Smoke-tanned Buckskin
This is a four-day | in-person | hands-on course.
You receive a fresh wild deer hide, salvaged from waste during hunting season.
Learn to tan it yourself, using our tannery equipment and tools.
Take home your transformed creation at the end: the soft cloth fabric known as Smoke-tanned Buckskin.
Dates: August 29 to September 1st, 2025
Schedule: 11am to 4-5pm each day
Location: North Saanich, W̱SÁNEĆ Peninsula
Cost: $435 CAD + GST. Payable online or by E-transfer.
Click “learn more” to register in 1 or 3 payments. You’ll be asked to create an account first.
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Your Hide Camp Details Here
The natural tanning Process
Smoke-tanning is our method.
Hand-softening is our technique.
Fat x smoke is our tanning agent.
Your home-tanned, quality buckskin cloth is the result.
Day One: meet at the studio at 11am + choose your fresh deer skin. Wet-scrape the hide to remove layers of skin. This is hard work + wet day. We provide waterproof aprons. Wear outdoor shoes + layers for all weather.
Day Two: in the morning, apply fat to the hides, with the traditional ingredient of animal brain. We source pork brain from food-grade suppliers. In the afternoon, start drying and dry-scrape your hide.
Day Three: smoke your hide. This is the ultimate moment of the tanning process, when the hide becomes truly “tanned” through the natural chemical reaction of smoke + fat. Your buckskin turns from a bright white to a golden colour.
Day Four: soften your tanned buckskin. We start when hides are wet and we don’t stop softening until they are dry. This puts the finishing touch to your fabric + you go home with a buckskin ready to sew, stitch, or hang in a place of honour.
Your spot in hide camp includes:
Your salvaged, cleaned and prepared deer skin
Rental of hide tanning tools and equipment use
Hot drinks in the morning and at lunch
Discount of 10% on Fern + Roe tools to take home
Stay WITH US
Available August 28 - September 2nd, 2025
You are welcome to stay on the land during the hide tanning course (affectionately known as a “hide camp”).
We have unlimited camping spots available in a secluded meadow + a private suite for one party in our Loft Guest Suite.
Spending down time with your new tanning cohort makes the weekend take on a whole different dimension. It’s a true retreating out of time and into an immersion of nature, community, and reverence.
How to Make the Most of your Hide Camp
Leave your routines behind
Be willing to be a beginner
Work hard, rest well
Bring a notebook if you’re a note-taker, a camera if you’re a photo-taker
Visit the farm animals, the garden, and the wild spaces on the land
Wander the beautiful WSANEC Peninsula, visit the ocean, spend time in our amazing local community
What to Wear
Clothes for all weather
Outdoor or waterproof shoes/sandals
What to Bring
Camp chair or blanket
Water
Lunch and snacks
Personal knife (we like Mora brand, for ex)
Smoke-tanning Gallery
Check out each step in the smoke-tanning process below by clicking the arrows left or right!
