Middle Earth Ranger Forum

So while most of my progress on this thing can be found over here, I thought I should post up a final update on the hard kit board. Thanks to everyone's helpful suggestions I finally figured out a robust, modular method of suspending the snapsack from various straps. I stitched on leather reinforcements on either end of the bag that allow me to lace the thing onto either my quiver or a separate dedicated strap. While I understand this may come across as over engineering, my reasons for this are twofold. When going out with my quiver and bow, I didn't want the snapsack to be riding on a whole separate strap as it would get pretty cluttered with straps crisscrossing everywhere. As Greg has demonstrated in his kit, having everything suspended on one strap keeps the setup clean and minimal while rapidly reducing the time it takes to pull everything on and off in a hurry. However, I don't want to be committed to taking a bow and quiver with me every time I go out, namely for the hassle of needing to follow regional hunting regulations but also because I've been floating around the idea of a 'hut warden' for a potential persona. Somebody in a less combat oriented role who travels the land, maintaining and restocking the various way stations that have been speculated about in the past. In this role I'd imagine that hunting (enemy or game) would not necessarily be a priority and as such the bow wouldn't always be carried in favour of packing extra supplies and tools for repair. Thus the need for a non-quiver dependent carrying system. Of course I'm still planning on developing my kit to fulfill the more traditional 'hunter of the enemy' role that the Dunedain are associated with, but I'd imagine a variety of shifting roles and tasks would be required by the wider community in order to support this.
Anyway, here are some pics of the snapsack in its various configurations as well as some closeups of the suspension eyelet thingies. Feedback and critique as always appreciated!

That whole setup just looks insanely good.

That snapsack looks slick. Very well put together.

How do you like how it feels on the quiver strap under the arm? I absolutely LOVE it, and wouldn't trade it for any other carry method. Hope it serves you well for years to come!

EDIT: Question borne on curiosity! Are you left-handed? Looking at the side your quiver's on...

Thanks guys!

Greg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:43 am That snapsack looks slick. Very well put together.

How do you like how it feels on the quiver strap under the arm? I absolutely LOVE it, and wouldn't trade it for any other carry method. Hope it serves you well for years to come!

EDIT: Question borne on curiosity! Are you left-handed? Looking at the side your quiver's on...

It honestly feels great under the arm. I love the way you can maneuver it to adjust the position of the arrow fetchings when you go to grab them. It also just feels very secure, like it's not going to flop around. And yes I am left handed with a bow, but not with a sword oddly enough.

Great work!

I've got one of these on my eventual "to-do" list, and will unashamedly be stealing your concepts, lol.

Rob

Beautiful work! It’s just so clean! I really like the idea of being able to wear it on either the quiver strap or a dedicated strap of its own. I may have to see if I can modify the one Elleth made me a while back to work in a similar way (shouldn’t be too hard, honestly).

Shadrack wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:16 am ...And yes I am left handed with a bow, but not with a sword oddly enough.

That is quite interesting! Are you right-handed but left-eye-dominant? I have that issue, personally. I still shoot right-handed, but I have to aim instinctively. I can’t sight down the arrow at all.

Manveruon wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:59 pm That is quite interesting! Are you right-handed but left-eye-dominant? I have that issue, personally. I still shoot right-handed, but I have to aim instinctively. I can’t sight down the arrow at all.

I'm left handed with pretty much everything except a sword to be honest. I write and draw left handed so that's what I'd identify as but for some reason a sword just feels more controlled in my right hand. It's strange how the brain has its quirks like that.

Very nice work

Well done! Looks like your kit is coming along quite nicely!

Your textile choices are fantastic Shardrack. It's one of those things that adds so much depth but is all too often overlooked.