to the traditional canteen. This video provides some suggestions on how to maintain your costrel, or any other form of leather canteen.

Note: I checked the Townsend on-line catalog, and found that the costrel is no longer sold.

Make Your Own Canteen: If you want to really live the life, you can make your own canteen using vegetable tanned leather. This Townsend sponsored video gives you a step-by-step account on how it is done.

Brewer's Pitch: Boy, those Townsends think of everything. Here is a primer on how to waterproof a wooden or leather canteen. If you buy a tin canteen, you may need to periodically re-pitch them to keep them waterproof.

Hawk And Knife: Let's Hear From Jon!

Order yours here.

Jon Townsend is the "son" of James Townsend and Son, a source for seventeenth and eighteenth century clothing and lifestyle essentials for the historically correct reenactor. This photo was taken directly from the Townsend online store, and if you're looking for a throwing knife, you might want to consider this one. Knives are frequently sold by the sutlers who frequent our rendezvous, but consider the constraints placed on travel during the pandemic, you may need to purchase you knife through the internet. Track Of The Wolf is also a good source.

Unlike a conventional knife, a suitable throwing knife is relatively easy to make if you have a suitable bench grinder and can scrounge up a retired leaf spring or lawn mower blade. As you can see, the blade isn't tapered, so a minimum amount of grinding will be required to make a suitable blade.

I stopped looking for a video after I found this post. It's not a long article, but comes right the point. It also lacks the "Umm...er..." vocables found in most YouTube downloads. You will find that this particular post presents the outline for a "fantasy" throwing knife. If you look at the Townsend product, you'll see it is a simple, straight forward contour and will need much less time to rough-shape. Also, you don't need to get fancy about your choice of steel. Said leaf spring will do just fine.

Don't forget to make yourself a sheath. While a throwing knife isn't designed for serious cutting, it's still a pointy thing, and steps should be made to protect yourself when moving about on the trail. In a future I will post a photograph featuring a sheath that was assembled using only some leather and some copper rivets .

Consider this video as an addendum to the last posting on tomahawk throwing. It includes some suggestions on creating a safe backstop for your practice target. It includes a section on throwing knives, a skill you pilgrims will need to master as you transition to true "mountain man" status.