I know, for Tolkien, it is uncanonical to write about a female ranger, since he himself didn't... ...but then, he didn't rule them out, either. :-) Looking good, Rangers! Now that the insanity of the semester and of the holidays have passed, I look forward to reading what you've submitted! A little...

I didn't see anyone mention these yet, but JAS Townsend has both food-spice and medicinal versions of glass-corked-vials-in-a-small-tin. I imagine they'd rattle something awful, but wrap a strip of cloth around them and they'll muffle nicely, plus be cushioned. http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.p...

I was given a book of country know-how (including all sorts of archaic good-to-know things like how to build a root cellar and how to raise rabbits for food), a set of *very* sharp modern deer-dressing knives... and best of all, about two hundred dollars' worth of spending money. Still deciding whet...

Happy Holy-days, all!

I have the "New Invented Knapsack," and I think I got it from this company, too. It's great for overnights--it's almost like saddlebags for a blanket roll, the bags with your personal items lash *around* the blanket/tarp/groundcloth, and a single strap goes across your chest like a quiver....

Excellent!

Keep 'em coming, Rangers--just over a month left!

If you can wait until January, I'll see what I can do--I'm swamped right now between the holidays and finals, but I could easily show some fire-making, bottle-cutting, and/or leathercrafting.

To answer your question, kaelin--I rehilted that seax as an exploration of this very question. On my last trek I took her out and tried her, with my hatchet as backup. The seax performed adequately in even heavy-duty work like notching logs to break into firewood, though the hatchet performed slight...

I'll nominate Pete--he may not be the most frequent poster, but he is a font of knowledge, he really helps out the younger and newer Rangers a lot, and has pretty much been an invaluable resource. If you want to know how to go about some DIY project in a cheap and efficient way, chances are Pete has...

Huh. And all this time I had them reversed in my head--"green and rusty brown" being easier to imagine than "rusty green and brown."

Rider of Rohan: "Hey, Dernhelm." Eowyn: *clears throat* *deepens voice* "Oh, uh, hey there, fellow man." Rider: "Um... Dernhelm, what exactly is up with the armor you're wearing?" Eowyn: "My armor? Hah. Hah. Why nothing is wrong with my armor." Rider: "It...

Foreyule, 2910 of the Third Age "Here," said Idhron. The tall Ranger crouched down, leaning on his spear, and gently brushed his fingers along the soil. "Large wolf or dog. One, maybe two days past." His two companions strode up. The older of the two, Daerod, pushed the hood back...

I did my Ranger gear two years ago, but I try to mix it up. This year, for instance, I will be Sherlock Holmes, and my wife will be a female Watson.

*cracks knuckles* Okay: I'll have to come back for the first chapter, but I can give you a read on the prologue so far. First: I really like the character thus far. Definitely Aragorn-ish, which is never a bad thing in my mind. I like, too, the relation between Rangers and nymphs, a bit of a D&D...

Ah, but I'd hate to see the names changed--the fact that this is Arador speaking (and that they're going past the Coldfells) implies that this is just before the mission where Arador was killed by trolls... Knowing this kinda makes his decision to head north (perhaps influenced after all by the &quo...