Brain Tanned Buckskin Workshop

January 19 - 20, 2013

Come and join Darryl Patton and James Gibson for a great workshop learning the skills of our ancestors. In this workshop, we will be teaching the Dry Scrape method of brain tanning. This is your chance to learn an ancient skill practiced by cultures around the world. During this two day class, participants will learn how to dry scrape, brain, and smoke a White Tail deer skin. Participants will also learn how to take the end product and make a bag, moccasins or arrow quiver.

Over the course of this weekend, all participants will be provided the instruction and supervision to be able to successfully brain tan a complete deer hide. At the end of the weekend, participants will take home a brain-tanned and smoked hide. The staff of Stalking The Wild.... will also be filming the entire process and a dvd will be available for participants to purchase.

This class is limited in size and is on a first come, first serve basis. Primitive camping is available as well as motels within a short driving distance.

Located on beautiful Lookout Mountain, this informative workshop will be broken down into two parts:

  1. Introduction to Brain Tanning –
    • Dry Scrape versus Wet Scrape
    • Bark Tanning
    • Safety Issues
    • The Process of brain tanning
      • Fleshing
      • Graining
      • Membraining
      • Braining
      • Using Brains and Other Natural Materials
      • Breaking
      • Smoking
      • Using the finished Product
  2. Learning how to make a finished product from brain-tanned hides
    • Ona Indian one-piece moccasins
    • Small "possibles" bag
    • Arrow quiver

Cost: $150 per person. Tools are available to be purchased prior to the class.

Stalking The Wild.... School of Bushcraft and Survival is run by Darryl Patton and James Gibson, bringing to you, the student, many years of bushcraft and survival expertise. Whether it is learning how to brain tan, flintknap, gather edible and medicinal plants or trap wild game, we teach all of the skills taught by other survival schools. The difference in our approach to teaching survival is that we practice what we teach. Darryl and James are well-known for their expertise in wilderness survival and their ability to present these skills in an easy to understand and master format.

For more information or to sign up for this class, email darryl@thesouthernherbalist.com or write to:
P.O. Box 8481
Gadsden, Al 35902