You surely want that mug being watertight, right? You won't spill any beer, no?

No matter how well you did that carving, leaks there will be.

So our mug needs to be sealed.

Resin is good, but, reminding this is bushcraft! So?

Lets bio-resin! Mother nature gifted this world with a magic sticky stuff, PROPOLIS! Produced by bees, this all natural product is the perfect sealant. Its hard at room temperature, meltable, veeeeeeery sticky, eatable, antibacterial & desinfectant.



Get some - those insects use it to get the wind out of the beehive - or buy it (I got a handful of a neighbour beekeeper). Heat it in a cooking pot and poor/stick it in the junctions of the mug. It will harden rapidly. A little sanding (yet another penalty) and done is that job. You can use bee wax also: less sticky & somewhat weaker than propolis.



You've got walnut oil? Use it! Multiple layers.



Note 1: heating propolis in the kitchen is somehow kinda risky business. It smells extremely hard (I liked it, indeed) and depending on the tolerance of your partner you'll spend the night in the car, with your propolis. Or not. My wife wasn't home during the crime, but she discovered it anyway (after a few days the smell was still there - that's why I made her those hair pins - KIDDING!).



Note 2: a few members mentioned that soaking the mug a few minutes in water before use will make the mug water tight without the use of propolis. The wood will swell and seal every junction. All you need are clean cuts & contact zones and a rockhard rope-fixation (that's maybe the reason the vikings used metal loops at the time).

Avoiding propolis will allow you to drink hot beverages in it - an activity I can't because the propolis will melt.



Note 3: instead of using rope you can use rawhide. Let it soak a while in water until it's nicely flexible, wrap it around the mug & let it dry. While drying the rawhide will shrink and tighten the whole. Best source of rawhide are dog chews. Some of our members are really inventive, I must say.