By Gary Lewis
Possibles. Anyone who carries a muzzleloader in the field needs to pack a number of small items: powder flask, caps or flints, patches, balls, nipple pick, nipple wrench and a dozen other things to fix a gun or start a fire or fillet a critter. We call them possibles. And possibles are carried in a possibles bag.
For 35-plus years I have been accumulating muzzleloaders and today have more calibers and gauges of rifles, handguns and front-stuffing shotguns than I care to list. My under-hammer gun has three different barrels which allows me to hunt everything from grouse to elk. It has its own dedicated bag.
Should I choose to hunt with my 28 gauge shotgun, it requires a different set of tools than the 12 gauge shotgun. I find it is much better to have a dedicated possibles bag for each gun. And ideally the bag complements the gun. If the gun is period correct to 1840, the bag should be leather, perhaps with fringe and if it is adorned with a scrimshawed powder horn, so much the better.
Last week I ordered a waxed canvas possibles bag from Muzzle-loaders dot com and on a whim, I added a leather bushcraft bag to the order. It looked like just the thing for packing with a revolver. I was not wrong.
Leather Bushcraft Bag
Imagine this. I am planning a fall turkey hunt in western Oregon, and I tap my 28 gauge single shot for duty. This sweetheart goes by the name Squirrel-toothed Alice and she may be 65-years-old but she still looks 28. She has a bag. Yah, it looks like a purse and I’m okay with that. I may not be in touch with my feminine side, but the bag belongs to the shotgun not to me. Anyway, I’m going to be carrying the shotgun in my right hand. That means the revolver will go on the off side.
On my left side, I will have a 44-caliber 1860 Army. The revolver has its own accessories I won’t be mixing with the shotgun supplies. And that’s where the bushcraft bag comes in. Cost was $39.99 from Muzzle-loaders dot com and showed up in a couple of days.
It’s a scaled down possibles bag big enough to hold things like caps, balls, flask, an extra loaded cylinder and a multi-tool. The different thing is instead of a shoulder strap it has belt loops.
The belt loops are sewn into the flap with double stitching. It has one big storage compartment, a smart top lace-up system and adjustable closure. The technology? It’s definitely eastern Oregon gold rush 1860 when the war was on back east and Chief Paulina struck fear into the hearts of pioneers.
It took me awhile to figure out how I was going to use it. My belt is 1-3/4 inch wide, which is perfect for this bag. First slide on the revolver in its holser, slide on my homemade fighting knife and then snug it all up with the bushcraft bag. Now I can take off the belt one-handed and nothing falls off. Solved that problem with a sweet leather bag that matches the vibe of the repro Colt. I love it.
Does this bushcraft bag make my arsenal look bigger? I hope so.
Waxed Canvas Shooting Bag
In the old days a lot of flatlanders and not a few mountain men carried canvas possibles bags. Canvas was sturdy, easy to work with and provided real protection against the elements.
The most important gun in my black powder collection is a Lyman Trade Rifle in 54 caliber. To my way of thinking, the 54 is perfect for mule deer and blacktail and the gun is reliably accurate to 100 yards. It has put several trophies in the Oregon Record Book and I didn’t know I needed a new bag for the old reliable until I took a look at this waxed canvas shooting bag. It is faithful to the tradition of the possibles bag, but has several upgrades.
Constructed of water resistant canvas with leather accents, it measures 9 inches L x 10 inches H x 3 inches W. The main compartment is plenty roomy, but what I love are the extra features: A quick access rear pocket where I will keep caps, nipple pick and wrench. A zipper topped interior pocket to store things like a multi-tool, ballistics data sheets, powder measure. A sewn in accessory loop allows for easy organization of ball starter, flask and speed loaders.
While the bag is waxed already, I will add another treatment (this is the Pacific Northwest after all), an extra layer of waxed protection before November. This bag is a real value at $34.99
https://muzzle-loaders.com/products/muzzle-loaders-canvas-possibles-bag-muzzleloaders-shooting-bag-mz1201?sca_ref=1638627.C47uXJ1f9J
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If you want to hunt Africa and need to talk about it, contact Gary Lewis garylewisoutdoors@gmail.com