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| "winter footware" for mocs chausons, wool stockings from south Union Mills and wool foot wrappers aka "Nippes" |
So I have and haven’t dropped the ball on my idea to keep
putting moccasin information out after my initial flood of posts. In the time
since the last post, I’ve been spreading the gospel of moccasins at a few
events and actually decided to leave the comfort and seclusion of the woods for
going back to some events. I’ve also been a cog in the giant machine that is
the supply chain so the railroad has been keeping me really, really busy. Thank you to Alex from "the frontier trading company" youtube chanel for asking me the question about this that got me refocused on the subject.
I’ve
also started to venture off this weird platform and trying to put out stuff for
mass public consumption in Muzzleloader Magazine so twice as much brain power and
time is needed for me to get my thoughts written down and run through a
gauntlet of people before I can safely send it to a national publication to be
published and keep me from looking like a total raving lunatic. I mean you came
here on your own you knew what type of weirdness I might start going off on,
those folks paid good money for that magazine. They are Innocent bystanders and
might not be ready for a quote from James smith leading into a Lovecraftian
hellscape of inside jokes and self-loathing. But that’s why I love you, you get it or hate
it enough to keep reading this slow descent into madness.
So the
Bulk of the moccasin making pattern stuff is going to be moved to a
Muzzleloader article. Sorry Just thought it’d be a better platform for it where
it can do the best. Spread the love, show We’re not a punk rock band we’re new
wave. That being said For this I thought
I’d go a little more in depth on making foot wrappers and chausons. I’d
mentioned them before but never really went into any detail on them apart from
showing them.
I know
right now it’s 90 degrees out and the last thing you are probably thinking
about is winter foot ware but the new hunting License just came out here In
Pennsylvania and that is all the information that I need that I need to start
thinking about winter hunting. Better to be sewing on your porch in the shade
in July then to be shivering in the woods in December wishing you had been
sewing.
My winter
Moccasins are a high-top vamped Moccasin I made from bark tan and the only
thing that makes them my “winter” moccasins is the fact I made them a little
big. Big as in during the warmer parts of the year I can simply wear a pair of
foot wraps or stockings with them and they fit fine. However, in the winter
months I can add chausons or footwraps over stockings to add to the layers.
That is a giant plus in the Moccasin factor during cold months shoes have a definite
end point for layers. Moccasins have a little give to them so adding stuff isn’t
that hard. For the end point is when it gets hard to move your toes. Sounds
dumb but if you can wiggle your toes it means you can keep your blood moving
when sitting still.
Pouchot
mentions the use of some kind of foot wrap in his memoir: “They wrap
their feet with Pieces of blanket, and the sides of the shoe form a half boot
which prevents the snow from getting in, while their feet would freeze with
European shoes, as many have unhappily proved”
So here
he’s describing using some kind of cloth to wrap the foot and keeping the flaps
of the Moccasin up. Also he mentions the impracticality of wearing shoes when
traveling in the winter. Like I said you can only put so many layers in a pair
of well fitted 18th century shoes.
A
British soldier Henry Kent mentions something similar being worn with moccasins
in his 1814 memoir:” Three pair of stocking and a square piece of blanket
wrapped on my feet”
Kent is
kind of stocking happy in my opinion but hey he’d know how cold it got in
Canada hiking thru the snow. Plus he gives a little more detail on at least the
shape of the foot wrap.
Peter Kalm also mentions this in his extensive notes on the
dress of Canadians and natives: Instead of stockings, they wrap their
legs in pieces of blue cloth, as I have seen the Russian Boors do
This one is super interesting because his mention of the Russian
use of them may point towards them wrapping them like the “Portyanki” that was
in common use in the Russian sphere of the world until the 2000’s.
Also for a non candian point of view on this Thomas Rideout
mentions something similar while he was a captive among the Shawnee in the late
18th century: A Pair of Moccasins, In which I had pieces of
Blue Cloth to make my step easier
Whats
kewl about this is Rideout seems to be talking about wearing these in the
warmer months. I’ve found that any type of footwrap in moccasins in the warm
months adds just enough cushion for your feet that it makes doing long
distances way easier.
Face it unless you do a lot of barefoot
walking in your modern life Moccasins can be tough on our bodies that are so
accustomed to modern shoes. I’ve found this is especially true when you are
doing a lot of standing/walking at modern historic sites with concrete floors
and blacktop walk ways. My legs feel it way more after a weekend at a site then
I do after a week of woods walking.
These wool pieces may be the “Nippes”
that the Millice is issued in Canada. They are given” Half aune of cloth” as
part of their equipment issue. A french Aune is about 47 ¼ inches. Now are
these pieces cut in half or into quarters? That’s a question I cant answer but
it does at least give you a starting point for the piece of material needed to
make a “nippe”.
So here is my interpretation of the
info…I use scraps of wool blanketing that I have left over from making a
blanket coat. I cut this into a square roughly 14 by 14
(I wear a size 10 shoe) I lay it out like a diamond Put my foot in the
center and wrap the sides in on top of each other then wrap the front over my
toes and slide my foot into the Moccasin. Bam! Done it really is that easy. Want another layer? Lay down two on top of
each other. Hey my feet are wet? Take your
moccasin off get a dry pair out and bam dry feet.
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| basic foot wrap...its my workshop floor please excuse the mess |
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| foot in center...I think i need to buy new stockings |
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| tuck tip of side under your foot |
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| after bringing the toe up hold this until you slide it into the Moc |
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| rear just slides in and up. |
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| ready for the elements |
These are easy to pack, easy to
make, and dry really easily over the fire.
I’ve mentioned this before but I take my soapstone bullet mold and heat
it up next to the fire and wrap it with a spare foot wrap to put in my blanket
roll for a footwarmer when it’s super cold out.
Want some cheap entertainment throw a wet foot wrapper at a dutchman’s
head when he’s trying to sleep. Hours of entertainment and fun for the whole
family.
So the foot wraps are pretty…simple.
Yes, I’m aware of quotes of using leaves/deer hair etc but so far I’ve not
found a way that I can make that process comfortable after a lot of trial and error.
I ve found Buffalo wool works pretty well but to be honest people have more
access right now to wool scraps then they do buffalo hair. So chausons are up next but that is a little
more involved so my next hotel stay its on the docket.
To break up the foot pics I’ve
included some from this years Martin’s station event. For folks that missed it,
well you missed a great one. A number of ACM folks came down to support Billy
and the crew and we had a blast. I got to sleep in a Cherokee winter house,
play cards in a block house and hang out with folks I haven’t seen in years.
I also attended my first “military”
event in years. The Yankee Peas Mess from Wisconsin held an immersion event at
my old stomping grounds Fort Roberdeau. I went with a few ACM guys to portray
members of Cluggage’s ranging company for the weekend with the guys from Crockett’s
Western Battalion and it was an awesome time. Two events back to back that
really reignited my love of this stuff. Wresting matches, all night patrols,
Blanket coat scarecrows and new friends. I forgot this hobby was more then shooting
deer and trapping raccoons. Of course
now my daughter wants to do events again so after sewing clothes for the ever
growing kid I think I’ll be off to more events this season. Dam I’m sounding
positive and happy…real articles and even a podcast interview by I LOve muzzleloading ..less weirdness and esoteric jokes…this cant be normal. This
must be some kind of conspiracy from the Dutchman. Gawd I hate that guy. This is some kind of german hex I know it.
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| ACM crew at Martin's Station |
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| Talking Moccasins with the Dutchman's help |
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| Hanging out with Anthony |
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| relaxing |
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| Talking scarecrows with Krause and tony In a lead smelt at Roberdeau |
