Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Let's make this one a team effort. Call in with your favorite vendors for acquiring applicable materials and such.

Please list what you use each vendor for.



Backwoods Tin & Copper LLC.
http://www.backwoodstin.com
18th Century (and later) period copper and tinware; Boilers, Boxes for tobacco or seasoniongs, Teapots, etc.

Fabrics-Store
http://www.fabrics-store.com
Clothing and Utility-weight linens, including "Rustic" colored Linens

Medicine Bow Woods
http://www.medicinebowwoods.com
Rough-cut Yew Longbow Staves

Materials
Burnley and Trowbridge:
https://www.burnleyandtrowbridge.com/
Occasionally good woolens, VERY good linens. Their "osnabrig" is perfect for drawstring pouches, bag linings, and other rough utility use.

Wm Booth Draper:
http://www.wmboothdraper.com/
Good selection of 100% wool broadcloth for surcotes, hoods, lighter weight cloaks, etc.
(ask for a swatch first: occasionally a broadcloth may be more felted / polished than it appears on the site)

Springfield Leather:
https://www.springfieldleather.com/
Carries Hermann Oak vegtan leather, which is perfect for pouches, boots, etc. The Hermann Oak takes natural dye and vinegaroon very well, is usually very clean, and a pleasure to work with. They also sell lighter weights of vegtan suitable for scabbard covers, book covers, etc.

WhoopLoop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/whooploop
linen cordage for drawstrings, toggle loops, etc.

Woodland Buttons:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodlandButtons
toggles and buttons from traditional European woods

Lorifactor:
http://www.lorifactor.com
Extremely well made buckles, brooches, etc.
Check sizing: medieval-period historical buckles tend to run small compared to modern styles, so you will want to double check that you're getting what you think you're getting.

Northern Star Creations
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/northern-star-creations
DISCLAIMER THIS IS MY SHOP.
Lore-friendly buckles, toggles, etc. I prefer and recommend the smaller "arc" buckles, but some replicas of WETA LOTR work is there as well. Printed steel from Shapeways can be hand-polished to look mostly forge-made, but the cast metal options where available have much greater material authenticity.


Finished Goods
Razorstone Archery:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RazorStoneArchery
Hand-wound, traditionally nocked, ASH arrows.
He will also do custom fletching shapes and full-weight war arrows.

Spanish Door / Holmgard Trading:
https://www.spanishdoor.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/HolmgardTrading
Providers for a soft-sided traditional waterskin and custom turned mouthpiece respectively.

Meuleurgy
http://www.meuleurgy.com/
Forum-member Odigan, crafter of superb lore-friendly blades

Ursus
Forum member, very good bladesmith, bowyer

Royal Oak Armoury
https://royaloakarmoury.com/
Fantastic custom-made iron cookware

Bethlehem Trading Post
http://bethlehemtradingpost.com/
Lost of 17th/18th Century Clothing and some extras, but particular to our needs, they carry excellent hand-knit socks, stockings, and mittens.

Turkey Foot Trading Co. & Forge
http://www.turkeyfootllc.com
Lots of Reenactor's supplies, but notably a large selection of dried edibles, particularly first-rate Salt Pork by the slab, and hemp cordage/rope.

Hamilton Dry Goods for plain-weave 100% wool in various weights & colors at reasonable prices. Oilcloth too. Check for availability before ordering.

Dharma Trading for Raw Silk by the yard or bolt.

A.Hollis for braintanned deer hides, birch bark oil, and wooden spoons -SHAMELESS PLUG/DISCLAIMER - THIS IS MY SHOP-

WOW WOW WOW! Great stuff here so far! I am already planning several purchases based on the above links - particularly some of the knit woolens from Bethlehem Trading Post!

For my part I know I have a wide number of stores and sellers I can recommend, but the two that come to mind immediately are:

Old World Equipment:
https://www.facebook.com/oldworldequipment/
This is a local guy here in CO that does excellent leatherwork, and in particular he makes really beautiful leather water/wine bottles - the waxed hard-sided kind. He also does a lot of other custom leatherwork, some historical in nature and some more modern. One way or the other though, he does good custom work on commission.

Viking Leathercrafts:
https://www.vikingleathercraft.com/
They offer a number of leather products, as well as a few decent, serviceable period buckles - but I particularly like them for their shoes and boots. They offer a decent range of historical styles from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and their prices are surprisingly great. My current ranger boots are a heavily modified pair of their 13th century boots, and they're still going strong after something like 5 or 6 years of relatively frequent use.

Wool trade:
https://www.wooltrade.cz/en/home/

A fantastic European source of wools and linens with reenactors in mind.

Military Heritage Fabrics:
http://www.militaryheritage.com/wool.htm

A source for specialized Melton wools with historical military uniforms in mind. Personal experience with their dark grey as a cloak and hood.

As an aside, I'd still kill to find a good, reliable source for lightweight waxed cotton/oilskin (like the kind that might be used for waxed cotton jackets and so forth). Most places only sell it in VERY heavy weights, or else it is EXTREMELY expensive. If anyone knows another good source, I'm always keeping an eye out.

Steel Mastery has clothing, armor and gambesons that would be appropriate, reasonable prices and even DIY kits for those who are a bit craftier. Their brigandines are quite historically accurate and appear to be well made, and I plan on saving up for one in the future, because armor is useful, even for those of us who don't do full contact mythohistorical reenacting.

https://steel-mastery.com

Link to a google doc of 30 fabric vendors in the USA, UK and EU. Contains a short summary of what each sell and links to their respective sites. Document credit goes to Caradoc Ewing from the UK.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D2l ... sp=sharing

The following is a list of blade vendors:

European Swords:

Absurd Versand - Germany - www.absurd-versand.de/sitemap.htm

Albion- United States- www.albion-swords.com/

Ares Academy- Italy- www.aresacademy.it/spade%20storiche.html

Armourclass - Scotland - www.armourclass.co.uk/

Arma Bohemia - Czech Republic - www.armabohemia.cz

Armory Marek - Czech - www.armorymarek.com/

Arms and Armor - United States- www.arms-n-armor.com/

Arms and Armor - Eastern Europe- www.arms-armor.com/

Barrington Swords- United Kingdom- www.barringtons-swords.com/

Battle Merchant - Germany - www.battlemerchant.com

Boker - Germany - www.boker.de

Castille Armoury- United States - castillearmory.com/

Celtic Merchant- The Netherlands www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/

Cold Steel - Germany - www.coldsteel.com/

Cold Steel De - Germany - www.cold-steel.de/

Cold Steel UK- United Kingdom- www.coldsteel-uk.com/

Darksword Armory Canada - darksword-armory.com/

Darkwood Armory - United States- darkwoodarmory.com/

Del Tin Armi Antiche - Italy- www.deltin.net/home.htm

Fabri Armorum -Czech- www.fabri-armorum.com/en/homepage/

Global Gear - Australia - www.globalgear.com.au

Historical Market- Poland- www.fabri-armorum.com/en/homepage/

Katana Land - Germany - www.katana-land.de/

Kayserstuhl - Germany - www.kayserstuhl.de/blankwaffen_scharf.htm

Kingston Armory- United States -devision of CAS Iberia- casiberia.com/resource/kingston-arms/336

Kingdom of Arms- United State- kingdomofarms.com/collections

Kult of Athena- United States- www.kultofathena.com/

Lawrance Ordinance - Australia - www.lawranceordnance.com/index.php

LG Martial Arts - United States- www.lgmartialarts.com

Lutel Armoury - Eastern Europe - www.lutel-handicraft.com/

Mareg - Germany - shop.mareg.net/

Medieval Arms - United Kingdom - www.medieval-arms.co.uk/home

Medieval Fight Club - Australia - www.medieval-fightclub.com.au/

Medieval Weaponry - United Kingdom- www.medieval-weaponry.co.uk/

Museum Replicas- United States- www.museumreplicas.com/

Nielo Swords - Eastern Europe - www.nielo-sword.com/

Oulun Miekkailutarvike- Finland- www.miekkailutarvike.fi/index.php?language=en

Outfit4Events - Eastern Europe- www.outfit4events.com/eur/

Pavel Moc -Czech- www.fabri-armorum.com/en/homepage/

Rautaportti- Finland- rautaportti.fi/

Raven Armoury - United Kingdom - www.raven-armoury.co.uk/index.html

Reliks - Canada- www.reliks.com/

Rengenyei Armoury - Eastern Europe - www.regenyei.com/

SBG Sword Store (Sword Buyer's Guide) - United States - sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/

Southern Sword - United Kingdom - www.southernswords.co.uk/

Spartan Sword - Australia - www.spartan.sydney/knives/swords?limit=36

Strongblade- USA - www.strongblade.com/

Swords and More - Germany - www.swords-and-more.de/index.php?id=2&L=3

Swords of the East - United States - www.swordsoftheeast.com/index.aspx

Sword N Armory - United States - www.swordnarmory.com

Sword World - Australia - www.swordworld.com.au/l3/collectables/

Therion Arms- United States - www.therionarms.com/

True Sword - United States - www.trueswords.com/index.php

Valiant Armoury - United States- www.valiant-armoury.com/

Victor Berbekucz - Hungary- www.swordsviktor.com/sct/0/

Vladimir Cervenka - Czech - www.sword.cz/eindex.htm

Warsword - Australia - www.warsword.com.au/

Warriors and Wonders - Canada - www.warriorsandwonders.com/

Wulflund - Eastern Europe- www.wulflund.com/


Fantasy

Barrington Swords - United Kingdom - www.barringtons-swords.com/

Dark Sword Armoury- Canada- darksword-armory.com/

Global Gear - Australia - www.globalgear.com.au

Katana Land - Germany - www.katana-land.de/

Kult of Athena- United States- www.kultofathena.com

Museum Replicas- United States- www.museumreplicas.com/

Raven Armoury - United Kingdom - www.raven-armoury.co.uk/index.html

Reliks Canada - www.reliks.com/

Strongblade - USA- www.strongblade.com/

Spartan Sword - Australia - www.spartan.sydney/knives/swords?limit=36

Southern Sword - United Kingdom - www.southernswords.co.uk

Swords of the East - United States - www.swordsoftheeast.com/index.aspx

Sword N Armory - United States - www.swordnarmory.com

True Sword - United States - www.trueswords.com/index.php

Warsword - Australia - www.warsword.com.au/

Warriors and Wonders - Canada- www.warriorsandwonders.com/

I haven't checked these in a year. I will edit out the links no longer working shortly.