Ages ago now I did a trade with Loki and received some damn nice slings. Because of the incredibly cold winter and my incredibly full schedule, I have yet to try out properly the two full slings he sent me so I'll hold off on my "reviews" of them. What I have managed to do is finally find the time to put some cords on the alligator skin pouch he sent along as well.

It’s a really beautiful pouch and very well made, the attachment points being whipped with I think a waxed thread so they’re really smooth and won’t break easily. The skin itself is really glossy and obviously very tough. To really do justice to this pouch I wanted to use a natural material (chucking a bit of paracord, synthetic string or even the bleached white cotton string I often use would just be insulting) so I went with hemp string which I used before on the making of my “barbarian” sling which was made with a buffalo horn retention handle.

I think I’m getting real good at getting a clean even herringbone braid. I'm finally finding the right tension though this did still take ages. This thing came out amazingly well and looks just as I wanted it to. The retention loop I folded back on itself and then sewed and whipped it in place with cotton thread which helps retain the all natural theme.

With it looking so pretty I was thinking I would just just keep this for display as part of my sling collection but then I put a rock in it and… this thing wants to be used. Summer is coming…

Thanks again Loki for such awesome slings and such an amazing pouch

What a striking pouch. I agree, that needs to be used!

Summer can't come quick enough. We were up to 0C today so not too much longer and the snow will be gone and I can get out there.

Luckily there aren't that many potentially dangerous creatures around Helsinki Once came across a wolverine and my girlfriend's mother saw a lynx but it's far too southerly for bears. Those are really the only "dangerous" animals in Finland. There are snakes but they are pretty rare and stay far out in the countryside by the lakes. Mosquitoes and ticks won't be around for quite a while yet.