Everything You Always Wanted to Know About TUMPLINES!
Charlie McCulloh asked the following via the GaRefugees mail
list: “Anyone have any practical instructions
for Tumpline construction. Leather? Sewn Linen? Rope? What's the best
construction material?” and
received the following advice from Mark L.--
“My
tumpline is constructed of leather about the thickness of a Civil War cartridge
box strap (this is oak tanned belly cowhide).
Be careful not to use leather that is too stiff as it doesn't conform to
the shape of your chest. Elk or deer
hide is way too soft and stretches too much. I would avoid fabric as it will
roll up and cut in. The same goes for rope. I assume you are talking about a
tumpline like Mark Baker uses. The Native Americans and Voyagers used a
tumpline that goes around the head and I haven't tried one of these. Most of
them were finger woven and my friend has one that he spent 400 hours
weaving. My tumpline is about 36"
X 2". I have attached loops on each end. The loops are made from pieces of
oil tanned leather 12" X 3/4". These strips are folded in half and
only about 1 1/2" sticks out past the end of the tumpline. I took a strip
of oak tanned 22" long by
3/4" wide, cut a slit in one end and looped the leather thru the
end of the tumpline loop and thru the slit and pulled it tight. I cut a similar
slit in the other end and put a deer hide tug in it about 23 inches long so I
can tie it to the other tumpline loop. This skinny piece fits thru the center
of your bedroll the wide piece goes across your shoulders. You place the skinny
piece in the bedroll before you roll it up. After it is rolled up, you tie the
loose ends together to form a loop. I'm sure your completely confused now. Attached are a couple of bad photos of my
son and I on a trek on the Blackwater River using tumplines. We froze our butts
off. Canteens froze, cups froze.
Brrrrrr! My son's bedroll is riding
just right. Mine looks like a slob and will drive you nuts hanging that low. As
I am a very lazy person, I am just putting up with it rather than stop and
adjust it. The way you tie the ends will allow you to adjust the length. If
your bedroll is like mine it will be a different size every time you roll it
up. You just have to play with the length.
Mark
Lewis
Mark
Hubbs also responded to Charlie’s question:
My tumpline is about 2.25 inches wide and made of heavy (about 10-12 oz)
veg tanned undyed cowhide. It is a simple belt with a brass double D buckle. I
roll the blankets and such around it, strap or tie the roll in place then the
belt goes over one shoulder. Don't make it too long that it hangs too low.
Sorry no cool pics.
Now,
if you don’t quite know what’s going on, don’t feel bad: “Mark, Thanks
for the description of the tumpline........Er...after....ah...reading
it....uhh....I guess....err....well............I confess, I haven't a
clue. I'll need to see one to figure
out how it's put together and how it works.
Charlie”
A bit later,
Charlie did a little more looking and reports the following, along with asking
a few followup questions: “Having looked at some tumplines on
trekker’s sites, I see what Mark L was trying to tell me about their
construction and use. It was hard for me to visualize until I had seen one and
how it was used. So...here are some
questions for you old hands. It appears to me that if a tumpline was supplied
to the troops it would have not been a hand woven article like I see the
trekkers have...this appears to have been a lovingly crafted homemade work. If
the troops were in short supply it would seem (particularly in Georgia with all
the available beef) that it might be made of leather. I am considering a leather 2" strap that would have rope run
through a hole at both ends. Then the rope would be knotted at the leather
strap to form two equal lengths. That would allow me the option of taking the
rope out for use or dismantling the tumpline. Of course hemp rope would be best
instead of sisal. Taking the rope at
the ends, I then roll up my gear, tie off with the rope, and throw the leather
strap over my shoulder. I think this is what Mark was trying to discribe to
me....and I couldn't grasp. My
questions are: Would the Militia bring
their own tumpline from home; would a watchmaker or tanner from Augusta have
one? Would the construction of a
tumpline like the one I described be a stop gap to supply the troops? Not wanting to be one of the "if they'd
a' hadum, they'd a' usedum" crowd and finding no historical reference or
artifact I'm wondering what would be appropriate.”
Mark
Lewis replied: “I doubt they would be an issue item. There is
one pictured in the Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution,
I believe. It is of sewn construction.
I have to confess mine is copied from a Mark Baker article in an old Muzzleloader
magazine. It is kind of a homespun attempt at copying period illustrations like
the one in the before mentioned work.”
Our “other” Mark added this:
“I'm with Mark L., I think
the trumplines would be only a brought from home item. Also, I think they came in two
flavors. Some were to be carried with
the burden on the front of the head. The woven or fabric version would be best
for this. Or, If you sling it from the
shoulder, fabric or leather will work. I wrap my blanket and traps around the
strap and wear it over the shoulder. I put smaller leather straps around the
bundle to keep it together. More
elaborate, but more durable.”
Georgia boy
Steve Brown added his viewpoint with the following: “Leather seems okay Charlie, but hemp webbing with leather ends
might be even better. Tramplines (I've seen both spellings) were very common to
any
civilian traveler. A simple cloth knap sack would also be pretty common. I'd
imagine the artifacts were like underwear, an item not commonly preserved. There are plenty of illustrations of
hunters, tradesmen & militia using tumplines, to make it a reasonable
speculation that they were common to militia troops.”
SO, there you have it!
January 3, 2001
Reformatted July 12, 2001