Middle Earth Ranger Forum

And finally, my last recent piece to show off: I finally finished my belt pouch not long ago.
It's perhaps on the "rustic" side and overbuilt, but I'm quite happy with it. The construction is basically "sporran style" with a buckled top flap. That flap then forms a channel for the belt on the back:
If there was one change I'd make, it'd be to make the sides of the flap on the back of the pouch to angle *in* away from the pouch sides rather that *out* following the lines of the pouch body. It looks nice as is, but made turning the sewn pouch back right-side-out a royal pain. On the other hand, now that it's done it's *really* secure. The relatively narrow channel along the entire width of the pouch results in a "pinching" effect that keeps the pouch in position on the belt even once I take it off. I can slide it along the belt easily enough, but it doesn't move unless I want it to.

The top flap has the same leaf-arc border I requested Odigan put on my knife. My hack carving isn't so refined as his, but it matches close enough I think. I used one of my buckles as a closure, as I figured for a woods-tromping pouch it was more important to keep everything securely in place than be able to get to it quickly. Which leads me to...
You'll also see I added a couple d-rings using the same small buckles I used on my needwallet. These are for lanyards for can't-stand-to-lose things like a firesteel - or here, my coin purse. Items can be removed from the lanyards easily enough if I need more freedom of movement, but having lost important things in leaf litter before, I'm a little paranoid about dropping stuff never to be seen again.
There's also a leather divider in there between the main body and the back wall of the pouch: my firesteel and tinderbox live nice and snug behind the divider, coin purse and anything else that finds its way inside goes into the front.
You'll also see I added a thin-ish goatskin lining in the top flap, and tucked a bit of spare tow tinder up in there. No harm in having extra on hand, and it's pretty much unnoticeable inside the top flap unless I need it.

This is just awesome. The belt pouch is a piece of kit I’ve been chasing for ages and this is a real visual inspiration.

I think the rustic look fits perfectly. I imagine most rangers gear would be very “rustic” without being Hollywood bad, know what I mean?

All these wonderful projects you’ve been dropping lately have really given me a lot to think about. Great stuff!

Great work! You're very talented and resourceful.

Very nice! I can see a lot of components that I recognize from historic pieces, but the way you've put them together gives it a very real feel while not pinning it to a single historic time period.

And I can absolutely believe that it fought you when you went to turn it!

Wow amazing.

Brilliant work Elleth

Thanks guys!

Oh - another "lesson learned" - the front flap comes as you see to an acorn point. Trouble is, that point gets in the way of the buckle frame, so I can't actually buckle it all the way up. It's not worth remaking, but if you're planning on doing something similar, either round off that point or maybe use a longer buckle frame.

Getting the front face sized right(ish) took a lot of trial and error. I thought I had it sized right, but... oops. Evidently not. So reluctantly I cut it apart and made a new front piece. Much better! Also that's why there's not a perfect color match: we were having lots of cloudy/rainy weather at that point and I didn't want to another week or two for the hope of a bright hot clear day to really darken the front face. Traditional dyeing is a bit finicky, so sometimes we take what we can get. If my needwallet is any indication, they'll all age in to mostly match anyhow.

Ursus, I'm sure you're right about "rustic."

The stitching across the mouth by the way is just to keep the leather from stretching out over time.

Fine work!

Incredible stuff you're putting out of late, Elleth. Really starting to come together cohesively!

That must have been a royal pain to assemble. Nicely done!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!!
This is so great! Im going to steal a couple features for the belt pouch Im working on.
You continue to be an inspiration!

Very cool! I love the lanyards.

It looks beautiful! I love the fact it looks rustic.

Oh... oh my... this is just... WOW.

I don't quite know what it is about this piece, but it REALLY jumps out at me. I absolutely LOVE this. And truth be told... I think I need one exactly (or very nearly exactly) like it.

It's funny - a good belt pouch has been something of a white whale for me. Every one I've made has been... lacking somehow. So I try to redesign, adjust, enlarge, rearrange... but it just never quite has the right feel. I think the first belt pouch I made might have been my best attempt, but even it seems amateurish and poorly constructed in retrospect.

What I really like about what you've done here is several-fold. For one, I think I'm realizing that a soft-sided body is really what I'm looking for. So far my attempts at a regular belt pouch have been from rather stiff leather, and that led to them feeling a bit too rigid and box-like. The more I think about it, the more I feel like a soft-sided pouch fits the rough-and-tumble aesthetic of the Dunedain much better. It would be easier to lie upon, and more comfortable to be pressed up against at any rate.
Also, I'm just really in love with the gently rounded, slightly acorn shape. I think that has really good proportions.
Then there's the flap, which seems slightly stiffer than the body, which to my eye seems to add just a bit of protection to the contents without becoming box-like as previously mentioned. And of course the hand embellishment that you added really elevates the whole thing from a simple stock item into something that feels like it has a real sense of authentic cultural depth. I also happen to like the fact that the flap is slightly darker than the rest of the pouch - it gives the whole affair a slight visual interest that wouldn't be present eith a more monochromatic color scheme.
Looking at the belt loop/channel, I feel like it offers a much more secure attachment than the usual straps, and I love that, as you say, it doesn't really move around at all unless you absolutely want it to.
And of course then there is the interior, which is just... HOLY CRAP IT'S BEAUTIFUL. The under-flap pocket is a brilliant way to subtly increase carry-capacity, and the dividers inside are nice and functional. And the d-rings! Hah! Brilliant! Then of course there's the lining, which is a detail I've always neglected on my own pouch projects.

ARGH IT'S SO GREAT AND I WANT ONE!

Also - two other things while I'm remembering:

- One, I suspect a large part of what I love about the color and texture is a result of the traditional tanning and dying methods. I definitely couldn't achieve the same look with most modern dyes or tans. It really has a beautifully rustic look that just FEELS *RIGHT*, somehow.

- Two, my only reservation about it is the buckle. It does look beautiful, but I'm constantly in and out of my pouch on the trail, and I'm a little concerned a buckle closure might be just a little too fiddly for me. Also, like a number of folks on here, I'm trying to limit the number of shiny metal items on my kit, so I feel like I'd probably want to find something with a bit less of a glint to it. Even so though, I have to admit that it looks lovely, and the style of low-hanging tab like that also just sort of *feels* right to me somehow. I'm wondering, therefore, if maybe something could be rigged up with the same style of strap/tab, and like... a small stud or knotted piece of leather that could act as a small button or resistor, and then a strap/keeper sewn down across the bottom of the pouch - so you could pull the tab with the little knot/button under the strap/keeper, and the button/knot would automatically just catch there, until you undid it. Not sure how effective or aesthetically pleasing that would be, but it might be a viable alternative to a buckle?
Otherwise, I did recently dive into some research on a historical pouch from the 13th or so century that used a bone buckle, and I feel like a buckle made.from bone or antler might be a good alternative to metal for a ranger.