Backyard Buckskin Tanning | Other

Backyard Buckskin Tanning

Phone: +61 422 176 786

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25.01.2022 I am stoked to announce that as well as myself, we will also be having Daniel Sainty of Rewild Australia and Sam New of Wildcraft Australia as part of the teaching team for this workshop. Bookings will close at the end of this week. About Dan Daniel Sainty lives the traditional lifestyle with his family in a remote wilderness area of the Northern Tablelands NSW. Daniel is prolific in his buckskin leather production, makes tools and teaches others the skills after growing u...p this way himself. As well as being a renowned rewilding and survival skill instructor he is also a highly regarded martial arts teacher and dedicated to passing his knowledge onto others. About Sam New Passionate about living simply, Sam has learnt and researched bush skills since he was a lad. A perfectionist and a bush scientist, Sam researches, tests and experiments to find the best ways of doing things. Sam’s knowledge is deep and combined with his humor and fantastic storytelling ability, there’s never a dull moment.

24.01.2022 Lots of hides in process makes for a happy tanner! Spent the day tanning deer skins with two magical bush women learning the ways and connecting on the land, some of their hides pictures here. After a lovely morning yesterday teaching the fundamentals at a workshop in Mullumbimby, am feeling super inspired and grateful to be doing this in my life, empowering others with the skills while deepening my own craft. Thanks to everyone who came and I look forward to tanning leathe...r with you soon. #gratitude #braintan #deerskin #tanningleather #womenwhotan #buckskin #happytanner #bushcraftaustralia #bushlife #workshops #mullumbimby #northernriversnsw #skinsinprocess

07.01.2022 Some brain cakes I made last night for preserving brains for leather tanning without refrigeration. Part of teaching traditional leather tanning for me is to practice these techniques so that they aren’t forgotten and to see them passed them onto others. All the while honouring the lineages and knowledge holders who have come before me. Imagine the ingenuity of some long forgotten ancestor to figure out how to preserve a highly perishable, fatty substance such as brains in ...the bush, without salt or a fridge? For me, making braintanned buckskin isn’t just tanning hides, we are doing it in the context of living close to the earth, minimising our impact and respecting the animals whose skins we cherish. Teaching the context, the philosophy and the small tips and tricks that make a craft is as important as the craft itself. Otherwise what is to stop someone from taking this sustainable, eco-friendly practice and taking so-called "shortcuts" with toxic tanning substances and polluting the earth? Thankyou to Carmen Corradino of Caribbean Earth Skills, my first tanning teacher, for teaching me about brain cakes.

06.01.2022 Some people ask me what can you do with buckskin? Really it's so versatile the list is virtually limitless. Clothing, accessories, craft... Anything you can do with a breathable, durable, soft fabric. Here are some examples of accessories and bags I have made over the years.

05.01.2022 Such a simple thing. Eleven years ago I was volunteering at a @naturephilosophy Nature One Program in a crafting circle in the Otway Ranges region of Victoria. We were supporting the students learn how to make string with the reverse wrap technique using plant fibres. It was on the coast at a bush property overlooking the ocean sitting in the shed that had been turned into a bush classroom. At one point in the session JJ, one of the co-instructors, chucked (pictured) this... piece of calf rawhide in my direction. I marvelled at it for a while before using the reverse wrap technique to also twist it into a bracelet in the same way as they were doing with the plant fibres and I felt rich. It was stronger than the plant fibres and somehow more alive. I’d never handled home processed skin before, having grown up in the suburbs of the city of Melbourne. Making and wearing that bracelet was the seed that started me on the journey to now be teaching others how to tan their own leather from start to finish. As a teacher I can now appreciate what a little scrap of seemingly insignificant rawhide can have on an eager student and the effect a little bit of encouragement can do to awaken the magic of this craft and other rewilding skills for others.