19th century bison shotgun chaps

[hickok55]

Finally, I have finished my pair of 19th century shotgun step ins chaps. It took me nearly a year to get them cut out. I went for very simple yokes with no tooling as I'm not very good at it yet and I'm happy with the simple appearance.

The leather for the chaps themselves is from The Hide House. Mocha apache bison vegetable tanned medium hand full grain 4-5 oz 51sqft hide. 

The yokes are 5-6 oz Chestnut Brown Lamport Leather. 

I was able to get the yokes, back belt, and the end pieces that go at the bottom of the leg out of a 30x60cm piece.

Overall, I'm very happy with how they turned out. as I have a lot of leather left over from the hide, so I have enough to make a matching waistcoat.

[chuck123wapati]

those look really nice, a nice western style vest would look great with them

[hickok55]

2 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

those look really nice, a nice western style vest would look great with them

Thank you now I just need to find a photo of one

[JWheeler331]

Those are really nice. 

[Bert03241]

Wow you did a fantastic job now go ride

[bladegrinder]

Those look great, nice work!

[hickok55]

Thank you all

[Dwight]

I'm going to have to go off script here . . . and say that you did a good job with all of your work.

Somewhere however . . . you missed the boat on your research.

Now, mind you . . . I'm not an expert . . . but I have made some . . . and have never had any complaints.

The front of yours is all wrong . . . would never be worn that way.

Look at the enclosed picture . . . you will see a small belt pulls the fronts together . . . with a definite opening between the two pieces.  

Using your design . . . on a western saddle . . . if your horst bucks you . . . tosses you forward over the horn . . . and it catches under your chaps . . . you will go to a hospital for a long stay.

OTOH . . . if you have the little belt . . . always made out of lighter leather exactly for this purpose . . . it will break . . . you will be thrown off probably . . . but you can probably dust yourself off . . . hobble off on a twisted ankle . . . and be well in a couple of days.

Cut those laces . . . round the front two pieces somewhat . . . add the  belt . . . and you will be far more esthetically correct.

And yours would be absolutely a pain to wear on a 20 km ride.  that front piece will come up and rub your gut . . . blisters will form . . . and you WILL take em off.  That is the reason that what you see below is all of the guys have theirs with a wide opening between the tops of each leg.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited April 24, 2023 by Dwight

[doubleh]

Although you did a nice job Dwight is right. I don't keep up with the well dressed cowboy, real or wanna-be,  these days but fringe just looks silly on a guy IMO. 

[hickok55]

1 hour ago, Dwight said:

I'm going to have to go off script here . . . and say that you did a good job with all of your work.

Somewhere however . . . you missed the boat on your research.

Now, mind you . . . I'm not an expert . . . but I have made some . . . and have never had any complaints.

The front of yours is all wrong . . . would never be worn that way.

Look at the enclosed picture . . . you will see a small belt pulls the fronts together . . . with a definite opening between the two pieces.  

Using your design . . . on a western saddle . . . if your horst bucks you . . . tosses you forward over the horn . . . and it catches under your chaps . . . you will go to a hospital for a long stay.

OTOH . . . if you have the little belt . . . always made out of lighter leather exactly for this purpose . . . it will break . . . you will be thrown off probably . . . but you can probably dust yourself off . . . hobble off on a twisted ankle . . . and be well in a couple of days.

Cut those laces . . . round the front two pieces somewhat . . . add the  belt . . . and you will be far more esthetically correct.

And yours would be absolutely a pain to wear on a 20 km ride.  that front piece will come up and rub your gut . . . blisters will form . . . and you WILL take em off.  That is the reason that what you see below is all of the guys have theirs with a wide opening between the tops of each leg.

May God bless,

Dwight

Yes, I do completely understand what you mean, but as I said, I based them off original antique chaps.

This is what I was using for reference.

These aren't necessarily for riding. If I were to ride in them I would most likely just unlace them and only lace up the first holes. I have seen that done in some old photos, but they are better for just groundwork. I was very inspired by Andreas Rombach on instagram. He makes a lot of antique reproduction chaps. Thank you for the information, though it is very helpful.

[AlZilla]

On 4/24/2023 at 1:44 PM, doubleh said:

Although you did a nice job Dwight is right. I don't keep up with the well dressed cowboy, real or wanna-be,  these days but fringe just looks silly on a guy IMO. 

 

I thought I read somewhere that fringe serves to help wick moisture away.

[billybopp]

8 hours ago, AlZilla said:

 

I thought I read somewhere that fringe serves to help wick moisture away.

You are correct.  Fringe was intended, originally at least, to give water a place to go where it wouldn't soak through the main part of the leather, and allow it to dry more quickly due to the increased surface area.  Attractive nor not, it served a purpose.

- Bill

[fredk]

Fringe also helps keep one cool in hot weather; it catches any light breeze and also acts as a radiator

[doubleh]

Yes, but when you are straddling a horse the sun is mostly on you upper legs, not so much down around where the fringe is on the pictured chaps. Leather is HOT in the summer and damn cold in the winter, no getting around it. I see it as a fad. I live in cowboy country  although I don't see any anymore except the youngsters parked at a cafe with their horses standing in a hot covered trailer while they wear their spurs inside while eating. I never realised a dining chair is so difficult to control.

[chuck123wapati]

Fringe was an American native thing from what i 've read and seen of them in museums I feel they were an embellishment mostly. Native Americans did like to have nice things and their clothes were as much a status symbol as ours are now.  They tied hair to them put beads on them and even dyed them.  I also feel they probably helped break up the human outline so an asset to hunting in them. I'm sure they may wick some of the moisture away but not much although I have not found any definite proof of exactly why they used it.

If any of you folks are ever in CODY visit the museum, one the finest on western American history both native and not, plan on a two day visit! 

[Wild Bill46]

Everyone has opinions Ok enough, mine, is that you did a great job in coming as close as you can to what you were going for !

I love the color, You achieved craftsmanship too  Its, a good thing and a win, Hickock 55

[fredk]

On 4/26/2023 at 7:12 PM, chuck123wapati said:

. . . . I'm sure they may wick some of the moisture away but not much although I have not found any definite proof of exactly why they used it.

When I did a lot of motorcycling I wore gauntlet gloves. An old trick for wet weather riding was to tie some natural string loosely around each wrist and elbow, leaving several tails about 4 or 5 inches long. In the rain those string tails wicked off the water on hands and arms and let the wind take it away. It was surprising how much difference that string made  Kinda like how leather fringe would work

[hickok55]

Thank you Wild bill46

[MikeRock]

Dwight,

Older, as in 1890, and newer ones as well, were tied with the multi hole lace method.  Older ones had more holes to lace, newer ones fewer.  You can date them by the number of holes.

 

[chuck123wapati]

13 hours ago, fredk said:

When I did a lot of motorcycling I wore gauntlet gloves. An old trick for wet weather riding was to tie some natural string loosely around each wrist and elbow, leaving several tails about 4 or 5 inches long. In the rain those string tails wicked off the water on hands and arms and let the wind take it away. It was surprising how much difference that string made  Kinda like how leather fringe would work

Interesting indeed Fred I never knew that. fringe could have started life as a multipurpose thing. if you think about it does add a lot of extra surface area for evaporation. I haven't worn or used enough leather clothes to really know what use they could have originated from i guess. Maybe a i should make me a huntin shirt and do some research  this fall lol.

Hmmm  i wonder if fringe on wool would help now that is a material that wicks down as it dries. My daugther could knit me some fringe on my woolies.

[billybopp]

10 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

Interesting indeed Fred I never knew that. fringe could have started life as a multipurpose thing. if you think about it does add a lot of extra surface area for evaporation. I haven't worn or used enough leather clothes to really know what use they could have originated from i guess. Maybe a i should make me a huntin shirt and do some research  this fall lol.

Hmmm  i wonder if fringe on wool would help now that is a material that wicks down as it dries. My daugther could knit me some fringe on my woolies.

I've actually put something like this to use in my house.  We have some plumbing that can sweat like crazy in certain weather conditions.  A couple of those run right over the breaker box and would occasionally drip onto it: Not a good situation!  I shredded up a towel and tied it to the pipe upstream for the box, so now the water hits the towel and stops there - the towel gets wet up near the pipe, but the water dries out even before it can drip to the floor.

- Bill

[chuck123wapati]

Just now, billybopp said:

I've actually put something like this to use in my house.  We have some plumbing that can sweat like crazy in certain weather conditions.  A couple of those run right over the breaker box and would occasionally drip onto it: Not a good situation!  I shredded up a towel and tied it to the pipe upstream for the box, so now the water hits the towel and stops there - the towel gets wet up near the pipe, but the water dries out even before it can drip to the floor.

- Bill

that's a good idea !!

I have a canvas Sioux lodge, teepee, I haven't set up in years but  We would tie strings to the lodge poles to divert the water and drip it off where it did no harm to our belongings.

[fredk]

On 4/23/2023 at 12:58 PM, chuck123wapati said:

. . . a nice western style vest would look great with them

 

On 4/23/2023 at 3:13 PM, hickok55 said:

Thank you now I just need to find a photo of one

I just found this Tandy Vest kit on ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/195501906345?hash=item2d84d259a9:g:PmIAAOSwHkNji0SP&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwFmfLJzONoYa15knBiCFU9EEXUzJarN0UA3r1nwNt%2BWLKrV9miO5fDVJ7%2BIvTgHBWqCdQOHFZ%2B2jM8koCFGoQQ%2FQW1Dm7TzGFfYFQtgSEUk2cc9zmvT5Xl3GhzABfm8op5whZdVR%2FmFRAstMqsnwx5HoR5IaOF3fDWFV3rf8FzAe6gW2fslBQD0dssYwH3CtNNagD3WoXEvFkG7ifhE3nflVQ4kkbFpJzZUIR5fpzkzPpx26g8hGRkMBSPoLmg4iRg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9bn-f_4YQ

If you don't buy it I will !

[hickok55]

Oh wow, that looks really cool. I didn't know Tandy sold kits like that, but I don't have the money now, so you. go for it, plus I'm gonna make mine with the same bison hide I used to make the chaps.

[fredk]

I think I have the Tandy pattern packs for Western vests. I think I can share them with you

7 hours ago, hickok55 said:

Oh wow, that looks really cool. I didn't know Tandy sold kits like that, 

Tandy used to sell a wide range of kits, but they stopped, afaik a few years ago, or now its just limited to a few small items