Buckskin From Start to Finish

Buckskin from start to finish
In this video, I make buckskin leather from start to finish using traditional techniques. I go through the steps of fleshing, bucking, tanning, and finally smoking the hides to create two beautiful buckskins.

[@brabanthallen]

I've been brain tanning for many years, and along the way you learn different tricks to make it easier, and end up with nice soft buckskin. One of the BEST tips I can give is that when you are finishing out a hide that has been brained (stretching or "breaking"), and after hours and hours of stretching it still ends up a little stiff like your thick hide did, smoke the hide a little bit. I call it "pre-smoking". After you give it a light smoking, brain it again (or in your case the egg solution). Now, when you go to stretch it while it's drying, the parts of the hide that were already soft will stay soft and you can concentrate on the parts that got a little stiff (usually the neck and flanks). Trust me, if you do this pre-smoking trick, you will thank me. You'll say, "Why the hell didn't I do this years ago?" Yes, you had to tan it twice, but you will end up with beautiful, soft, PRIMO buckskin. Then you can give it the final smoking to get the desired color and level of smoke you want. I wish I had learned this trick early on in my "buckskin career".

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks for the advice, I’ll keep that in mind next time 👍

[@brianpierson7708]

Yep brother you on point with it the Indians dun that but up north it is dun a lot with moose and Buffalo also with elk it will also give you caramel color depending on how you do it and how long and hot you smoke it 🙏🏼🙏🏼god bless brother and thanks for sharing your info

[@jameschryst7156]

You had perfect hide for the bottom of your mocasins. Sometimes leave it stiffer. Jim BCC AZ

[@brabanthallen]

@@jameschryst7156 I use either buffalo or latigo for the mox I make.

[@thomasdavison7184]

I did this for my dad when he got older and his hands didn't work as well. This is damn sure a lot of work but he did it the same way. We brain tanned so many hides man. I tanned the hides for his last set of buck skins that he was eventually buried in. So much knowledge died with him. I wish I would have appreciated it when I was younger. He was a true trapper until his body couldn't do it anymore.

[@len4338]

You did a really nice job explaining each stage of the process young man. It takes humility and confidence to admit mistakes and it was good to see you explain yours and how to go back and correct it. Mistakes are how we all learn and teaching someone how to recover from one is an extremely valuable lesson. Kudos to you and beautiful work on the hides.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thank so much!

[@richardcranium5048]

I concur, very well said

[@tonyaharmon1383]

Amen & God Bless You!!

[@Caroline-pb8xx]

I kept getting so scared the hide would rip into a million pieces with all that working. That’s some tough fabric! Awesome video! I learned a ton, thanks!

[@rhysfontaine]

Yeah Its some solid fabric for sure. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@jackbright9483]

I have a pretty large buck hide in my freezer, and I've saved the brains for the tanning process. What I plan to do is create a soft buckskin leather cape with the fur on.i hope it comes out good. Wish me luck 🤞

[@rhysfontaine]

Good luck 👍 sounds like a cool project

[@rachellestringer]

That does sound cool 😮

[@davidpierce8561]

Glad to see you are not afraid to admit your mistake and how to remedy it, that shows maturity that some people never learn despite their age

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! I appreciate that

[@davidpierce8561]

People need to encourage younger people to be more mature like yourself so that they can move forward in what ever subject they choose, stumbling blocks and all

[@squirrelobserver]

I love that you identified your mistakes on the first hide and how you corrected. It emphasizes process of learning from your mistakes, very important!

[@critical-thought]

I spent my formative years on a native reservation, and can vividly remember hides getting tanned and worked. For moccasins and mukluks, the women chewed the tanned leather to soften it even more. Still the best footwear that has ever graced my feet.

[@Tankaroonies]

Thank you, never knew about using eggs, I thought it was a piss take at first, but now I've learned something new, great video, cheers.

[@fontaine9020]

You do such a good job explaining things in your videos!

[@rhysfontaine]

Thank you so much!

[@Dingdongwitchisdead]

Great job, I think a lot of us older mountain folk can really appreciate a young bushman such as yourself getting out there and putting in the time to learn and grow. It’s like getting to watch a bit of ourselves decades ago. Besides, there is a tendency to go so far and stop learning because something works, staying in the safe zone, so to speak. When we really ought to be learning new skills, faster or slower methods, and perhaps even a few modern cheats as well as the time tested ways of doing things. You got a new subscriber here. I have been so busy with custom leather jobs all summer through Christmas but now you got me wanting to get busy on a few hides in the freezer that need tanning.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@joerathbun5225]

You did an awesome job teaching the in's and outs of tanning. I would give you an A+. Don't even think about stopping now.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! I plan on putting out a lot more videos this spring

[@dancooper3066]

At 20 minutes into the vid, you said it was a rookie mistake, It looked easy to follow, very detailed, and it looked like you know what your talking about.

[@malachiguyer5642]

Great video! Super helpful. I am almost finished with a hide that I am working on using your method. So far it's going great! Thank you for a full explanation of how to do all of it!

[@macopeland1]

This was the best step by step process I have ever seen, thank you and I can't wait to try this.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! Good luck 👍

[@Doesch]

I came here to see how bucksin is made, very well done! Also had to say you're a handsome guy!

[@dontfearthereaper9528]

Wish i would've found your channel earlier. You give good instructions and you're easy to follow and listen to. Glad I'm subscribed. Thank you

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks I’m glad you found my channel too

[@Woggerdogg]

Egg is good...but theres nothing like brains. Good job! Glad to see young people learning, and keeping the old ways alive!

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@mikedillenbeck6762]

Give dry scraping a try to remove the hair and dermis. I have done a few hides with the dry scraping method and have gotten a much better result than wet scraping. The hides I've wet scraped turned out stiff and hard but I've never had a dry scraped hide turn out hard and stiff. I'll be honest... dry scraping is a bit more difficult but, in my experience, it produces a much better result.

[@beebob1279]

Would you suggest a video on youtube showing the dry technique?

[@mikedillenbeck6762]

@@beebob1279 This is the best one I could find. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYi4dHZmZd56mpo Step 5 in the video is the way I've scraped hides. Hope this helps.

[@ndnpony]

I always heard, growing up, "the steeper the climb the better the view", "you have to walk into the thorns to gather the sweetest fruit". Dry scraping is 'hard' but definitely worth it.

[@1yris1]

1qqqq

[@JoshwaLaw]

Just found your channel and I'm glad I did! I really appreciate you showing the small mistake with the thicker hide and not pretending to be perfect like a lot of people do. That gives me hope for myself haha great video and super super informative!

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Good luck 👍

[@JoshwaLaw]

@@rhysfontaine I absolutely cannot wait to do this myself!

[@judescott658]

Well done. That was a lot of work

[@IMBrute-ir7gz]

Very interesting! Until today I never gave a thought to how buckskin is processed. I would imagine an Indian village was a pretty industrious place back in the day!

[@zappbrannigan4170]

I'm convinced this guy is an incarnation of Freyr.

[@swayback7375]

Speeding up the fleshing really helped show exactly what you did better than normal speed would have

[@rhysfontaine]

Good 👍

[@Turn140]

Wow, you only have 3k subs? This is one of the best videos i've seen out here on bushcrafting Well done brother, well done.

[@EccentricArtisan]

Very good video and great job explaining the process! I’m glad KZbin suggested you to me!!

[@davidpeightal4918]

Awesome video. I did it once when about your age. And I said “never again”. When you said it was a “really fun project” I knew immediately you are made of better stuff than I am. I used mine for a door on my tipi. That is where I took my new wife to live. Needless to say, she is not my wife anymore. Hahaha. I don’t know how your clothing always looked so clean. Man you must have a huge laundry bill. Great job. You are a rock star.

[@rhysfontaine]

Glad you liked the video!

[@Sport--willow]

Very well done young man! Sure is good to see the younger generation learning the old ways and keeping it alive. Keep up the good work! Subscribing and looking forward to watching your progress

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. I hope to put out a lot more videos this spring 👍

[@bigboss-tl2xr]

"I don't have brains" lol Good info, subscribed!

[@rhysfontaine]

Haha thanks

[@karliebee5309]

Rhys I just heard you on the radio :) I remember you telling me your mom worked at the radio station, and I always thought it was awesome that you did your own thing out in the wilderness lol. Good to see ya, kid. ❤

[@rhysfontaine]

Hey Karlie! It’s great to hear from. That’s awesome you herd it on the radio! Thank for the encouragement. I hope your doing well and paths crass again sometime 👍

[@mikenorris6769]

Very good video, I have a freind in the cenral north island (NZ) who tans deerskins, make rawhide, buckskin and does all sorts of crafts with the product, I use his rawhide to back the bows I make and buckskin for handle wraps, such a beautiful product. Anyway, your video has given me a greater understanding of how much work is involved in this process, thanks, really enjoyed your presentation..

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@williamgreenlee4231]

Liked your video so much I'm going to go ahead and watch the rest.

[@rhysfontaine]

Great! Hope you enjoy them

[@phillipclaxton6623]

Great demonstration

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@samanthabeal2000]

Nice, loved the start to finish, rock on! Great pieces to make cool things! Very well done!

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@zoramtharafanai4749]

Very interesting and informative. 👍👍👍

[@rhysfontaine]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@alphaomegasurvival9315]

One thing I like to do is use 60 grit sandpaper at the end to thin spots that aren’t quite as soft. Works like a charm, especially for buckskins when you don’t have to worry about slipping the hair. For a showpiece, I just lightly sand heavier spots

[@user-bp1jo7kc6z]

Great Job

[@SuzanneBarrettJustisArtist]

Wow. So interesting. I enjoyed this Rhys. Can’t wait to see what yiu create from those skins.

[@rhysfontaine]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching

[@archielynn3663]

you did great i liked the vid and hard work

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@crusader.survivor]

Outstanding!!! Thank you for your traditional method! I always try to go the traditional route in all endeavors. I'm happy to subscribe to your channel!

[@chrisknauss6727]

Great job, friend. I am more than impressed..

[@paulfitzgerald4933]

This was such a fun video to watch. I am super busy with a lot of things I need to get back to, but I also needed to stick around and learn this. Thanks for posting such a cool video.

[@Gingerwalker.]

Wow that is a lot of work. Thank you for sharing.

[@scottyd6774]

Well done. Great explanation at each step and all step done with what you can find in nature.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@ltwig476]

Great tutorial and technique. Wish I could do it. My shoulders are too old and would not take that tanning workout. I have to save my shoulders for competition atlatl and atlatl building. LOL I would love to upholster the entire interior of my 1972 F100 XLT Ranger. Get crazy with change up of stitching styles on each area. Would take forever but quite the work art.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks for watching! Good luck with the Atlatl competiton. Sounds sweet

[@toptieramongus6730]

Most helpful video on this topic on youtube, thankyou and god bless

[@thomas.bill92]

Man, thanks for sharing! Great tutorial. I'm hoping to try my hand at some tanning this year and this video has been one of the best at laying out the process.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thank so much. Good luck with your tanning 👍

[@chriscoffey6663]

If someone else hasn’t said it, I never wring my hides back in my solution bucket. You are essentially pushing collagen out of the fibers of the hide when you wring it. So that collagen in going back into your solution. Might save you some softening time. It was already said but I also pre smoke as well.

[@reachthroughreality]

Thank you bro, super easy to follow, and I really appreciate you showing the whole process, and the correction. add some music instead of the sped up creek sounds and you're golden.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks man I appreciate the advice 👍

[@myitbos1335]

While the creek may be relaxing while there, to the viewer, it is distracting to the narration and rather loud. You should probably be wearing a mic, or fix the sound balance during editing.

[@davidsmart8594]

Thank you very much for that.

[@rhysfontaine]

No problem 👍

[@terryqueen3233]

Well it looks like they turned out pretty good. I just found this Channel and I'm going to follow you for a while. I'd like to know if you have done it with hair on. I know you said you only done a few and you're still learning but if you get to it before I do I like to find out your way of leaving the hair on to tan it. I'm also going to look at some of your videos to see maybe if you've already done it. If you have it I would be excited to see you do it. Thanks for the video. Stay vigilant!

[@AndrewAnderson-vb4pp]

We have a lot of crows where I lived and we would just lay the hide out on the ground and the crows would do an amazing job at fleshing and they never damaged the hide itself

[@russellsage4953]

Why did I just get hungry? Excellent vid, I’m rewatching, Fam! I’ve done stuff with hide but just after someone did the hard part-scraping!! ☮️

[@LF12468]

What's " Fam" mean?

[@russellsage4953]

@@LF12468 I’m from the UK, just replace Fam (family) with Bro. Instant translation 🇬🇧

[@federicomachon8841]

Good job well explain I think I will try.

[@dwadecolburn8642]

Very informative!! I have a big old buck skin in the freezer, and my chickens are still laying good....going to get after it.

[@rhysfontaine]

Nice! Hope it comes out good 👍

[@MonteenMcCord]

Holy cow. No wonder the buckskin dress I wanted was so expensive!

[@rhysfontaine]

Haha yeah it’s a lot of work

[@brabanthallen]

Smoked braintan hides (average size) go for around $250, but in my opinion, that is not enough. The amount of work that goes into tanning a nice, primo hide, back-breaking work, is worth more than what people are asking nowadays. $300 at least would be more fair. I recently made a fleece-lined, full length buckskin coat. It took 7 hides, all tanned by me. A LOT of work involved in making that coat, but I get a lot of compliments on it, and a lot of self-satisfaction.

[@overnightOCD]

thanks for the tips man

[@CottonTailJoe]

just found you. Please continue making videos. They are great.

[@rhysfontaine]

Glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@garetkonigsfeld2]

Well done video. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@Michael-kb9qt]

Cool, thank you.

[@BeowulfAllraudr]

Yay! I found another bushcraft youtuber guy

[@SuzanneBarrettJustisArtist]

Thanks!

[@markfalgoust6910]

U need to go on tour with that flute man

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! Haha

[@SheCreatesStuff2]

I’ll bet you were a Creek Stewart fan as a kid. He’s a pretty good role model to have had.

[@carol07643]

I enjoyed watching this video! U did a great job explaining the process. I subscribed

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@edwilliams9914]

Learned a LOT! Thanks!

[@rhysfontaine]

Great!

[@gregsutton2400]

Great work!

[@charlesmurray1220]

Hell of a lot of work...

[@rhysfontaine]

That’s for sure haha

[@marcellawynja2372]

I like your tutorial better than most. The others use commercial stuff that damages enviroment.

[@paleoindio9094]

Great video bro!

[@rhysfontaine]

Appreciate it!

[@Soaplify]

best video ive seen for this

[@crobertsson7030]

Great video.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@addysbeeandgarden320]

When your ph is right with the lye water, an egg will float instead of sink. Nice video!

[@rhysfontaine]

That’s a good tip 👍

[@emariaenterprises]

.old eggs float anyway. New eggs sink.

[@williamgreenlee4231]

Well done.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@johndoe43]

Good job and video

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks!

[@davidamundson8419]

I wonder if you and I were taught by the same old timer. The only difference I've done is I use the freezer to help break down the fibers, throw it in for a couple days take it out and then use a cable anchored at both ends for the breaking. More times you throw it in and out of the freezer just makes it that much easier to soften.

[@the_woodenstone4190]

Hey man love your videos when will you be comeing out with more??

[@bigrod0069]

Very good job. Lots of hard work and commitment. they look really nice. My friend's mom always did tanning, I thought she said she stretched it on a sheet of plywood, fleshed , then I thought she said she put salt on it, maybe i don't remember correctly. Anyway good job. awesome video.

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! You put salt to keep it from rotting if your not able to get to tanning it right away but as long as you get right to it there’s no need to salt ir

[@bigrod0069]

@@rhysfontaine oh ok, makes sense, thanks!

[@colisa0007]

Great job with your video. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to more videos. I just subscribed to your Channel

[@brabanthallen]

I use an old wood stove to smoke my hides. I have an elbow and then a long horizontal pipe coming out of the top of the stove (maybe 6 feet) to help dissipate a lot of the heat, then a vertical pipe that my canvass skirt goes over. Using a bigger fire instead of a little coffee can, your hides will smoke much faster. With my setup, it usually only takes about a half hour per side to get a really good smoking. Also, soak your punk wood in water. You get way more smoke that way.

[@rhysfontaine]

Yeah that sounds like a good set up, I just threw that set up together really quick but it’s definitely not super great

[@christophershipman2843]

That's 6 feet further away from creating hard , crunchy , and cooked deer cracklings instead of buckskin leather. If you don't have a stove you can use just a section of stove pipe angled slowly up from a punky wood smoldering pit dug into the ground.

[@wendellgale3179]

That's so amazing!

[@meandmyRC99]

Awesome

[@russellsage4953]

Nice one, Legend 🔥

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks bro!

[@JB-pb9xv]

A rookie, but a true perfectionist.. As long as the smoking process was successful and they both hold up to moisture, I actually like how the whiter / lighter colored hide looks and turned out. You could tell how thick that hide was in comparison. Looks like you're out in the middle of no where, but then I noticed the "creek" sign lol.. Pretty neat when you can live and create what you need from nature, I enjoy watching and learning things like this. That I'll probably for the most part forget lol, but if shit hits the fan or I wind up off the grid. I can have and hopefully remember a little more survivalist skills. I also like learning the natural tools you use from basic readily available items and resources, that you use to complete the task. The egg tanning and dowel rod, all effective and good to know. Was wondering if you can't "leave the fur on," in the event that you were using these to create a coat etc.. Or I suppose that would be a bit of a different process or mixture, then you used to "remove" the fur.

[@rhysfontaine]

Yeah you can leave hair on it just a little different process. I personally think buckskin is a lot more useful as buckskin then keeping the hair on. The hair sheds like crazy

[@donwaldroopoutdoors3665]

So cool young man like yourself does these primitive things , I k how hard it is done some deer , beaver and racoons , not easy at all

[@rhysfontaine]

Thanks! It’s definitely a process

[@archielynn3663]

best vid yet on this stuff nice job and good vid work also i just liked and scribed =va mt man here

[@rhysfontaine]

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@tsukanitakuda7261]

I’ve tried this method idk if it was the skin from a sickly animal or maybe I was to rough with it, but I made so many holes. 😞 I guess I need practice. I was making a small travel bag and I guess the stitched holes added the “used” feel to it, but sadly it didn’t last long and fell apart on me. I strive to have your level of skill.

[@rhysfontaine]

Yeah some deer have really thin hides. They tend to be thicker in the late fall during hunting season.

[@davidpeightal4918]

If your fleshing beam is not perfectly smooth, this also will cause holes and thin spots in your hide. Try to find a log or 2x6 with absolutely no knots and work as hard on your beam as you will on the hide. A beautiful fleshing beam can be, and has been, handed down for generations.

[@shannonlandre4442]

I got impatient and put a wire wheel on a 4 1/2 inch grinder to flesh it. Works great!

[@rhysfontaine]

Huh interesting, what ever works haha

[@christophershipman2843]

Make sure you have the hide stretched tight and if you ever get into it too much you are going to have some bad wrists for a while.

[@XaraTheImpaled]

Thanks for the video. I have a question. I inherited 2 deer hides. They have been processed and tanned. But have been sitting in a room with a couple smokers for years. So they basically smell like tobacco smoke. Is there a way to clean these hides safely? They are soft and pliable. One side is basically suede and the other is smooth. I hope to hear back. As Google is zero help at this point. Thank you.

[@NetVoyagerOne]

How would the process differ if you wanted to keep the hair on the hides?

[@charlescox290]

How do you protect yourself from anthrax?

[@charlescox290]

When scraping the hair, is there a difference between scraping with the grain vs against the grain?

[@rhysfontaine]

It’s definitely easier to scrap with in the direction of the grain

[@-.NYX.-]

fantastic!! TY fo rthis (um can you teach us how to make that flute?) .. Ty for the 'rookie mistakes' .. some of us are rookies afterall >.>

[@HaggardOutdoors]

Just subbed awesome stuff. I do some of the same style stuff over on my channel. In process of brain tanning for some buckskin for moccasins.

[@rhysfontaine]

Glad you liked it! Ill check out you channel and subscribe to you as well

[@mgoodin1973]

What brand scraper do you use? I'd like to buy one

[@lmzumbach]

I'm really intrigued by your technique. I've tried a few hides (unsuccessfully) with some supplies from a local tannery, but your method is so much more natural and waaaay cheaper I imagine. I was wondering if you've been able to get the buckskin smooth on the side that had the hair on it, or are both sides a rougher, more like suede texture? Also, do you know if it matters what kind of wood ash you use to make the lye solution? Your method/setup you made for the smoking process was quite clever, I thought! Have you done any other kinds of animals besides deer? Awesome video dude!

[@buildingwithtrees2258]

Matt Richards wrote a great book and made a video Deerskins to Buckskins. I got into buckskin in 2003 and used those methods very successfully on dozens of hides. There's more efficient ways and better steps than what's shown here. But hats off to anyone who tries this. It's hard work and very rewarding if done right.

[@brabanthallen]

Your wood ash MUST be hardwood ONLY. Oak and hickory are very good, but you can achieve the same thing by simply using potash (potassium hydroxide). It is basically lye, and you can buy it online fairly cheap. Using the wet scraping method, like he does in this video, you will normally end up with the hair side being very smooth and the flesh side a little rougher. I finish my hides out breaking them over a steel cable stretched between two posts. Make sure you ONLY break the flesh side if you want the hair side to remain nice and smooth.

[@fernandsavoie6641]

Thanks for the great video…You got a new subscriber!

[@citomp1240]

What if you want the fur left on?

[@rhysfontaine]

You just add the solution to the flesh side and work that side. Probably will require you rack the hide and stretch it with a rounded stick

[@Stinkypoo691]

In theory instead of dipping a finger in could you use one of your loose hairs? I assume it would start to eat away at it or maybe just curl up?

[@tracy449]

How many days do you let the ash sit in the water before the lye solution is ready?

[@rhysfontaine]

48-72 hours typically but can depend on the amount, and quality of your hard wood ash. Hope that helps!

[@tracy449]

@@rhysfontaine Thanks, bro. I wrote my own bushcraft book a few years back and I was able to add an insert with some additional information I learned from you today. Thanks for the great video!

[@notasheep12]

What fleshing knife are u using in this video?

[@rickhuttono1]

Hmm, based on the first scraping, tonight we're having Buck Soup... Just a suggestion, but waste not, want not...