Waterskins

[Magnus]

I applaud you guys for trying to stay authentic as possible. But I must say...your ideas for water skins, historical or not, is just f**king gross HAHAHAHA!

Seriously, that Goat water balloon pictured above is the worst!

[Cavok]

Are you a Goataphobe??


Don't knock till you try it!

Actually I think there was no serious move in the direction of Goats per-se however as a conternubioum sized drink container it has to be the way forward. What you do with it before its conversion is a matter of cultural difference and indeed tolerance. Horses for courses. (Totally no way I am suggesting a horse skin as a water supply here, not even for a Cohort tea party)

I will continue along a line that would accept various forms of water and wine storage.
The depicted info and evidence seem to give a fair measure of leaway.

[caiusbeerquitius]

Folks, I´d rather first try to find some evidence for things. There are finds from Mons Claudianus, plus the good old TC...

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[attachment=2767]TClegion.jpg[/attachment]

[Cavok]

mmmm looks like I will have to integrate a 5 litre jobbie into my man bag.

or


Fluffy gets it

These are also very posh Legionaires if I am not mistaken.

I am a a mere British tribesman who happened on the Auxillia and can't afford that kit unless I steal it or make it/get it made on the other side of the Altmühl by them there Germans.Or that good looking sheep from yesterday.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

There is the grass covered canteen, IIRC.

[caiusbeerquitius]

I am a a mere British tribesman who happened on the Auxillia and can't afford that kit unless I steal it or make it/get it made on the other side of the Altmühl by them there Germans.Or that good looking sheep from yesterday.

Well, these posh legionaries carry pretty much this:

just smaller.
And things that look very much like the fragments from Mons Claudianus.
if the first is too posh for you, well... it will be hard to find something less dodgy, I guess... ;-)

[M. Demetrius]

The furcae seem to have some kind of animal skin bags on the top, perhaps for water.
(Interestingly to me, at least, furca does not mean crossed stick: it means "fork".)

[caiusbeerquitius]

That´s what I meant:

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[attachment=2770]Loculus_on_Trajans_column_cast_at_Mainz.jpg[/attachment]

[Cavok]

There are lots that could be water carriers there.
I am definately not convinced about the loculus either.They just look like 2 different types. The handle on the one is very obvious but the bottom one looks to me like it may just be a simpler way of attaching it to the Furca. You could just stick the tip of it through the small hole and away you go.

I think the thing on top of the Furca may be worth a closer look
Definately, they also seem to be various shapes and forms which gives me room to add lib a bit.

[Crispvs]

Thinking back to your thought of a sheep's stomach, I seem to recall that a few years ago someone tried making water containers out of sheep stomachs. If I remember correctly, he said that he had found that if they were empty and were allowed to dry out they became somewhat brittle (as one would expect) and prone to damage which quickly rendered them useless as water containers. I am not suggesting here that soldiers in the field would have willingly allowed their water containers to dry out, but I do wonder if a canteen made from a sheep's stomach might be protected by a leather cover or bag to prevent it being holed by sharp or abbraisive objects, effectively becoming the bladder inside an apparently leather water carrier.

Thoughts?

Crispvs

[pavka]

Sorry to intrude into the learned discussion with a simple opinion but... isn't it worthwhile to see how they make bagpipes? I guess you can fill up a bagpipe with water and have no worries, it's actually airtight so it should be watertight (with some extra oiling perhaps?). Bagpipes in the Balkans (Bulgaria etc.) are either sheepskin or goatskin, taken whole and with stoppers where the legs were, as someone already suggested.

[Cavok]

Bagpipes are usually goat or rather Kid.
Thats a good point but getting one skinned whole instead of split coild be the difficult bit. Mating it into an actual container isn't so hard.

I will start a prototype this weekend and see where the trail leads me.
Probably along the idea oof Crispus. Prototype will be without stomach though.....I could allways add it later.

Should have my Sheepskin Udones and Legwraps ready this weekend, I can try them out at -15°C then and give another of Crispus's ideas a go.

[Nurglitch]

A question here. Bags like these are still in use and as far as I know still made exactly the same way. No major change in the last x thousand years. I found pics like these:




http://skinheritage.blogspot.co.uk/2010/...useum.html

Now... instead of re-creating them, why not just buy them? Is there anyone here who could source such bags? Living in Africa or knowing someone who does? Do Indians use bags like these? Does anyone have any access to this stuff?

As I understand it these bags last for a limited time, so engaging some manufacturer to make them would provide them with a pretty steady source of income...

[Crispvs]

That sounds like a very sensible suggestion Piotr. The only difficulty I could see is that to act as a military canteen it would need to be made from something smaller than a goat skin. A canteen would need to have a capacity of just one to two litres in order for it to be carried by the marching man along with his other equipment. A canteen which is too big adds unduly to the weight burden and can get in the way of other items. Therefore I think that a water carrier made from the skin of something like a stoat, weasel or mink might work better than a goat skin for the purpose.

Crispvs

[Cavok]

Mink are not popular in England right now either!

Think we might get hassle for indiscriminate modifications of stoats though.