I currently own three pack baskets, one old LL. Bean similar to those made by the current Maine pack basket co., A current Pete Ricard & a custom made Adirondack style made for me by Baskets by Dot of maine ( so beautiful I'm afraid to use it.) All maid in different styles & materials. I do not have a rim supported style as I am suspicious it might tear itself apart. Nor do I have one of riven black ash. But I still keep looking at them with desire. Any one have any suggestions as to the advantages or drawbacks of one type over the other. Take a look at Bill Mackowski traditionals, seem excellent to me.
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the best pack basket
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I have a couple of pack baskets, all made from hand pounded black ash, that I made under the tutelage of Bill Smith. Bill is a well known story teller and basket maker from up in the Adirondacks. Since my only baskets were all made with Bill, I have nothing else to offer but what I've learned from him. What I will say is that my oldest basket (at least 25 years old now) is still in good shape because I never put any varnish or shellac on it to "preserve" the wood. It has always been said by Bill that the wood will continue to "live" and stay supple if you leave it along. Should you ever be concerned that it's drying out too much, just dunk it in a creek or pond and let the wood soak up a bit of moisture. In total between my daughters, nephew and myself, we've made 5 baskets with Bill and they've all been left untreated and they have all gained a nice patina from use over the years. In fact, the only thing that's ever needed attention is the harness. I'm going to need to replace that soon as the webbing is mostly tattered from continual use in both the Adirondacks and Catskills. At this point I really have no need for any other pack baskets but if I were, I wouldn't bother to get anything that was made from reed or other materials. The ash baskets will definitely set you back a bit more in price, but in the end, they're definitely worth it. With even a modest amount of care, they'll last for years. My guess is my grandsons will be fighting amongst themselves over the two baskets that I made many years from now; and there's 3 of them (LOL)!
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
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I don't know anything about pack basket other than I would love to own one, but I'm far from Black Ash, far from any ash for that matter.... One thing I notice wile looking at them, is I think I prefer the one with straiter sides than the pronounce hourglass shape!
Thanks Snapper for the advise, thats the way I've been gravitating towards. My beans basket (maple veneer) fits inside a #7 pack so thats its home & my pete ricard ( veneer also ) is for my ice fishing gear, my other one is made of oval reed but I treated it with a turp/oil/pine tar mix which strengthen it considerabley but I don't believe up to the standard of pounded ash. So I'm on a quest to find a reasonable ash basket. Are yours supported by the rim or is the harness independant of the basket?
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Forest Runes - All the baskets I've made have an interior & exterior rim at the top and the harness is independent of that as well. The rim is lashed to the basket in a criss-cross pattern that results from starting at one location, weaving around the rim back to that location and then going back again in the other direction until you get back to the starting location (I hope that makes sense). And, since Canotrouge mentioned shape, all of mine have a rounded belly and narrower opening at the top. It's my understanding that this type of basket was used more for gathering food (nuts & other plants) and then a piece of leather would be stuffed over the goods. This way if you stumbled and pitched forward, the weight of what you're carrying would stuff the leather like a plug, preventing everything from falling out of the basket. The more straight sided baskets have traditionally been used for trapping; at least that's how it's been explained to me. Take it for what it's worth (LOL).
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
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I got a pack basked in 1965. I think it is ash. My folks bought it for me, I think through the boy scouts and it would not surprise me if it came from Bean, but there are no markings on my pack basket. I still have and use the basket. One of the bottom corners has some cracked strips, but the basket is still very usable.
I have a friend up north that makes pack baskets. She pounds the ash and processes the strips of ash herself, then weaves the baskets. She wants lots of money for them, and as a result, doesn't sell many. Here is a picture of some of her baskets, seeming to be in various stages of completion.
I got a pack basked in 1965. I think it is ash. My folks bought it for me, I think through the boy scouts and it would not surprise me if it came from Bean, but there are no markings on my pack basket. I still have and use the basket. One of the bottom corners has some cracked strips, but the basket is still very usable.
I have a friend up north that makes pack baskets. She pounds the ash and processes the strips of ash herself, then weaves the baskets. She wants lots of money for them, and as a result, doesn't sell many. Here is a picture of some of her baskets, seeming to be in various stages of completion.
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Make sense Snapper....
As for the price, a "real" pack basket must be quite time consuming and worth a lot of money. but now day not many people recognize real craftsmanship, or even know what it means!
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Canotrouge, your comments about basket making being time consuming is right on target from what I've seen. Bill told me that the best time of year for collecting the logs he'll pound is in the winter since the best black ash in his area all grow in swamps. He needs to wait for the ice to harden so he can even go in and harvest the log. From there the pounding begins (incredibly hard manual labor in it's own right) and then, even after all the splints have been made, it still takes the better part of 7-10 days to make a basket because you need to allow for the splints to dry out and shrink as you make progress in weaving the
body. All in all, it leads to a product that doesn't lend itself to a low pricing structure.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
body. All in all, it leads to a product that doesn't lend itself to a low pricing structure.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
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I needed to fill a water jug and happened to stop at Bill Mackowski's where the Sunkhaze meets the Penobscot a couple of years ago. He's quite a character. He's got an automatic ash pounder built by a New Brunswick Maliseet that takes a whole log at a time. His baskets are truly artful.
Aah.. Field Trip in the Winter.. which is still here.. Thanks for the tip! Not far from me actually! Does he have a contact number?
I also love Wendy Kimpels ash baskets. She is a WCHA member
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I wonder what the Emerald Ash Borer will do to the traditional pounded ash pack baskets crafts? I have stopped using my hand pounded pack basket, for fear of wrecking it, I now use it for rolled up topo map storage. I have considered a Loring synthetic pack basket for ice fishing, but the romance for real wood keeps me from that.
It IS a worry among the Wabanaki who rely on black ash for their very artistic baskets. The Emerald Ash Borer did not show up where expected but rather way north on the New Brunswick border
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/05...erald-ash-borer-would-come-to-maine-its-here/
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I have had several ash pack baskets, but my current favorite is one woven from reeds. The basket lady in the ADKs makes them. They are more flexible and so more comfortable. It has been durable so far.
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