Summer cabin fever.

[Ursus]

Only speaking for myself hear but I'm beyond ready for this summer to be over. The heat index here in central IL is around 100+ degrees today and all I want is 50 degrees, also this time of year the woods here are an overgrown tangled mess. I'm of Welsh/Irish decent and I've always felt strongly that this must weigh in to my dislike of warmer weather, more of a burning hate really. Thus my first query, what do the rest of my fellow rangers do when its miserably hot/overgrown outside? For me its obsessively going over my pack, clothing and weapons. My father and I have taught primitive wilderness survival together for over ten years and he has always(and still does) pounded the principle of "the more you know the less you need" into my head since childhood. As such I'm constantly adding and taking away certain bits and pieces of kit. I'm curious as to what everyone else's guilty pleasures are. Basically the things you don't really need but like to have for whatever reason.

[ineffableone]

Only speaking for myself hear but I'm beyond ready for this summer to be over. The heat index here in central IL is around 100+ degrees today and all I want is 50 degrees, also this time of year the woods here are an overgrown tangled mess. I'm of Welsh/Irish decent and I've always felt strongly that this must weigh in to my dislike of warmer weather, more of a burning hate really. Thus my first query, what do the rest of my fellow rangers do when its miserably hot/overgrown outside? For me its obsessively going over my pack, clothing and weapons. My father and I have taught primitive wilderness survival together for over ten years and he has always(and still does) pounded the principle of "the more you know the less you need" into my head since childhood. As such I'm constantly adding and taking away certain bits and pieces of kit. I'm curious as to what everyone else's guilty pleasures are. Basically the things you don't really need but like to have for whatever reason.

Yep I too am not a fan of hot weather, being fair skinned and red head a lot of sun is not my friend. Thus I really enjoyed the Pac NW with it's mild temps and cloudy days.

Prepping gear and preparing for better temps is a good way to deal with weather you don't like. This is true for us who don't like hot temps and true for those who don't like cold temps. Which ever your preference using the down time to go over gear and hone it to be more useful is always a good plan.

Studying info is also a good way to pass the time. Reading books, watching videos, searching the internet, etc for good info on skills can be a constructive way to pass the down time. There are tons of great youtube videos or books or websites with info. Learning different knots for example is a skill that can come in handy and easy to do indoors. Practicing plant ID with flash cards another easy indoor activity, though one you do need to get out and have real world experience too. Practicing basket weaving, wood carving, or other crafts can be useful, though you will likely need to go out and harvest materials to do it.

[wulfgar]

I went out today to do a presentation about a keelboat that the Early Arkansas Reenacing Association owns. It was brutal, I'm glad we weren't doing much more than standing around in the shade talking to passers by. After about noon not a single person came out it was so hot.

[Stormraven]

Let's all hope for an early fall/winter. Yes, it's a great time to get your gear together. Work inside as much as you can.

[Greg]

Be careful what you wish for...this winter rumours to be a doozie.

I'm with Brett, though. Heat can be tolerable...but this humidity? I hate this state sometimes.

[Ringulf]

What do I do...I sweat and that I do profusely!
I just spent the weekend in Northern Georgia at a larp dressed in full armor in the upper ninties very little air movement It was horrible in many ways. I am of English and Skandinavian origins on my father's side and French on the other and I have to say I have spent the majority of the daytime either in the a/c or up to my neck in the water.
My pleasure at this point are knocking out all the many projects I have that I now have quite a bit more time for.

The concept of "endless summer" when I was young was a good one, a dream yet to be realised...now that it has been I wonder what I was thinking!

[Eledhwen]

I sit in the shade and make things. I too am of Welsh-Irish descent and Northern born and raised. I do not mind heat, so much, but I absolutely detest humidity with it, and that is what we've had here. Autumn is my favorite time of year and that is finally here, thank the Valar.

Endure, is basically what I do.

Eledhwen

[Straelbora]

I can pretty much 'ditto' on every posting here. I'm 3/4 Polish highlander and 1/4 Irish. I don't like the heat but the humidity just acts like an energy drain for me. I've been sitting in the air conditioning working on getting my full kit ready so that I can post it here.

I need to finish a few projects and then find our camera! I either misplaced it in my wife's car or our 2 year old got it, in which case, it could be anywhere, and especially in the least likely place one would think to look.

Luckily, here in central Indiana, it should cool off by next weekend (and I'm guessing the same goes for central Illinois). So if Greg and I can agree on a date in the next month or two for a day hike in southern central Indiana, are you in?

[Udwin]

Yea, up until this week the true Ohio Valley Summer Weather has mostly stayed away (save a high-80s day or two here and there). But we're getting into Halimath now, so autumn can't be far.
As for what to do if you don't want to venture into the humidity? I've been bringing old gear up to snuff (restitched my quiver), sewing some clothes (and getting ready to sew others) for hobbit uses, made a buckskin net-bag sling for my canteen gourd, started carving wooden spoons for kit, and of course, doing Research!

If you do feel up to braving the sticky heat, do it in your period clothes!--sweat and grime only add to an authentic patina of honest work! On Sunsday I felt quite like a Bounder, spending about three hours in the heat of the day mending livestock fences, to break in my newest linen shirt.

[Jonathan B.]

Thus my first query, what do the rest of my fellow rangers do when its miserably hot/overgrown outside? .

I live in south Florida so that's my weather year round.

[Udwin]

Howdy folks! Please excuse the year-old necropost, but we've reached that hot and sticky part of the late summer again, and I was curious to touch base and see what kind of things folks have been up to and working on (indoors, hopefully!).

Aside from stitching up a sheath for a new swede knife, I sadly haven't been working on any gear, but more busy with the living part of living-history. Typical homesteady stuff--bringing in the harvest from the gardens and orchard, preserving (canning and and drying: daily batches of apple butter, okra, beans and cowpeas, tooth maize, gourds...) as well as a bit of foraging in the woods--spicebush and pawpaws this week.
I'm also working on writing up a birch oil how-to tutorial that you can look forward to in the next little while...

[Ursus]

Not much going on here currently. Made a few new leather belt pouches, modded my haversack, and am about half way through an oilcloth cloak that I've been working on for months. Also traded a bow for a fine new knife made by bladesmith Scott Summersville at Fort De Chartres this last spring and a fine new tomahawk as well. Also using what little downtime I have to type some things for the wiki.
Udwin, I'm so jealous of all the outside work you get to do. My wife and I used to be the caretakers of an isolated fifty acre horse farm that we homesteaded on. Sadly last year life determined that we would move back to the small town I grew up in. I hate the heat but man I do miss those long summer days and working our large gardens and miss the harvest even more. Now we have a yard the size of one of said gardens, needless to say I'm not adjusting to town life well. Thank goodness its a short sentence lol. Looking forward to the tutorial!

[Rifter]

Hmm very good question, here in the prairies of the north it gets very hot to most peoples surprise. We get 30 -35 degree Celsius days and to be frank I keep treks to a simple one, keep the water skin handy and stay in the shady areas of the woods I'm trekking. I don't wear much more then a shirt and jerkin to start with so I simply don't bring things I don't need.

[Greg]

Busy, certainly! I'm working 40 hrs+ every week right now, since in the tree care industry, more often than not, the day ends when the job's over, so I only get, really, about two days a week for projects. This is making progress on the yew stave move slowly, but it's moving. I'm taking this weekend off from that, though...got a fat pile of linen I'm going to try to turn into a new, CA-weather-appropriate (speaking of hot, sticky August weather...) overtunic, so I'll probably have bruised fingertips by the end of monday. Too hot (and no water) to be trekking right now, so we're going to a Faire next weekend. And then, of course, I'm working really hard at being super-patient...Yeshua's sword has my custom arming blade in-shop right now; let the 6 months of agonizing waiting begin.

[Ursus]

And then, of course, I'm working really hard at being super-patient...Yeshua's sword has my custom arming blade in-shop right now; let the 6 months of agonizing waiting begin.

Very exciting news! Don't feel bad, I waited almost two years for my custom blade. It's all worth it when ups drops that long box off on your front porch.