Looks good! I'm impressed you processed enough of that old fir bark to get a good tan. As a long time bark tanner, I have some suggestions for new tanners re: this video. Use fresh materials if you can. Old bark that has been rained on is typically low in tannin and you will need a lot more of it. Rain takes the water soluble tannins just like cooking does. Fresh barks that have not died and then been rained on are best. It already takes a lot of material,, even using fresh stuff. I don't mean green, it is better to dry it once before cooking to break down the cell structure. Iv'e seen a lot of mistakes and the mistake nearly everyone makes at first is not using enough tanning material and soaking in weak liquors. kzread.info/dash/bejne/nJ6fz8Gue5Pej84.htmlsi=3Dy0aGTL_MrAMAFl Another thing is that if you are going to end up cutting large hides in half anyway, do it before tanning. Large hides are a lot more work and inconvenience to handle. Half hides are easier to find containers for and easier at every single step. I typically split anything big like elk and cattle down the middle. I will only do a large one if I need a huge piece of leather or it is going to be left whole permanently. The process of rolling to soften can be done by drying the oils into the skin in the shade, then damping the hide back. Damping back puts a low and even moisture through the skin fiber and will dry much quicker while still allowing plenty of working time and softenability. The real work is done when the skin reaches a damp state. Working very wet skins really does not do much anyway, so you skip all that drying part when using damping back. Wrap the skin in towels that are wetted and then wrung out as much as possible and allow to sit overnight in a plastic bag. If you want stiff, smooth leather for sheaths and such, you can just nail it out and dry the oils in. One last advice, start with a squirrel, not an elk! Seriously, cut your teeth on a smaller project to test the process, your tools and tanning materials. If you just have a large skin, you can cut off a leg or two and run those through first. Here is my tanning video playlist. Caution, rabbithole ahead... playlist kzread.info/head/PL60FnyEY-eJA7D2FJhI5AvWVx7oqjb4xX&si=b9fFBZYNyZQh0M8D

@clayhayeshunter

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tips. Pinned for the benefit of others.

@timothylongmore7325

5 ай бұрын

I'm going to be bending your ear soon. I got another steer hide to do. The last one I cut into strips to bark tan before I found skillcult and made myself about 250 feet of dark colored rawhide strips. With your replys to my questions we figured out where I went wrong. I was able to salvage that leather but want to do a proper procedure next time.

@galetalon3133

4 ай бұрын

​@@clayhayeshunter Appreciate you pinning thus. I haven't tanned anything since I was a runt and had forgotten a lot. This gives me a quick brush up list to go through.

@CameronRay24

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!!! All this education for a new homesteader is fantastic

@LabGecko

3 ай бұрын

Upvoted just for the tip of starting small (squirrel) before trying something big. Bonus kudos for all the other tips! Edit: It seemed like Clay put the hide in the lime solution just after mixing it with water. Doesn't that release a lot of heat? What temperature is good for soaking in the lime water?

I never realized traditional hide preparation and tanning was so complicated, long and labor intensive. I have a new appreciation for those frontier skills.

Wow. Where´d you learn all that! So here´s a man who goes into the forest and brings back a piece of wood and makes a bow and hunts and kills an elk and processes the meat and tans the hide and makes a pair of boots and puts them on and goes into the forest... Love your style. Looking forward to the boots. Kudos! And congrats to 400.000!

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Many thanks

@tomeverett6938

6 ай бұрын

E

@user-ii2sg2hi3r

6 ай бұрын

😮😮😮

@user-ii2sg2hi3r

6 ай бұрын

😮😮

@talion5974

4 ай бұрын

​@@clayhayeshunterwhen will you make the boots???

I genuinely love the fact that there isnt music playing and the sounds of the process are .....great video

Wow. Now picture all these tasks without bins, barrels, and cans. Primitive folks were pure badass. Really good video.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

You got that right!

@jkcbrah4708

6 ай бұрын

Straight up man, not to mention the quality of buckskin & bark tanner leather they were able to achieve without all the modern luxuries, was unbelievable.

@kdc71425

6 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same thing as he dumped that big white barrel...did they hollow out trees to make vats like this? Or did a black smith need a make a massive pot? The everyday person couldn't afford a giant pot though. Fascinating stuff

@elimg.3684

2 ай бұрын

Probably a wooden tub, or just a hole in the ground!

@johnrobichaud130

2 ай бұрын

Clay vessels

This is the most to the point instruction on making leather I’ve seen after some years. Thank you!

absolutely a great presentation , i never stopped to think how much was involved in old school leather production

Truly a teacher and a library of deep seed knowledge thru which humans have thrived thus far. Respect and love for you…

I live in the Adirondack Mts, hemlock bark was stripped by loggers and stacked in the would for tanneries, up until 30 years ago or so I would still find a stack of bark in the woods that was never picked up for one reason or another. Always made me feel a connection to the past when I found one, I'm 67.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Very cool

I don’t know whether to say you are a hardworking man or a dedicated man 👏👏👏👏

I almost cried when you split it right through the best part😢...time we'll spent...tks much !!!

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

I sure thought about it before I made that cut! But I've got plans for this one and it'll work out just fine.

When you find a super interesting video, but you are already subscribed

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

🍻

This is really well shot, no fuss and very informative. Much appreciated thank you.

Living naturally without all the stress with goals & tasks that keep you healthy, satisfied, at peace, & content. To a lesser degree this was the direction of my childhood - making things, trapping & fishing, all of the familiar sounds & smells of the woods & the seasons. Looking back I marvel at how peaceful it all was. Just watching this work & listening to the sounds is so relaxing & gratifying. Thank you for sharing.

Man thank you for this great content. I'm in the process of becoming more of what I call a "woodsman". I'd love to learn this skill and make my own leather products from game that I harvest. And to top it off, it's sustainable. God bless you, sir.

@roncalvert6149

4 ай бұрын

I'd love to spend a year with this guy thru all 4 seasons in the wilderness.

i took 8 or 10 of my deer to a tanner.. i had no idea of the amount of work they put into it. wow.. thanks for educating us.

I highly admire men & women who keep the old knowledge alive.

So far the best video I’ve seen on the tube about this method. Lots of little tips and things that makes a huge difference in quality. ❤

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

This was a great video Clay! I'm looking forward to seeing you make yourself a pair of boots. I've been wanting to make a pair of work boots myself because they wear out in the same spots every time. Keep up the informative videos like this. Thank you

Excellent video! We should all get back to producing our own stuff instead of relying on buying them from the store. Self-reliance is so important.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Absolutely!

I would love to see a video on making some of those boots. Great video!

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Coming soon!

I did this for the first time a few years ago, I really respect anyone who tries this out its a very long and arduous process. I think everyone who hunts should try to use at least one skin even if they just buy the chemical tanning solution. It is so cool to have a material that you made from an animal you killed.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Agreed

@timothylongmore7325

5 ай бұрын

watch out though. It's like eating potato chips. I've done every hide of deer I've killed and a few I didn't. And yes ,it is hard work.

@jackherbic6048

5 ай бұрын

@@timothylongmore7325 Bark tanning is especially hard, comparatively the bottles are easy. The hardest part in my opinion is getting material unless you have large amounts of land with a plant that is known to be good for tanning.

@zoechloe

13 күн бұрын

Thanks for the extremely detailed vid❤

Great video Clay and awesome looking hide! This year I tried my hand at fleshing a whitetail hide my buddy gave me. Cathartic experience and hard work, but worth every second. Still gotta finish the tanning. Gonna sand it down, brain tan and smoke the hide. Excited to see how it turns out!

Artist. Real man! Survivor. Teacher. Respect.

Well this video proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I really had no idea how leather was made. This was awesome!

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Excellent tutorial Clay. Amazing how involved and that took 3+months but the end result is fantastic. Looking forward to see the boots you make and that ever else. Thanks Nate

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Thanks a ton!

This has to be one of the most incredible videos I've seen! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

@clayhayeshunter

4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

Wow, I really like the color that elk hide ended up with. I might have to give this method a try with one of my deer hides. See if I can achieve that same warm brown color you got. I have a ton of acorns in my area, I can probably use them instead of bark. I’ve brain/egg tanned a couple deer hides before, but this video has got me interested in trying this. Thanks for posting!

SERIOUS AMOUNT OF WORK! AMAZING JOB YOU HAVE DONE, UK

What a beautiful end result! Ive been working with leather for a while and have started my own business. i always appreciate a bark tanned hide over the chrome crap, just more you can do with a natural product, simplistic. Your finished hide is gorgeous and I'm excited to see what you make from it! Shoe and boots are tricky but nothing beats bespoke footware, gonna be nice to have those on the next hunt! Cheers for making this high quality content, time to learn more about the olden days!

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Thank you very much!

@kraabol.mp4

5 ай бұрын

Glad to see this video has absolutely taken off

final product looks incredible

This was awesome! I'd love to learn how to tan someday! Thanks for showing this!

Just ordered his book! Surviving alone! I’m so excited to get my signed copy and read it! I don’t have a lot of $$ so I’ll get the bow books next month I hope! Thanks!

I have a nephew(wife’s side) named Clay Hayes. You ain't him! But I will share this with him, as he's a taxidermist. Beautiful, HARD work. Thanks for sharing.

Love this channel. Inspires me to focus on having property to do these things. Really love your methods and thank you for sharing your knowledge free of charge.

Wow.. I will have to treat leather with more gratitude in the future... I was blown away by your hard work. Thank you so much. 👍

@clayhayeshunter

5 ай бұрын

Many thanks

Looks like its true to the old days. What a beautiful skill to pass down thru generations.

Excellent content, now I know where the tanning comes from. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, it is really appreciated.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Sir, you are a true craftsman! Thank you

I believe there’s only one bark tannery left in England. Jfj baker in colyton. I was surprised to see that a guy is doing it in Carballo, Galicia in Spain near where I now live Curtidos Sofán. Amazing to see this gentleman doing it at home. I’m surprised the leather isn’t marked and scratched from the process though. I find I even have to tape over my well cut finger nails to stop scratches ( on finished leather - I’ve never bark tanned) when I’m sewing. Marvellous video. Thank you.

Really cool video, I had no clue bark tanning was a thing.

Amazing video. Educational and we all know that we wanted to know how to make leather in case of a survival situation lol, but yes great video and great simple explanation

Good day to you Clay. I am a Russian hunter. I live in Thailand now. I watch your video with nostalgia. It's nice to see when a person treats his craft with respect.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Thanks 👍

Ahahahaaaa I gaped and died a little bit when you cut it in half because of how much effort goes into preparing such a piece! This was really cool and really informative! Thank you! ^_^

Looks like a lot of work. I appreciate leather even more now

Very nice. Aside from the soaking time being so much, it’s overall less complicated than I thought it’d be

Clay, tis is a verry good video, no talking, reducing text to the most essential and verry well filmed. Also a beautifull lesson in tanning hides old skool with no modern things, acually bushcraft style. Needles to mention that I subscribed.

I’m so impressed with people who have these skills. People who can make their own lye for their homemade soap. People who dry dandelion stems to use to make baskets. People who can grow their own wheat and know how to process it and grind it into flour and make their own bread. My grand mother used to sheer sheep, wash the yarn, card it, spin it (on a wheel my grandfather made by hand) dye it in a natural dye solution she made herself from leaves, weave it, and make entire outfits all by hand. I can make excel spreadsheets and that’s about it….I’m trying though. Made my own bone broth the other day. Baby steps 😭

@clayhayeshunter

5 ай бұрын

Just keep at it, make it a goal to learn something new each day.

@timharris3125

4 ай бұрын

That is awesome! We started making our own broth probably 7 years ago. Now we grow out our own chickens, butcher, process, and have a 2 or 3 day broth making/canning “party” once or twice a year. I guess all of that is to say that bone broth is a great starting place, and I hope you continue and find as much pride and happiness in it as we do.

Thank you for taking the time to share this skill.

I'm so impressed by the natural process and that it's a real natural leather. By the way I'm new leather crafter philippines

This is a ton of work. Well done man

Thanks for showing this. I had no idea how long it takes to bark tan. I hope you show more of these..

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Will do!

Gerçek bir zanaatkarsın. iyi bir ustasın senin gibisi kolay kolay bulunmaz.kendi el emeginle şahane bir deri elde ettin. tebrik ederim.

I learned way more from this about tanning than from Ashland leathers video with the scientist guy.

Clay, I've found that if you take the bark off a tree in log form, the barks pieces will be pretty tiny and you won't have to chop the bark up. I put my deer sled under the log as I'm using my draw knife to debark the log and it catches the bark.

Damn, I had no idea you have to soak it for 3 months! Great video

Thanks clay it's really good to know how to do this job. God bless you❤

Que chido trabajo! Yo vivo en el campo y de repente hay cueros para curtir, lo voy a intentar de nuevo porque me faltaban detalles que hoy aprendí de tu video

Absolutely love this! Thinking I can do that.. 3 days later.. np.. 3 days later.. that's not so long.. 3 months later.. Maybe ill just keep buying my leather for now :D. Looking forward to seeing the boots!

I have a sling pouch over 200 years old and the leather has help up amazingly well. The powder horn has some small holes from bugs. Brass telescope is in great condition. Whoever had the scope was like their Special Forces. Everything was with a long, heavy muzzle loader that i inherited. It has a set trigger so guess the users, my ancestors, were snipers also.

Thanks for the wisdom, every man needs to know that to survive Thanks again, stay safe!!!

Very nice video, thanks. Question: for the drying process, how do you go about it? Flat on that board, full sun, several days? How many times do you apply oil to it while it dries? (Sorry if I missed it)

Hello clay, i wanted to start off by saying how much i appreciate your videos. Youve made the learning curve much less painful. I do have a question though. When using the tree bark, if its just the tannins you're after, would coffee/tea work as well? Or walnut husks? I think those are super high in tannins, let me know if you can, or if youve done it, what were the results. Hope this finds its way to you

Really enjoying the new content! Looking forward to more tanning videos. Would whitetail be too thin of a hide for leather?

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

No, I’ve got a whitetail hide soaking now.

Hey Clay , just about finished scraping on that hide and gotta say that hydrated lime worked great for dehairing. Wood ash has always been hit or miss with me. Wheather it worked or not the hide always came out nasty. Thanks for the tip and you should check out woodland escape w/ Peter. I mentioned you to him when I was touching base and thanking him for his advise on braintanning. You two have a lot in common , good well made videos. Not like mine.

@timothylongmore7325

5 ай бұрын

that's , the woodland escape

Great job, man, and thanks for posting it.

Appreciate all the info you put out bro!

Nice bark tanned elk. As to the oil, I use Protal from McKinzie's tanning supplies, as it works way better than tallow and olive oil. I have tanned hundreds of deer and elk using Lutan, chrome, brain, oak bark with hair on or hair and grain off and they all have their distinct characteristics. Bark tanned leather makes great moccasins, belts, bags.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tip!

Thank you for this truly fascinating video. I love working with leather, and wearing leather products. I will appreciate every piece of item I've got even more from now on.

@clayhayeshunter

3 ай бұрын

Wonderful!

Wow. I didn't realize how much effort goes into the tanning process. I have been wanting to tan some deer hides for several years now.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

You can do it!

Nice video!! I use eucalyptus bark, a specific tree that releases resin due to a disease in the bark, the color is very strong and has a lot of tannin.

I've always used wood ash. Probably never will again , unless it's a shtf situation. I've learned why half the time it doesn't work but lye or lime seems much easier. Also learned why my bark tanning experiments didn't work, lol. I've got a whole steer hide cut into belts for adirondack pack baskets that are a great dark color but not tanned. Deer season is on me again and here I am watching tanning videos again. This definately the way to go for big hides. Hope you do a video on brain tanning too. That's how I like to do my deer hides.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Yep, I'll do a brain tanning vid. Hopefully this fall.

Thanks for walking us through the process.

Very well done Clay. I always enjoy your videos!

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Thank ya

Looks very much like country side, everything is super interesting to watch it good job. God bless

This is inspiring Clay - thank you. Looks like a project that would be better start with warmer weather ahead since I won't have a good place to work through the process over winter. Any harm in dropping the freshly skinned elk hide in the chest freezer until spring or is there some initial prep that would be good to do first?

@timothylongmore7325

5 ай бұрын

you probably all ready figured it out but , no harm at all in freezing a hide. Fleshed or not but fleshing first is better. Take up about a third of the weight.

Uncle, you are very good at it.

Oh man. I'm looking forward to seeing the boots you make with that.

You are an inspiration source to me

i will probably never get the chance to do this, but i love the video!

Thanks for sharing. Amazing craftsmanship

Nice stuff clay! I’ve done buckskin tanning before. This is definitely next, but clearly a longer process 😂

Awesome job!! I’ve never done this but it’s a lot of work

Outstanding CH, cant wait for the boots!

Always brain tanned my harvested hides. Have a hide salted and rolled up stored for the past 4+ months waiting for the weather to change so I can try bark tanning. Thinking a nice rifle case for my flintlock rifle.... also need an apron for my blacksmith shop so I quit burning holes in my shirt and pants lol. Definitely going to give this a try

Never seen that process before really cool to see!

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Thanks

Amazing content. Just keeps getting better. Thanks for sharing.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoy it!

Love your channel. Please make a video of a homemade forge setup.

Best video I’ve found yet on tanning your hide at home, question can I skip the lime soak and leave the hair on? Or will the long period of time soaked in bark tea cause the hair to fall out?

Awesome video clay and yes would love to see one with pelt on

Great overview of the process. 👍

Hey Clay great video I just have a quick question how do you treat a snake skin before laying it on the back of a bow , thank you

Very nice job! You have a lot of patience my friend. I do leather work and a hide like you tanned would cost a lot of money. You didn’t mention how thick the finished leather was. It looked like 8-9 oz completed. Please make another video of you making the boots. If you figure how much the leather would cost to buy and the amount of money the boots would cost, you saved a lot of money! Best regards, Richard

Graccias por tu hermoso video ....tengo una piel de vivora de cascabel ya paso el proceso de curtido ahora estoy en saber que aceite pongo para el hidratado y suavidad esta acartonada amigo saludos ...

You’re a legend, keep kicking ass!

Beautiful work! Looks like something I could actually do and enjoy.

@clayhayeshunter

6 ай бұрын

You should!

Would love to see a video on harvesting sinew for a bow or other projects.

Thanks for this master piece

All hail to you and your skill from Egypt

I like a plastic pipe that’s been slid over a 2by 4 that was attached horizontally to a stable wall . Walnut hulls work well without lye .