Absolute legend! There is so little content on water bags, particularly in Australia which is surprising given how commonplace they were. Great video, really enjoyed it.
Cheers mate. It's definantly a learning process for myself, and I'm learning more and more as I do my research. And you are right, it is pretty hard to find information about them.
Used one on Gartmore Station outside Tambo Queensland 1972. Gave us a cool drink during hot days working outside. Got one of the latest to get in touch with the good old days. It took a lot of work to get it working properly.Wish I'd seen this video 6 months ago.
Yeah I wonder if the old bags that were made took this long to break in? I do remember seeing a docco on John Stuart and one of his failed attempts to cross the interior of Australia .. he basically had to turn back on one of his earlier attempts because these big custom made canvas waterbags that were made for expidetion ended up failing and leaking miserably a few days into a serious desert crossing.
We had one in the 1970s for driving through Arizona and other deserts. I remember one time after a long, freeway drive at high speed (and with the near 0% humidity in our deserts) it actually formed some ice crystals inside! Sadly the plastic portion on ours split and it no longer worked. I've been looking for new ones... looks like I'll have to order from Australia! BTW, I have no idea if it works, but I've seen more than one post online saying that you should boil them in sugar-water to help cure them.
Yeah interesting .. I've seen bush fridges made with hessian before with a similar concept of wet hession having wind blown against it cools everything down.
@@TheBeardedBushranger and my grandparents a hessian covered wooden frame with fly wire attached hanging in the willow trees as their cooler in the 1960s.
I worked in mustering camps and I used these types of bags on my vehicle but it had a leather back to stop rubbing through on the bull bar. These weren't used as saddle bags though because you had two different types on horses. One that had a curve and it fitted under the neck of your horse. The other was better and had two teardrop types that sat on the shoulders of the horse and had a leather back so horse sweat didnt contaminate the water. These ones were both drovers water bags. The latter was set up like a breastplate and you drank by standing next to your horse and undoing each side at the top by a buckle. I used that on in a pack camp and it was the best and held the most water. I also had a WW11 set that was similar to the drovers double set but set up for walking. Maybe these were used in New Guinea? Then not that long ago I found one in the Q store at Army. It had the broad arrow on it so I gave it to my mate who has several 110 landrovers. It didn't have the leather backing though.
Hey thanks heaps for that bit of history info. I like the fact you had different types to fit the horses, and the leather backing so the sweat didn't contaminate the water. They really were a beaut piece of gear back in the day.
We had them on our Armored Fighting Vehicles in the Marine Corps. Guess they were well broken in, because I never remembered seeing them leak precievably?! They were quite common hanging from car mirrors in the South West desert as a kid.
Interesting to hear mate. Yeah aparently modern day canvas is not the same as it used to be with lots of synthetics and things in it. I wonder if things were just made tougher back in the day.
It would be interesting to deconstruct an old bag and a new bag to see if there is a difference in how they are made. Seams could make s big difference. Thread tension and stitch spacing, not to mention thread type!. I'd be worried that they make them as ornaments now, so cut corners or have forgotten construction techniques.
I feel that way as well mate. I'm actually pretty keen to take a part one of the new ones and see how it's been made, and see if my wife and I can replicate it. But like you said, would be interesting to see how the old ones were made (though I don't think I'd have the heart to pull a part a vintage one)
I used water bags as a boy scout in the 80s and 90s. In the Netherlands. Looked like a canvas shopping tote, open top, canvas handles. I don't remember any special treatments. It dripped the first day, until the fibers swelled.
Such a good ol bit of gear, cheers for keepin this info out there. Thered be more than a few old swaggies that owe their hide to a canvas waterbag i reckon
The flour trick sounds like another old trick for stopping pipework from leaking: chuck some wet sawdust down the pipe and that'll bung up the holes against low pressure. I reckon what's going on is the starch in the flour is stopping up the holes and expanding whenever water is added. An old US cowboy trick for keeping water in a canteen fresh for longer was to drop a silver dollar coin in; once again there's some sense behind this, since silver compounds are toxic to pretty much everything only so little comes off the coin that only water bacteria are much affected.
Waxed thread is commonly available for hand stitching by cobblers, saddlers, etc. So if you need to do repairs, try use that. If youre trying to seal stitch holes, you need to rub the wax in. You need the friction to heat up the canvas enough to take in the wax, you want it to plug the hole's, not just cover the top
Cheers mate, yup that makes total sense about the wax to plug the holes (and where the stitching would be) I would love to take this a part to get a design and then recreate it with my wife who is a tailor, but use the waxed threading.
@TheBeardedBushranger make sure to tell her to hand sew it. If that wax gets all over her fancy machines, you won't have a wife anymore 😆 Maybe use a sailmakers awl
Had one decades ago in central Australia on the front of a hilux for a good while - just soaked it and used it. Never heard the flour thing, and I’d never add it because it just sounds grubby to me. Used to get plastered with dust on the outside, so maybe that helped seal it a bit.
what a great video thank you! I bought one of those bags and was terribly disappointed when it leaked out in 3 hours. today I will try your seasoning methods.
Thanks for that. Yes it's been pretty hard to find information online! But a lot of old history books talk about the canvas water bags. Give it another go and you might find a water bag that works great for you.
Interesting video, i feel that the new water bags would be manufactured different to the old ones as it thread used on the seems and even the material itself. I agree with you on the plastic cap, cork would be so much more authentic.
I have a feeling as well. I'd love to pick on a part and have a look at the difference. Although I wouldn't have the heart to pull a part a vintage one
If anyone wants to learn about waterproofing fabrics, nighthawkinlight's 2nd latest video would be a great watch after this one. Paraffin wax can also be used and mixing it with mineral oil greatly improves flexibility of the material. With his video you could make material for your own water bag, tarp or clothes.
Interesting video mate. Although the canvas water bags need to not be 100% water proof so they can weep.The tarps he makes are really interesting. I do love the traditional materials like wax and linseed oil, as opposed to sythentics and plastics. I've made my own oil skin tarps like this before and most of my clothing these days is waxed canvas or oil skin. Thanks again.
Great video. Gave me flashbacks to older relatives in the later 1970s and 1980s driving back and forth from Adelaide to north of SA. My (flawed) memory is that their water bags were hessian, not canvas. The fibres were looser and pricklier, and swelled more after soaking. Definitely a soak needed as part of travel prep, but no wax or flour. The bags were hung on the front bumper of the car to keep the water cool. Thanks for keeping history alive. 👍
Great video Luke thanks for sharing. I haven't seen one of those for years. When I was a kid growing up in South Africa in the 60s and 70s they were very popular. Putting flour or maize meal in them was a trick that people used here. Looking forward to the next adventure.
Yeah my father used to but a hessian water bag on the front of the Holden on long trips. I hated the flavor but really was just a kid being picky as I still remember it being just an "earthy" taste
Keep it up mate, fast becoming a regular watch on UA-cam now, from VHC myself but do regular trips with horses over several days and I reckon a canvas bag is going to go on the pack horse very soon 🤌
Gday mate. That honestly sounds bloody brilliant. Bit of a dream of mine actually. One of my goals I want to complete over the next 5 years is to learn how to ride a horse. Doing a trip on horseback through the high country would connect ya to the old ways and old fellas in a pretty significant way.
@@TheBeardedBushranger it’s a pretty special way of getting about in the bush that’s for sure, certainly a passion of mine and many other much better horseman then myself. Last trip was 3 days at bogong and about 100ml of rain 😅. If you’re interested your local ATHRA might be able to get you started
@@BushRamble Cheers mate. Bogong area sounds fantastic .. but that's a fair bit of rain. I will have to look into. It's a bit of a dream of mine to ride through the high country on horse back.
If you ever want to go horse riding in the Big Desert @ Murrayville Victoria, my mates dad is always keen to take people out in the scrub for rides. He also makes his saddles and is a real cowboy. He would really enjoy your videos.
Interesting how much they were actually used in our history, but how little info you can find on them online. I reckon heritage musuems / old books in librarys and talking to folks who used them is the way to go.
I was told many years ago to use sugar to seal a canvas water bag. I tried it back in the 80's and it worked well. Could you taste the flour in the water after you rinsed it?
Hope that was "old school" flour that you used Luke 😂 Seriously, our ancestors used animal hides to store all manner of goods. Those too needed preparing. Got me thinking about the indigenous people before canvas was introduced, was water carried then & if so how exactly? Your vids certainly educational Luke. 🌟
I'm not sure about them using animal hide water carriers. But I am pretty sure they had things like gourds that were hollowed out and used. Ive seen those kind of water carrying containers in my time over in Africa!
Yeah for sure mate, I talk about that at the very start of the vid, how the bag would weep and that would cool it down. I'm talking about a new bag that is leaking out all it's water over 24 hours or so. Lots of new bags do this .. a water bag should hold your water for a couple of days when working right (while slowly weeping) Thanks for watching.
Absolute legend! There is so little content on water bags, particularly in Australia which is surprising given how commonplace they were.
Great video, really enjoyed it.
Cheers mate. It's definantly a learning process for myself, and I'm learning more and more as I do my research. And you are right, it is pretty hard to find information about them.
@@TheBeardedBushranger Keep up the great content👍
Used one on Gartmore Station outside Tambo Queensland 1972. Gave us a cool drink during hot days working outside. Got one of the latest to get in touch with the good old days. It took a lot of work to get it working properly.Wish I'd seen this video 6 months ago.
Yeah I wonder if the old bags that were made took this long to break in? I do remember seeing a docco on John Stuart and one of his failed attempts to cross the interior of Australia .. he basically had to turn back on one of his earlier attempts because these big custom made canvas waterbags that were made for expidetion ended up failing and leaking miserably a few days into a serious desert crossing.
We had one in the 1970s for driving through Arizona and other deserts. I remember one time after a long, freeway drive at high speed (and with the near 0% humidity in our deserts) it actually formed some ice crystals inside! Sadly the plastic portion on ours split and it no longer worked. I've been looking for new ones... looks like I'll have to order from Australia! BTW, I have no idea if it works, but I've seen more than one post online saying that you should boil them in sugar-water to help cure them.
Thanks for that, another tip! I wonder if you can find some vintage ones over in the states? We only have one company here making new ones.
Thinking back to the one my father had on the front of his vehicle i seem to recall the hessian was a secondary cover that protected it somewhat.
Yeah interesting .. I've seen bush fridges made with hessian before with a similar concept of wet hession having wind blown against it cools everything down.
@@TheBeardedBushranger and my grandparents a hessian covered wooden frame with fly wire attached hanging in the willow trees as their cooler in the 1960s.
Nothing like the water from a canvas bag on the front of a vehicle. Beautiful
I worked in mustering camps and I used these types of bags on my vehicle but it had a leather back to stop rubbing through on the bull bar. These weren't used as saddle bags though because you had two different types on horses. One that had a curve and it fitted under the neck of your horse. The other was better and had two teardrop types that sat on the shoulders of the horse and had a leather back so horse sweat didnt contaminate the water. These ones were both drovers water bags. The latter was set up like a breastplate and you drank by standing next to your horse and undoing each side at the top by a buckle. I used that on in a pack camp and it was the best and held the most water. I also had a WW11 set that was similar to the drovers double set but set up for walking. Maybe these were used in New Guinea? Then not that long ago I found one in the Q store at Army. It had the broad arrow on it so I gave it to my mate who has several 110 landrovers. It didn't have the leather backing though.
Hey thanks heaps for that bit of history info. I like the fact you had different types to fit the horses, and the leather backing so the sweat didn't contaminate the water. They really were a beaut piece of gear back in the day.
I still have an LG Matten waterbag, as a kid I remember my uncle with one on the front of the station bike in the 90s.
Yeah they are a great bit of gear. I love hearing stories of the old explorers tying big water bags on their saddles when adventuring.
If you have an email address or a point of contact I could send you some pictures if your interested.
We had them on our Armored Fighting Vehicles in the Marine Corps. Guess they were well broken in, because I never remembered seeing them leak precievably?!
They were quite common hanging from car mirrors in the South West desert as a kid.
Interesting to hear mate. Yeah aparently modern day canvas is not the same as it used to be with lots of synthetics and things in it. I wonder if things were just made tougher back in the day.
I remember when we had one tied to front of our car .the water was always lovely and cool
Yeah they are a great piece of kit.
It would be interesting to deconstruct an old bag and a new bag to see if there is a difference in how they are made.
Seams could make s big difference. Thread tension and stitch spacing, not to mention thread type!.
I'd be worried that they make them as ornaments now, so cut corners or have forgotten construction techniques.
I feel that way as well mate. I'm actually pretty keen to take a part one of the new ones and see how it's been made, and see if my wife and I can replicate it. But like you said, would be interesting to see how the old ones were made (though I don't think I'd have the heart to pull a part a vintage one)
I used water bags as a boy scout in the 80s and 90s. In the Netherlands. Looked like a canvas shopping tote, open top, canvas handles. I don't remember any special treatments. It dripped the first day, until the fibers swelled.
Great memories mate. Looks like they were pretty widely used accross different countries.
Excellent ...l hope the bag company see this.
I kind of like the idea of looking into making my own. Thanks for watching.
Thanks Mate, This Trick Might Seal Mine Up Now.
Top Video.
Thanks Mike
Give it a go and let me know!
Such a good ol bit of gear, cheers for keepin this info out there. Thered be more than a few old swaggies that owe their hide to a canvas waterbag i reckon
Yeah I reckon a lot of old drovers, miners and people working in the outback, could thank their lives to them.
The flour trick sounds like another old trick for stopping pipework from leaking: chuck some wet sawdust down the pipe and that'll bung up the holes against low pressure. I reckon what's going on is the starch in the flour is stopping up the holes and expanding whenever water is added.
An old US cowboy trick for keeping water in a canteen fresh for longer was to drop a silver dollar coin in; once again there's some sense behind this, since silver compounds are toxic to pretty much everything only so little comes off the coin that only water bacteria are much affected.
Yeah that is really interesting to think about. I love that cowboy trick of the coin as well. Thanks for sharing.
Waxed thread is commonly available for hand stitching by cobblers, saddlers, etc. So if you need to do repairs, try use that.
If youre trying to seal stitch holes, you need to rub the wax in. You need the friction to heat up the canvas enough to take in the wax, you want it to plug the hole's, not just cover the top
Cheers mate, yup that makes total sense about the wax to plug the holes (and where the stitching would be) I would love to take this a part to get a design and then recreate it with my wife who is a tailor, but use the waxed threading.
@TheBeardedBushranger make sure to tell her to hand sew it. If that wax gets all over her fancy machines, you won't have a wife anymore 😆
Maybe use a sailmakers awl
Had one decades ago in central Australia on the front of a hilux for a good while - just soaked it and used it. Never heard the flour thing, and I’d never add it because it just sounds grubby to me. Used to get plastered with dust on the outside, so maybe that helped seal it a bit.
haha a good coating of dust seems to do the trick then.
Mint. Ive old stock WAG bags. Cheers bloke
Interesting with the flour to seal, have used pepper and seperately eggs to seal leaky radiators don,t last but get ya home !
Haha that's great, really interesting. I remember seeing bananas used in bush mechanics in Africa one time as well.
what a great video thank you! I bought one of those bags and was terribly disappointed when it leaked out in 3 hours. today I will try your seasoning methods.
Thanks for that. Yes it's been pretty hard to find information online! But a lot of old history books talk about the canvas water bags. Give it another go and you might find a water bag that works great for you.
Interesting video, i feel that the new water bags would be manufactured different to the old ones as it thread used on the seems and even the material itself. I agree with you on the plastic cap, cork would be so much more authentic.
I have a feeling as well. I'd love to pick on a part and have a look at the difference. Although I wouldn't have the heart to pull a part a vintage one
If anyone wants to learn about waterproofing fabrics, nighthawkinlight's 2nd latest video would be a great watch after this one.
Paraffin wax can also be used and mixing it with mineral oil greatly improves flexibility of the material. With his video you could make material for your own water bag, tarp or clothes.
Interesting video mate. Although the canvas water bags need to not be 100% water proof so they can weep.The tarps he makes are really interesting. I do love the traditional materials like wax and linseed oil, as opposed to sythentics and plastics.
I've made my own oil skin tarps like this before and most of my clothing these days is waxed canvas or oil skin.
Thanks again.
Good morning mate. Looks like I missed one,
Never thought flour would of been so useful holy.
Super interesting have an amazing day
cheers mate yeah it works great
@@TheBeardedBushranger +They look waay bloody cooler to then a plain ol Plastic bottle aye..
Great video. Gave me flashbacks to older relatives in the later 1970s and 1980s driving back and forth from Adelaide to north of SA. My (flawed) memory is that their water bags were hessian, not canvas. The fibres were looser and pricklier, and swelled more after soaking. Definitely a soak needed as part of travel prep, but no wax or flour. The bags were hung on the front bumper of the car to keep the water cool. Thanks for keeping history alive. 👍
Great video Luke thanks for sharing. I haven't seen one of those for years. When I was a kid growing up in South Africa in the 60s and 70s they were very popular. Putting flour or maize meal in them was a trick that people used here. Looking forward to the next adventure.
Yeah I've seen the old hessian bags as well ... same concept as the canvas! I've seen bush fridges made of hessian as well.
Yeah interesting mate to hear the flour trick was used in South Africa as well.
@@TheBeardedBushranger yes! Many family stories of wet hession over the food safe.
Yeah my father used to but a hessian water bag on the front of the Holden on long trips. I hated the flavor but really was just a kid being picky as I still remember it being just an "earthy" taste
Good tips mate. Definitely a great bit of old school gear. Cheers.
Haha ya got me hooked on them ever since last years trip.
@@TheBeardedBushranger 👍
Great video mate, we used them in the Pilbara in 70s
They are bloody great, especially on the front of a 4wd while traveling in the outback!
Thanks for sharing, interesting history lesson 😎✌️
Cheers, thanks for watching.
Keep it up mate, fast becoming a regular watch on UA-cam now, from VHC myself but do regular trips with horses over several days and I reckon a canvas bag is going to go on the pack horse very soon 🤌
Gday mate. That honestly sounds bloody brilliant. Bit of a dream of mine actually. One of my goals I want to complete over the next 5 years is to learn how to ride a horse. Doing a trip on horseback through the high country would connect ya to the old ways and old fellas in a pretty significant way.
@@TheBeardedBushranger it’s a pretty special way of getting about in the bush that’s for sure, certainly a passion of mine and many other much better horseman then myself. Last trip was 3 days at bogong and about 100ml of rain 😅. If you’re interested your local ATHRA might be able to get you started
@@BushRamble Cheers mate. Bogong area sounds fantastic .. but that's a fair bit of rain. I will have to look into. It's a bit of a dream of mine to ride through the high country on horse back.
If you ever want to go horse riding in the Big Desert @ Murrayville Victoria, my mates dad is always keen to take people out in the scrub for rides. He also makes his saddles and is a real cowboy. He would really enjoy your videos.
@@omalleetours3456 I have learn to ride first 😆
Good information 😊
Really interesting
Good work
Cheers mate thanks for watching.
Works like the Kimberly cooler for meat
Great stuff.
Love it.
Cheer mr kelly
Great video
Thanks for watching.
Thankyou
cheers, thanks for watching.
We used them in the 70s out west.
Interesting how much they were actually used in our history, but how little info you can find on them online. I reckon heritage musuems / old books in librarys and talking to folks who used them is the way to go.
@@TheBeardedBushranger I'd love to find an old one in decent condition somewhere. TBH, I didn't know you could buy them new still.
@@BradGryphonn There are a few vintage ones around on ebay or market place every now and then! They are hard to snag up though.
I was told many years ago to use sugar to seal a canvas water bag. I tried it back in the 80's and it worked well. Could you taste the flour in the water after you rinsed it?
Nah I did pour out all the water and refill but I had no issue with tasting the flour
Hope that was "old school" flour that you used Luke 😂 Seriously, our ancestors used animal hides to store all manner of goods. Those too needed preparing. Got me thinking about the indigenous people before canvas was introduced, was water carried then & if so how exactly? Your vids certainly educational Luke. 🌟
I'm not sure about them using animal hide water carriers. But I am pretty sure they had things like gourds that were hollowed out and used. Ive seen those kind of water carrying containers in my time over in Africa!
that's actually a piece of old tech that we haven't replaced yet... [the cooling part]
Costs less then a car fridge 😂
I was taught to use corn starch not flour , but I guess either one will do , eh ?
Interesting, I've heard from others that they were told to use maize meal. I guess it all did the same thing.
A canvas water bag is supposed to leak water that's how it keeps the water cool
Yeah for sure mate, I talk about that at the very start of the vid, how the bag would weep and that would cool it down. I'm talking about a new bag that is leaking out all it's water over 24 hours or so. Lots of new bags do this .. a water bag should hold your water for a couple of days when working right (while slowly weeping)
Thanks for watching.
wadah
You need to turn your horse shoe up the other way or all your luck will run out...😉
Haha point noted!