saddle bags

[fineredmist]

Good afternoon. I am new to this hobby, and looking for some help. I just bought a single action 22 pistol and have ordered a set of patterns to make a gun belt and holster. However it looks as though I will have quite a bit of leather left from the piece I was given by my neighbor. So on to the subject of the post. I would like to know if any one would be willing to give a few basic dimensions of a set of saddle bags. depth, width, and length of pouches, and length of backing strap that connects the bags. ps traditional cowboy style saddle bags please I intend to wear them over my shoulder and use as a possibles bag for my rifle.

[ryano]

Hello!

You can get the patterns at Tandy. They have a book of patterns for around 5 bucks. Money well spent!

Good luck.

[grumpyguy]

Generally saddle bags come in two types, the first and most widely seen are the bags that go on the rear joceks of the saddle behind the cantel. Second are the pommel style bags that fit over the horn and rest on the swells of the saddle. These are quite accessable and as long as your not roping these are great for trail riding. Both bags are easily made and can be custom made and fitted to your saddle, making them more secure and useful and less of a pain. First off figure out what you will likely carry and where you want to put it on your saddle. Heavier items should go in the pommel bags on the front of your saddle. I have used a number of saddle bags over the years and found the run of the mill generic patterns caused me alot of frustrtion. They would slide around because of poor fit.

I am going to go over the making of a pattern to custom fit your saddle. Lighter but bulkier items can go on the back saddle bags or pockets. But remember the back of the saddle sits over your mount's kidneys so it is not recommended that heavy items be carried there. I would tend to limit the rear saddle bags to less than 10" x 10" with a three or four inch finished gusset. (I actually preffer slightly smaller.) The connecting leather between the bags should be shaped to tightly fit against the back of your cantel. This can be done using light cardboard, pasteboard, the white art boards or heavy brown paper to mark and cut the pattern.

1. Find the center and measure the location of the tops and bottoms of the bags for both sides. Choose the location of the bags. Some times sitting in the saddle and getting someone to measure for you will help to insure the bags will be out of the way when riding. (Do not use the saddle strings as they are often times a little off and will not match from side to side on the same saddle.)

2. Rough cut the arc of the back of the cantel and then test fit and trim the pattern as needed till you have a good fit. (the tighter it fits the less it will shift on the trail.)

3. Carefully mark out the location of the saddle strings and conchos. Cut the holes to fit closely to the concho edges, This will also help keep the bags in place when on the trail. Often times here you will notice the conchos are not in the exact same spots on alot of saddles, so this works well rather than measuring one side then olny to find the other side is different when you try the pattern on the saddle. Variance can be as much as a half inch difference in any direction on some saddles.

4. locate the best location to place hold down strap to secure the fron of the bag to your saddle.

I designing the bag you can pretty much make simple bags with squared or rounded bottoms. Another good feature is to use a thinner more flexible leather for the gussets. When cutting ot lenghth, allow enough to let the gusset extend up from the top of the bag on both sides. These extensions will fold over the top under the lid when it is strapped shut. This will keep more dirt and trail debris out and your stuff in the bag where it is supposed to stay.

I favor round bottoms as they are easy to clean out dirt and debris. Other's like the square bottoms better as the load does not end up piled in the center of the suare bags. Especially if your carring sandwiches or other soft food items. (No problem as long as you don't mind your lunch turning to mush. Forget the crackers they will be powder no matter what you do.)

If you decide on say four inch gussets remember you will need at least a half inch on both side to stich the back and front of your bags to.

Here is and example of what you will come up with, but your design fitted for your saddle.

[TrooperChuck]

I agree with Grumpyguy... the generic-one-size-fits-all type saddle bags have never worked well for me. When I make a set of saddlebags I like to make them for a specific saddle. That way, the center connecting piece fits the curve of the saddle's cantle, and I can cut holes exactly where the rear saddle strings are located. I can also place the leading edge straps in the best position for attaching to the rear cinch rings (or a small d-ring, if the saddle is equipped for that).

When you make saddle bags for a specific saddle, they stay in place. I've bought several patterns and books on saddlebags from Tandy, and modify them to fit which ever saddle the bags will be used on.

The trend nowadays seems to be for HUGE saddle bags. I don't like these because it's easy to put tons of stuff in them, which then gets hung on top of a horse's kidneys. Then, you add to that a rolled up jacket, or bedroll, and you've now put lots of weight in a sensitive spot on your horse. In my opinion, 10"x10"x3" is about right.

[grumpyguy]

"Fineredmist,"

After reading your first post again it occurred to me you might not intend to use the saddle bags as saddle bags are normally used. If that is the case then you just want a generic saddle bag set. Tandys has a nice pattern pack that would work very well for your pourpose. If you don't have a Tandy's store near you, you can find the online store at "tandyleatherfactory.com" the pattern pack item#61917-00 sells for $14.99. There is also another pattern they sell a little cheaper and a book on making custom saddle bags that sells in the same price range of the pattern pack. Hope we've helped some, if you get started in the project and need any help, holler out people here will help all they can.