Flint 'wallet'?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

I recently read somewhere about a 'flint wallet"....supposedly something made of leather that one carries their flints in. I don't know if such a thing is historically correct....does anyone here know? Currently, I carry mine in an old altoid tin, but I can see where a wallet might make more sense; keeps the edges sharp by protecting them and not letting them bump into one another. Finally, if such a thing did exist, is there someplace I can find a pattern to make one? Thanks in advance.

[Adam Helmer]

Mr. 16 gauge,

We have a possibles bag in our historical society that contains 3 small leather bags, about Bull Durham size, with draw string closures. I was told one was for flints, one for ball and one for greased patches.

Adam

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Adam;
What I saw/read about (wish I could remember where.....damn old age!) looked like a square wallet; had a separate piece inside that was stitched off to form 'pockets' for individual flints. Don't know if it was a 'modern' idea or an old one.
Take care...

[Adam Helmer]

Mr. 16, gauge,

I suspect there were lots of home made items used in the early frontier days. Our possibles bag has a small priming horn attached by a thong and a bullet board for 6 patched roundball, also on a leather thong.

Adam

[roundball]

I use these...they hold 3 black english flints with a leather tucked behind the flints...the ones I have in them are 3/4" flints

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Thanks roundball....that looks similar to the one I'm making for myself. Do you know if these are historically correct, or a 'modern' innovation?

[Adam Helmer]

Mr. 16 gauge,

Thanks for the "heads up" because today I went to my scrap leather and ended up making a 5-pocket flint wallet. I never saw one before until your post. We are snowed in, so I will be doing more leather work while I tend the living room woodstove.

Thanks again for your reflective post for this old Longhunter. I am sure it is historically correct for some part of our long Frontier.

Adam

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Mr. 16 gauge, Thanks for the "heads up" because today I went to my scrap leather and ended up making a 5-pocket flint wallet. I never saw one before until your post. We are snowed in, so I will be doing more leather work while I tend the living room woodstove.

Your welcome, Adam.....don't know quite why, but winter time sorta becomes traditional black powder time for me...maybe it's because our muzzleloading season starts the second week of Dec., or maybe it's because I'm forced to stay indoors and find 'stuff' to work on (as opposed to mowing the lawn, training the dogs, tending the garden, ect).. Currently I'm working on my flint wallet and a couple of knife sheaths, then I have a gun sleeve to work on. One thing is for sure....there is no shortage of 'things' one can make when it comes to traditional muzzleloading!

[roundball]

Originally posted by Mr. 16 gauge

Do you know if these are historically correct, or a 'modern' innovation?

I do not...I saw them advertised by an individual somewhere and just thought they looked neat. The ones he had advertised held 8 fints which I thought was way too many and the wallet was big, thick, bulky, resulting in unnecessary extra weight, etc.
So I asked him if he could make some that held just 3 like my photo, he said no sweat, and only charged me a couple bucks each as I recall, and I carry one in each caliber's hunting pouch.

Why 3 you ask? I figure if I have to replace a flint it'll go like this:
Flint #1 - Will shatter on the first test fire;
Flint #2 - I'll drop it in the deep leaves never to be seen again;
Flint #3 - Needed to finally get back hunting again;

To be honest, you could almost make the case that the amount of leather involved just to carry 3 spare flints is quite a lot really, but the wallet lays so flat, weighs practically nothing, and takes up so little room I carry them all the time and they protect the flints edge perfectly.

Interesting thing is this:
I have NEVER needed a spare flint while out hunting...BUT as soon as I stop carrying spares I'd need them for sure.

[jplonghunter]

roundball

It is a wise man who prepares for Murphy's Law !

jplonghunter