Tan a deer hide using the all-natural brain tanning method
In this four-day workshop, you’ll learn the ancient art of brain tanning. Each student will learn and practice every step of the process. Over the course of the long weekend, you’ll transform a deer rawhide into soft, supple, natural, beautiful, wearable leather. Rawhides are provided.
Please note: this is a physically intensive class.
We also offer an Online Hide Tanning Course, which provides comprehensive, video-based instruction, plus a very thorough course manual and an online community of support.
What our students say
Trudie
North Carolina
Kid’s Program Coordinator
“Thank you so much for offering the Hide Tanning Class. It was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. I came expecting just to learn new skills but I left with… a new passion and a new-found appreciation for hide tanning. It was enriching working with people of all…different ages and skill levels. There was plenty of time to get to know the group and share stories and laughter while working on our hides. The instructors made it really easy to understand and were available for plenty of one-on-one help. By the end of the class, they had helped us all turn our hides into beautiful works of art and left us with the knowledge to continue on our own! Hide Tanning at Wild Abundance is an experience that anyone will enjoy and leave wholly enriched.”
Jen
Florida
Customer Service
“It was very inclusive. I felt very supported and welcomed as a woman, which is hard to find in this sort of world. Because I had the ebook and that other book as resources, I didn’t feel like I had to write everything down. So I could just experience the class, and…then I’ll be able to go back and look at that stuff. All of the equipment and the hide were included, and we didn’t really have to buy a bunch of stuff or track it down, which was really nice.
Lil
Florida
Amateur Tailor
“I expected to be taught one thing, or one method of things, but Tyler ran us through lots of ways of doing things. He said, ‘Well, here’s what happens if you do this; this is what happens if you do that’ and gave us the knowledge to experiment on our own. And I think…that was my favorite part about this class.
Robert
North Carolina
Farmer
“I had an amazing time at the Hide Tanning Class! [The teacher] expertly guided us through the whole process from beginning to end, producing a beautiful finished hide. Spending time at Wild Abundance is an amazing experience that helps you integrate within yourself…the lessons the land has to offer.
What to Expect: Brain Tanning from Start to Finish
Thursday – Overview of brain tanning; skinning, fleshing, scraping
We will start at 9:30 am with a discussion of deer skinning, a fleshing demonstration, discussion of hide preservation, and an overview of tanning techniques. Each student will be given their own hide, much of the rest of the day will be spent hands-on learning the art of removing not only hair, but also grain. Everyone will remove the hair, grain, and membrane on this day. This day is fairly strenuous.
Friday – Braining and wringing
Friday – Braining and wringingStudents will spend the day braining, wringing, braining, wringing… you may see a pattern here.
Saturday – Softening your brain tanned buckskin
This day is all about softening your hide. We’ll show you several methods for softening your brain tanned buckskin, before smoking it. Everyone will get a chance to try out various approaches to getting their hide nicely supple. This day is fairly strenuous.
Sunday – Smoking our hides
Some folks will be finishing up with softening; others will be sewing their hides into tubes and preparing them for the smoking process. Smoking a hide preserves the super-soft character that the hides have taken on, gives them a lovely honey color, and prevents them from turning back into hard rawhide. Smoking will be finished by 6:00 pm. Fortunately, this often involves much merriment as we wait for our hides to smoke, feeding our coals frequently with “punky” wood.
Walk away with a beautiful brain tanned buckskin, and the knowledge to make more of them.
We do our best to ensure that everyone finishes their hide over the course of the class. Plus, when you leave we’ll send you off with a comprehensive, beautiful, and image-rich guide to hide tanning. This resource will help enable to you to tan as many hides as you wish when you get home.
To learn more about brain tanning, including all the steps that are involved, check out or blog post about how to tan a hide, naturally.
Instructors
Tyler Lavenburg
Tyler (he/him) and his family align their life with the cycles of the seasons and the bounty of the wild. They harvest and utilize as much as they can – straight from the woods around them. Tyler first fell in love with Southern Appalachian ecology as a student at Warren Wilson College, where he received ...This class is held in Weaverville, at the Shelterwood Cove sister campus
Shelterwood Cove is a lovely and welcoming homestead amidst forested mountains in the Reems Creek area of Weaverville, NC, about 25 minutes from Asheville. It’s home to lead instructor Tyler Lavenburg and his family, along with a small collection of other friends. This location has a lovely blend of cleared land and bountiful gardens, along with wild woodlands where many wild creatures make their home. You’ll receive detailed directions on how to get to the campus upon registration.
Please note: our campuses are all unconventional, with rustic amenities and uneven ground. Read more about our campuses here.
Local Accommodations and Facilities
Wherever you’re coming from, you’re welcome to camp at Shelterwood Cove. There’s plenty of flattish open land for tents, plus sloped forest where hammocks can be set up, and a few completely flat spots for tents in the woods. All campsites are relatively close to the parking area. You’ll have access to two outhouses and clean running water. In order to camp in comfort, we suggest you bring a warm sleeping bag and a camping pad or mat. Also, please come with a sturdy tent or tarp in case of rain.
Pricing for Hide Tanning
Regular Pricing: $650 – $1,300
Please pay what you can afford. The median price is suggested to help cover the full cost of hosting this class. Please select the low end of the sliding scale if you are low income. If your household income is over $115,000/year, please select the maximum fee. Please place yourself in this range where you deem appropriate, based on your income.
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