Imagine the scene… you’ve cleared your wood camp site, you are ready for your 4 day walk back to civilisation and you swing you crammed pack onto your back — but … what’s this?… the bag feels unbalanced and ‘wrong’. Inspecting the straps confirms that the frayed area you noticed when you took the bag from the loft has finally given way and snapped completely. So what now?
You could carry the bag on one shoulder or you can look for a fix… you remember you have some scraps of leather in the bag from the pouch making project you completed round the fire this weekend, however, it’s not big enough to replace the entire strap.
So what would you do? – with a little imagination and lateral thinking you can cut the leather into multiple strips of equal width and braid (plait) them together to make a strap, strong enough to hold the weight of the pack and to last until you can repair properly. With a bit of practice, your quick fix could even turn into something beautiful with patterns and twists.
Braiding is a centuries old technique which has many practical – or decorative – applications today and nothing beats making something for yourself.
A braiding workshop is a fun way to learn the basics. Come to the Moot and see…
