You are not much of a caveman unless you can also clothe yourself. No matter what primitive culture we look at, past or present, animal hides are a big part of keeping clothes on one’s back.
Hide tanning is one of my all time favorite skills. It’s a long process and it is considered tedious by some, but I don’t think of it that way. Knowing that I’m going to be a while, I pace myself and settle into a rhythm that is quite meditative. This way, it is really easy to maintain an awareness of both the inner and the outer for extended periods of time. It’s all too often that I get sucked into what I’m doing, and at that rate I could still be sitting in front of the computer in an office somewhere. Not to mention, that it could be dangerous depending where you are in the world.
What you see in this video is a step-by-step demonstration of brain tanning with actual brains. I did not harvest the animal. I got the hide from a butcher. The brain matter is from a hog. There are also some egg-and-oil tanned hides that went into making these pants in the end.
I was surprised how warm buckskin was. Anywhere near room temperatures or above and they get uncomfortably warm.
Does the material stay soft after it dries from getting wet? – You might ask. It does get a little stiff, but working it over with your hands for a few seconds gets it back to normal.
