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Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 5:26 pm
by kleenur
Hello,
I've been thinking about water, water carrying devices, and the like. I've seen a couple of interesting posts here, and elsewhere about wax coated leather and how to use sand to create your water bottle, but I've heard it tastes awful. My current thinking is to do so some sort of leather coated stainless steel type thing by wrapping wet leather around a stainless steel canteen sort of container. My two issues at the moment are:

1. I haven't found a sufficiently "pseudo medieval" type shape to use.
2. I can't wrap my head around what to do with the plastic cap.


Have any of you seen something like I describe, or have any ideas?

Thanks!

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 6:49 pm
by Manveruon
A lot of people have done this, actually! It works surprisingly well, but yeah, finding an appropriate shape can sometimes be a bit tricky. I've seen people do it with metal, plastic, and even glass. There are also soft-sided plastic water bottles (almost akin to IV bags) that can be wrapped up in leather to create a sort of bota. Disguising the mouthpiece can be a little tough, but in theory you can wrap that in leather as well (although then you will admittedly taste a bit of leather every time you drink). O if you want to go really crazy, you can try making a wooden mouthpiece to fit over the metal or plastic one.
Honestly though, I have to say, when drinking out of a properly sealed and lined leather flackett, there really isn't much of a residual taste. A little, I suppose, but it's not bad. Unless of course you leave wine or beer or something of the like in it for a long period of time. Then it can take on those flavors a bit. Or, if you leave the lid on while it's damp, then obviously it can get a bit mildewy inside.

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 8:18 pm
by Taurinor
Like Manveruon, I don't find waxed leather bottles to give water a terrible taste (I use barley instead of sand, though, so that probably cuts down on grittiness), but they do require some care and feeding that a more modern water bottle doesn't.

I've made a cover for a plastic bota liner, as has Ursus, so the idea of disguising something modern is definitely something that has been played with on the forum. So have glass-covered leather bottles, be it a tequila bottle or a beer bottle. Since they are pretty easy to fit with corks, those dodge the plastic cap issue, but are a bit more fragile, even with the leather.

Udwin made a lovely cover for a WWII-era enameled canteen, which has a shape very similar to some of the metal canteens used in the Revolutionary War. Depending on what you want to spend on this project, you could potentially look into a metal 18th century-style canteen, to either cover or patina. Another interesting surplus option might be a 70's era Czech aluminum canteen; if you took a hacksaw to the aluminum lugs and made a leather cover with lugs it would pass pretty well for a flacket with a little distance.

If you want to use a stainless steel bottle with a screw cap, you could look into ones that have wooden toppers on the cap, like this one. I have no experience with that brand or bottle, so don't consider this an endorsement, but rather just evidence that things like that are out there.

There are also a couple of commercially available leather-covered modern bottles available, aimed largely at LARPers or Ren Faire patrons, I believe. Again, I don't have any experience with them, but you can see a couple examples here and here.

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:52 am
by Iodo
I've been using something similar, mine is stainless and has an all metal cap and a wool cover, I tried very hard to find something relatively cheep without visible plastic but the shape is still modern and I'll probably replace it at some point, I cant find a picture of it, I'll try to remember to post one later

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2019 12:31 pm
by Peter Remling
You might want to look at this old post. The pics are gone but I still have the water bottle around and I can take another picture if interested. They would be real easy to insulate also if that is a desired feature.

http://middleearthrangers.org/forum/vie ... ottle#p238

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 8:37 am
by Iodo
Iodo wrote: I cant find a picture of it, I'll try to remember to post one later
I found it, I knew a picture had got onto the boards somewhere: https://www.ranger.budgetauthenticity.o ... =36&t=4187

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2019 2:10 pm
by kleenur
Thanks everyone! This has given me several ideas to work with. I will keep you posted with my results!

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:38 pm
by theowl
I've been toying with the idea of a steel "gourd" bottle that I found on amazon Image Replacing the straps that come with it and covering the whole thing in leather

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 7:50 pm
by kleenur
I came across that one as well. It seems a bit big to carry around, but I could certainly see wrapping it in leather, and wandering from camp to camp at a large event!

Re: Hidden Water Bottle Idea

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:33 pm
by SierraStrider
If you're looking for a less modern-looking metal bottle, there are a lot of copper bottles available for sale online. Look for "ayurvedic copper bottle" and you're likely to find something. I haven't been able to find any that convincingly look like they could've been produced by traditional redsmithing techniques, but at least the material doesn't look out of place, and it's more plausible for someone to make those shapes with copper than a ferrous metal, I suppose.
There are all different types of closures. Many are threaded, but I found one that had a simple cork yet sealed quite well.
These are, at least the ones I've seen, raw copper (not lined with tin), so I'd play it safe with pure water only--certainly nothing with acid in it.