1880 canteen

[River City John]

Rowdy,
from what I've heard reported from people who have used them, they eventually have problems with shrinkage and leaking from being used and then drying out in between use. Most are coated on the inside with food grade canning wax, which can eventually pick up musty flavor and should be recoated every once in awhile.

I still like their look, though, and they scream out for adding your own personal decoration. There is a shooter in our club, Annie Noah is her alias, who is an absolute artist with wood-burning. I would love to see what she could do with one of those wood canteens! Trouble is, I'd be afraid to use it. It would go on the mantle.

(At one time I was going to use one of them, or one of the miniature casks used as canteens during Colonial era (James Townshend, if I remember sells them) as a container to hold cleaning solution in to dump dirty brass into during a match. You can get large corks at gourmet shops that are for wide mouthed containers, and I was going to cut a larger hole with a circular saw bit used for mounting door hardware, then take the cork and wrap it with sandpaper for final chamfer and fit. But I never got around to it. Just as easy to throw the brass into a satchel and clean it when I was home.)

[Dr. Bob]

Hi Rowdy,

Says that it is lined with food grade plastic!  That should keep the taste similar to bottled water.  If ya can stand bottled water, [I don't like it at all!] you should be OK.  BUT, I don't have one and don't know anyone who has.  It does look nice.  The Indian Wars Army one is the correct period.  But the wood one looks great.  Your choice!

[Dutch Limbach]

I have a wooden canteen that I got from Jas. Townsend & Son several years ago. It was lined with pitch so I never noticed any wood flavor to the water. If left empty the wood of the canteen will shrink when it dries out. Before you use it again you will want to soak it to expand the wood which will make it water tight again. I'd put some water in the sink and wet the canteen. Then fill it with water and let it soak in the sink for a couple of hours.

For the amount of water it held the wood canteen was a little bulky for my liking. They are also heavier than metal canteens. I ended up going with a kidney shaped canteen for 18th century events, and a CW style canteen for WAS events. If ask to make a choice I like the kidney shaped canteen the best.

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[Tjackstephens]

Rowdy, if you fill that canteen with Old Overholt a few times, it will favor the water for a while. TJ 

[Books OToole]

Rowdy;

 On page 208 of Echoes of Glory; the Arms and Equipment of the Union there is a canteen which is just about what you are looking for.  It is not cloth covered but is bigger (thicker/fatter) than the standard canteen.  [An enterprizing destert traveler could wrap it in a blanket scrap.]

I think it would be a great project for R. Hamilton.  There are lots of the other ones available.

Books

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Books
Is there any way you could send  me a copy of that canteen , what about that in stainless steel ?
Also the wooden canteen holds about  a quart and a half .I called them on the phone and sent them an E Mail .
I hope to have a sample to show at the Eastern Regional . Has anyone found any info on what the Texas Rangers used
or any photographs of the Rangers or Bounty Hunters or anything with canteens other than the military canteens .
I want to thank everyone for all the GREAT IDEAS and input Thanks a million .

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy Pards
I have been looking for a picture of a canteen and I found it . In the Peace Makers Arms and Adventures in the American West .
On page 123 the canteen appears larger than a 1858 military .

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
Today I talked to Ron Hamilton about the canteens . He will be building canteens and he is working on this bigger canteen . And the metal will be lighter than the wood . Will keep you updated  on his project . What about a bear skin cover ?

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy Pards
While at the Eastern Regional I was able to look at Texas Jacks canteen . He ordered the gourd canteen from crazy crow and it looks great he filled it with water early in the morning , at the end of the day when he poured it out it was still tasting GREAT ( great taste   less filling ?) sorry I couldn't resist .

[Dutch Limbach]

Interestingly, I was watching an old episode of "Gunsmoke" yesterday morning, and Matt Dillon had a wool blanket covered kidney shaped canteen hanging at his saddle horn.

NOTE: I am not advocating using this a documentation for authenticity. I was just surprised to see a kidney shaped canteen on a TV Western from the 50s and 60s.

[St. George]

The Prop Houses had mounds of equipment at that time and most all of the Silver Screen oaters were filmed with the actors using period gear - unless the 'hero' needed a Buscadero rig.

Look at the bit players in the background and the Cavalry trooper's equipment.

You'll see WWI-era McClellan saddles and saddlebags, with Troopers carrying 'real' 1860 Cavalry Sabers.

The movies of the era were purely entertainment - they only started to get more authentic in recent times.

The blanket-sided canteens start showing up in supplier's catalogs in the '20's - but by that time, 'camping' was a recreational sport.

The photos I've seen that actually show the canteen either show an military one - or in the case of the ones taken during the Mexican Revolution - a gourd or wrapped bottle canteen, and all of those photos are very late in the time frame.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Mogorilla]

If the movies are any indication, wander around the desert and you should find plenty.  The hero always wandered through the sand and threw is canteen away when it was empty.  This always prompted my dad to say "he's going to feel stupid when he finds water and has to wander back and find that"   

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy Pards
Today I got a package in the mail from Hamilton Dry Goods . I opened the box and there was the perfect canteen . it was made of tin heavy gauge , it looked like the picture of Ed Shieffelin canteen from Tombstone . This canteen was fitted with a corn cob for a stopper.  I might change it,  but I will give it a try first . It has a web carry strap about 2 inches wide . Now what is the best thing to  seal the inside with Looking for a suggestion  I wonder if there is a form of food grade plastic I could seal it with  ??

[Tjackstephens]

Rowdy, my gourd canteen came bees wax lined. Could yours be done with bees wax? Some one out there may know and tell us how to go about doing that. TJ 

[Mogorilla]

I know for a gourd canteen, you melt the wax carefully, then heat the gourd in the oven, maybe set ~200, let the gourd warm, then pour the wax in the gourd, cork it and shake and swirl (once again carefully this is hot stuff).   Pour out any excess,

[River City John]

Howdy Pards
Today I got a package in the mail from Hamilton Dry Goods . I opened the box and there was the perfect canteen . it was made of tin heavy gauge , it looked like the picture of Ed Shieffelin canteen from Tombstone . This canteen was fitted with a corn cob for a stopper.  I might change it,  but I will give it a try first . It has a web carry strap about 2 inches wide . Now what is the best thing to  seal the inside with Looking for a suggestion  I wonder if there is a form of food grade plastic I could seal it with  ??

If it's tin it shouldn't need to be lined. Wax, etc., was only a solution for sealing/lining porous material- wood, gourds and the like.

If it develops a taste or odor you can wash it out with baking soda,  fill it up with water, put one drop of bleach in and shake it up, leave overnight, pour out in the morning and rinse out completely several times with fresh water.

[Dr. Bob]

For ALL tinware, drying after use is MANDATORY!!!!  With cups, bowls, plates &c., wipe dry and the place them upside down so that any water that you might have missed will drain away from the seams.  This will prevent rust and make the item last for a very long time.  For the canteen, I would recommend that you drain it and then use your wife's hair dryer to heat it to finish the drying.  You don't want to heat it so much that you melt the solder.   Drying completely is the key to a long and useful life!

[Delmonico]

I'm going to toss this in for folks who might not of thought of it.

I will not use any contaner for potable water that I can not sanitize afterward with bleach and water, unless I know the water was from a clorinated source.  Wells can become contaminated from time to time.  I know the state here tests there wells at state parks and such 4 times a year.  But stuff can crop up in-between. 

Even if the contamination was not heavy enough with microbes to cause you to be sick enough to notice it, they can multiply in a damp enviroment and many can go dormant after drying also.

Remember in this day and age there are very few places that you can be 100% sure that a well is not contaminated. it happens from time to time.  Also how many know when the last time the well they just got water from was tested? 

Just a thought for those who havene't thought about it.

[Texas Lawdog]

Just when you thought it was safe to drink!

[Dr. Bob]

TLD,

It is safe to drink!  Just not the water.