A bandolier normally consists of twelve cylinders suspended over one shoulder. Each cylinder would hold enough gunpowder for one charge of the firearm. The cylinders were commonly made out of wood but bandolier cylinders excavated from James Fort have been brass or tinned iron. These metal cylinders would have been covered with fabric or leather to prevent the chance of creating an inadvertent spark and to reduce the noise of the cylinders knocking together as the soldier walked.

Bandolier cylinders, tinned iron, early 17th century. Context: Transition (left) ca. 1st half 17th century; and Pit 1 (right), ca. 1607-1610.