Leather canteen recipe

[A Mayer]

Hey All,
Last time I made canteens/costrels I used a 50/50 blend of beeswax and brewers pitch. Is that still the preferred recipe.
Thanks for any input.

[redhandfilms]

I did 100% beeswax and it's worked great.

[OParnoShoshoi]

You mean like a water skin? You can just make that with leather and beeswax?

[Peter Remling]

Most people do use a 50-50 mix, yes.

[OParnoShoshoi]

I thought you had to like leave the hair on and soak it in pitch. The idea actually really turned me off and got me looking more into gourds. But do you mean to say that two pieces of smooth leather, with a proper pitch-wax sealing, can hold water?

[redhandfilms]

But do you mean to say that two pieces of smooth leather, with a proper pitch-wax sealing, can hold water?

Yeah, man. I didn't have it on me at Ren Fest for you to see, but I made a large canteen with only veg tan leather (I think 6oz leather), beeswax, thread and a wooden stopper. I haven't tried it with any pitch, but that only makes it stronger than wax only.
viewtopic.php?p=53666#p53666

[Turgolanas]

Does that end up as a hard skinned bottle? How well does it wear? I too was put off by the hair inside soaked with pitch method.

[ForgeCorvus]

Beeswax is less likely to crack or shatter then pitch, Pitch can stand higher temperatures without warping then beeswax

Using a mixture of the two is supposed to give the best of both..... I've never tested this or seen any proof, so I can't say either way.

That said, a wax saturated (rather then coated) flask, blackjack or costrel seems to be quite durible. It has a degree of flex that you wouldn't get with wood, tinware or ceramic, in short its tough rather then hard.

I remember reading a How-To thread on one of the sites I visit..... I'll see if I can find it