restoring old leather pack

[chuck123wapati]

Here is my project for the next few days, its an old swiss army rucksack I bought a looong time ago and have used and abused it. Its time to restore the leather and clean it up for another round of livin in Wyoming. You know  I think I paid about 20 bucks for this and now they are "in" and worth much more to some folks, I still have all the straps but the leather is dried out and if you look closely the harness has been repaired at some point but I like the repair so will just attempt to restore the leather and fix a few stitches here and there. I have already saddle soaped the bottom and a few of the straps and the leather seems to be coming out of it pretty well.

[chuck123wapati]

Always try to get a bit of nfo soaked into dry straps like these or they may crack when you try to undo them  from the buckle. Apply let soak in a day or so to get some moisture back into the leather.

[kiwican]

Great job. Keep us posted on the progress. I think back on the history of such items and what they have been through and seen. Preserve history where you can!

[chuck123wapati]

Here are a few pictures for those interested on the construction, This thing is a tank and built for a couple of lifetimes lol, all of the attached leather pieces have a piece of leather also on the inside. The thread is huge and appears to be natural fiber, the leather is at least 3,5 mm thick with the shoulder straps at 4mm + The canvas which is extremely thick ,I measured a hem of three layers at 3mm, was sewn onto the leather band at the bottom then both pieces sewn onto the floor piece from what I can see, then sewn up the sides of the pack, You can see this in the pictures. I'm trying now to design a smaller daypack just like this bad boy lol. 

[jcuk]

Sorry can't resist did it come with handy little knife with all the tools you need to restore it.

 

Hope this helps

JCUK

[kiwican]

Built last!.