BrainTanned
Deerskins

A bit about me.

I have studied primitive skills since I was 11 years old when I received a
copy of Larry Dean Olson's book "Outdoor Survival Skills". I completely
used that book into oblivion. I've been brain tanning deerskins for 15 years.
My first attempt was dry scraping, learning from Jim Riggs book "Blue
Mountain Buckskin". I still have that semi soft piece of buckskin which I use
as my sewing bag as a needle will never pierce it. During my first attempts I
was spotted working a skin by a fella named Ted Lamastra who had just
gone to a gathering called the RabbitStick Rendezvous outside of Rexburg,
Idaho that had originally been started by Larry Olson. Ironically, I grew up
in Rexburg and never heard of the Rabbitstick until I was 25 and living 5
hours away. Ted introduced me to some folks who used and wore buckskin
everyday. I was hooked.

Since that time I have tanned hundreds of deerskins. I have taught at the
RabbitStick, Northern Lights in the Slocan Valley of British Columbia, at
Tom Elpels Hollowtop, Chris Moraskys Earth Circle, and other smaller
venues. I now brain tan full time for my living. I live on the western edge
of the Flathead Indian Reservation in a small town of Hot Springs,
Montana. I see less and less buckskin being used all the time and the
traditional native tanners are becoming few and far between.

Please note - While it's not unfathomable that you will be able to produce a
braintanned deerskin with these instructions you should be realistic with
your understanding that this is vigorous, strenuous, and difficult process.
These instructions are not meant to be a recipe with predictable results but
rather an overview of what takes place in the process of braintanning a
deerskin. I recommend studying what is here and then working with
someone who has some experience because that is the fastest way you
will become a proficient tanner.

That being said, there will no doubt be folks out there that will get it their
first time. It's not impossible, just improbable. I try to keep it simple and if
you maintain the "keep it simple"  mantra you will at least have a good bit
of nice skin that will certainly give you the taste. There are a whole lot of
ways to brain tan. This is generally what I do. I suggest learning as many
ways as possible and use every trick in the book to get the skin soft.


Acquiring Skins
Skins can be found in many places. A few common places to start looking
are with hunter,  garbage bins, meat packers, the sides of roads, a sign with
your phone number and a $5 cash offer in a strategic local, or if your lucky,
from a brain tanner in your area. There seems to be more buckskinners all
the time.

Storing Skins
A fresh skin is best scraped of the blood, meat, and muck and dried in a
safe place out of the reach of critters and nasty bugs that eat little holes in
your skin. The next best option is to freeze the skin as is. The third best
option is to heavily salt the flesh side of the skin and store in a cool dry
place. This salt will need to be completely rinsed from the skin before it's
worked again. Use natural osmotic pressure if you have enough water, or in
other words soak the skins a whole lot to remove the salt. DO NOT
REMOVE SALT DIRECTLY ON OR INTO LIVING THINGS LIKE GRASS OR
CREEKS BECAUSE THINGS WILL DIE.

Fleshing the skin
The flesh side of the skin is the side that faces the insides of the critter. All
the fat, meat and other chunks plus layers of thin membrane are removed
to allow penetration of the brains. These bits are removed by scraping with
a dull edge, my favorite being a draw knife, but old planer blades work
well. The skin is draped over something round and smooth and is pinched
between the "beam" and whatever the beam is supported by. I use a aspen
log as it doesn't splinter much and has a nice smooth, even surface but lots
of folks use PVC pipe these days. Photos in the gallery show how this is set
up. Note how the skin is neck up, tail down.















Upright beam

Some folks use beams that are about waist high and scrape the skin by
pushing away from the body, using the body to hold the skin on the beam.
This is known as a waist beam. Like I mentioned, I use a piece of aspen that
leans against a tree. This is known as an upright beam. Either way you want
to protect the skin from whatever it's being pinched, the body or the
tree/wall/rock.

















Waist beam in use

There will be a whole lot of scraping on your skin so get used to it. Try to
develop a system of moving your skin to expose the next spot to scrape as
efficiently as possible. I basically sort of scrape out a "T" with the top of the
"T" being the neck and the body of the "T" along the spine for my reference
point for both fleshing and dehairing.

Dehairing the skin
Buckskin gets it's name from the next part of the process called bucking.
Bucking is using a basic (as in acid/base) substance such as lye or wood ash
and adding that to water to penetrate and break up substances in the skin
to allow the brains to penetrate. Re-read that because it's an important clue
as to what your doing overall, preparing fibers of the skin expand and
"fluff" up to become soft.

To buck your skin add Wood Ash (check out Matt Richards book for more
info on the recipe for wood ash) or 8 oz. Potassium Hydroxide (both end
up as only water when used up) to a 10 gallons of water mixing thoroughly.
 A plastic trashcan  works well and is preferred. Place your skin in the
can/bucket and allow it to soak. Mix it several times per day until the hair
on the neck pulls out without breaking hairs to remove them. You'll notice
that the skin swells considerably. Try to ensure that the skin has the same
uniform grayish tint throughout.

When the hair pulls easily you'll need to rinse the skin some otherwise it's
way to slippery to work with. Running water is the best way to remove the
slipperiness. Several many changes of water will make the skin manageable.
If you get your skin on the beam and it's way too hard to control then you
need to rinse it some more.

Time to scrape. You'll notice as you scrape that there is a layer of the skin
just under the hair that wants to scrape off with the hair. This layer needs
to be completely removed. Much may be said about scraping but it's
something best experienced to find what works for you.  You will find that
the skin varies in thickness and in how hard the hair and skin comes out.
These variables will always exist on every skin and be dependant on what
time of year the animal was killed, the age of the animal, storage methods
of the skin, and penetration of the lye.

After scraping the hair and epidermis layer off of the skin I rinse the hide
out in a creek until there is no more of the basic solution left in the skin.
Any of the basic solution will inhibit brain penetration. After the basic
solution is rinsed from the skin I then place the skin in a weak vinegar bath
to get the pH back to normal. I then membrane the flesh side of the skin
again then dry the skin out completely.

Braining the skin
One pound of brains will tan several skins. I blend my brains in a blender
with hot water and add more water until I have about 3 gallons of "slurry".
I take the dried skin and wet it enough to make it somewhat supple and
then add it to the brains. I soak it in the brains long enough to let the
brains soak into every fiber of the skin. I then wring the skin out, removing
as much of the moisture as I can from the skin. To ensure that you have
brained your skin as well as possible I recommend braining your skin again
and wringing again.













Wringing the skin

Softening the skin
I take the well wrung skin and lace it into a frame, cutting holes every 3-5
inches along the outer portion of the skin. I push and stretch on the skin
with a heavy stick until it no longer feels cold to the touch and then stretch
it across an aircraft cable until it's completely soft and dry.





















I then cut the crusty outer portion of the skin off so that I have a supple
edge. This process can take from 2 hours to 7 hours dependent on ambient
temperature and skin thickness and size.



Smoking the skin
I take the softened skin and glue it into a large bag and sew a "skirt" onto
the skin. Dig a hole in the ground and make a fire in the hole. When there
are only coals left in the pit add the most rotten wood you can find to the
pit and place the skirt over the hole so that there is no air getting into the
pit or smoke coming out of it except to go into the hide bag you have
suspended over it. When the skin is the color you want it be flip it inside
out and smoke the other side. You now have a BrainTanned, smoked skin
that will last you for many years.

Again, these instructions are very crude and brain tanning is largely a trial
and error sort of art form and best learned from someone who has
experience in this skill. For 200$ I am available to teach you how to
perfectly Braintan a skin. For this fee you get a green skin, a scraping tool,
and the instruction. During the class I also ramble on about all kinds of
other primitive skills that will get your aboriginal juices flowing.

A happy abo!
"I mean seriously, do
you really think I
would have done all
that work for
something that wasn't
going to last? No, I
mean it!?"

Sacajawea