MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Whether new to the forum, or completely new to the community, herein you will find the best information to-date to help you get started on the right foot with that dangerous business of going out your door.

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Iodo
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Iodo »

Awesome, I love that first pic :P to me it shows the rare and fleeting glimpse of a ranger through the snow, that common folk would be lucky to see
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Greg
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Greg »

I like that description, Iodo! Very much has that feel. ‘So-and-so left the inn before most were up, but a farmer in Archet stole this glimpse’ feels right!
Now the sword shall come from under the cloak.
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Taurinor
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Taurinor »

Glaenry made a trip down to my neck of the woods today for what I thought was a very pleasant jaunt around a local park I enjoy!

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Ursus
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Ursus »

No one of consequence. Just another down on his luck traveller tending his meager fire.
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Taylor Steiner »

Awesome.
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Iodo
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Iodo »

Nice shot :P
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Greg
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Greg »

Very nice, Taurinor and Ursus! Way to get out in it!
Now the sword shall come from under the cloak.
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Iodo
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Iodo »

Just a quick trip today:

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Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Manveruon
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Manveruon »

PHOTODUMP INCOMING... (My apologies if anyone can't see them - I'm linking to them from the Middle-earth Rangers Facebook group, because I can't seem to get them small enough to upload them directly to the forum - just in case, here is the direct link to that album, which includes a few short videos not uploaded here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1825694 ... 980511853/)

Did a winter hike about two weeks ago. My life has been chaos lately, so this was, I am sorry to say, probably the least prepared I have ever been for a ranger outing. Also, we had a fairly significant snowstorm the day-of, which is actually exactly what I was hoping for, but also caused most folks to cancel, unfortunately. Nevertheless, we had three of us on the trail, including one newcomer, and the scenery was absolutely idyllic.
I used this trek to test out using my “ruana” style cloak/shawl with the rest of my gear. I’ve had it for years, and I absolutely love it, but I had never tried using it for ranging. It’s nice in that it’s extremely versatile - you can wrap it around your head like a hood, throw the ends over your shoulders, or let them hang in front and cover you completely. You can even wear your belt over the top of the front ends, leaving the back to hang freely. Unfortunately I haven’t quite figured out how to make it play nice with the rest of my kit just yet, but I think it has some potential.

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Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
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Iodo
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Iodo »

That looks like an amazing trip :P I'd be interested to know a bit more about that cloak?
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Elleth
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Elleth »

Oh very nice! That looks like a grand time!

Did anyone wear soft/medievally boots in that? If so, I'm curious how they handled wet from the snow.


Cloak - cool!
I think there's a real sweet spot in the paenula / watch cloak / ruana space - not surprising given how cultures around the globe thousands of years apart seem to keep coming up with the same basic idea. I suspect Greg's seperate Bocksten-ish cape and hood still has better textual support... but dang if I don't like that thing at least as much. :mrgreen:
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Manveruon
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Manveruon »

Yeah, I feel like the Ruana can be made to work a lot better as a general trekking garment, but I definitely need to do more testing with it. It may also benefit from a small hole in the back through which I can pass my quiver strap and/or other straps as necessary, but I don’t think I want to make that modification to this particular garment.

And Iodo - in answer to your question, the style of cloak I’m wearing here is called (by some at least) a “ruana.” I’m not familiar with the etymology, but I’ve also heard it referred to as a “Celtic shawl.” Even so, the design is extremely simple, and has probably been used by countless different cultures over the years. It’s literally just a large rectangle of fabric that has been slit up one side, and sometimes (but not always) has a hole cut out in the center for the neck. It occupies a sort of ambiguous space between cloaks, shawls, and ponchos. In the Lord of the Rings movies, I believe both Aragorn’s first cloak and Gandalf the White’s outer cloak are cut in this same fashion (or very similar), but they also have an attached hood. The nice thing about these is that they’re quite versatile. You can wear them long and flowing, you can throw one or both of the front ends over your shoulder(s) to get them out of your way (which creates a sort of “scarf” effect), you can wrap one or both of the front ends around your head as a sort of hood, and at need, you can use the whole thing as a plain blanket, provided you have something to fasten the front together.

Here’s a pic to illustrate:
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As for the boots, my companions were both wearing modern winter boots due to the heavy snow, but I wore my usual ranging boots, which at this point are becoming quite worse-for-wear, and really ought to have some pretty extensive repairs/modifications done to them, short of being replaced outright. I did have a pair of lugged Vibram soles added to them some time ago, and they have served me well. It’s a concession to modern design/materials I was more than happy to make, and has saved my butt (literally) on more than one occasion. Otherwise, however, they are made of fairly plain veg-tan leather, and they are definitely not waterproof (particularly because they have a number of lacing holes cut into the actual foot itself, which is how they came from Viking Leathercrafts, before I ever even did any modifications). I’m trying to come up with some solutions to this issue, but for now I have mainly been coping with wet feet by wearing very good modern ski socks - which have done wonders keeping my feet warm even when soaked through, but don’t do a lick of good keeping them dry. Next time I go on a snowy outing I’m seriously considering trying the grocery-bag-under-the-boot hack I heard someone mention a while back (might have been on Facebook, I can’t quite recall).
really though, we all could have used some other form of traction. There were a number of ordinary folks on the trail that day too, and most of them had snowshoes. We were certainly envious on numerous occasions when we accidentally stepped a few inches away from the center of the trail and sank into the snow up to about our knees.
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
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Iodo
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Iodo »

Manveruon wrote: And Iodo - in answer to your question, the style of cloak I’m wearing here is called (by some at least) a “ruana.” I’m not familiar with the etymology, but I’ve also heard it referred to as a “Celtic shawl.” Even so, the design is extremely simple, and has probably been used by countless different cultures over the years. It’s literally just a large rectangle of fabric that has been slit up one side, and sometimes (but not always) has a hole cut out in the center for the neck. It occupies a sort of ambiguous space between cloaks, shawls, and ponchos. In the Lord of the Rings movies, I believe both Aragorn’s first cloak and Gandalf the White’s outer cloak are cut in this same fashion (or very similar), but they also have an attached hood. The nice thing about these is that they’re quite versatile. You can wear them long and flowing, you can throw one or both of the front ends over your shoulder(s) to get them out of your way (which creates a sort of “scarf” effect), you can wrap one or both of the front ends around your head as a sort of hood, and at need, you can use the whole thing as a plain blanket, provided you have something to fasten the front together.
Awesome, Thanks :P

I might make one to try it, it looks like it could be warmer than the bocksten cloak because it would be rapped closer/more layers, but possibly wouldn't work so well with thick/stiff fabrics, intresting
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Iodo
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Iodo »

Turns out I have already made a ruana cloak, kind of anyway, the waxed canvas cloak (that I'd almost completely forgotten about) in this thread:
https://www.ranger.budgetauthenticity.o ... 1f0#p42878
is made to that same pattern (I thought it seemed familiar :lol:), the only difference being that it's shorter at the front, has a button fastening on the slit and can't be worn with a pin
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Taylor Steiner
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Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Post by Taylor Steiner »

Here's Zoie and I and a couple geese today :)
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