Yes, from the thread here. I can see why it's his most popular.
... I think the design element I was missing was the utility of the long tails in front. I'd been playing with a couple similar options - basically a watchcloak/paenula with a shorter front to free the hands and a longer back. I now realize cutting the front that short has too many tradeeoffs.
Gah. Test and learn, I suppose.
The question I'm currently working with on the ruana/paenula pattern: rounded off corners or flat bottom hem? I THINK it's going to end up as - thigh length can be (possibly should be) squared off, knee length might have to be rounded to keep tails from dragging, shin length should be avoided regardless. But that's TBD at least for my purposes.
I'm a bit biased as I've come to like the squared corner hems you see on a circle-pattern cloak as that matches the archetypal "medieval ranger" image better ... a rounded "paenula" hem now looks too Roman / modern to me, even if at a given length it might be more practical. I think I've got an answer, but it will take some experimenting to be certain.
Speaking of experimenting - the "how wide can it be and still work with straps over the back" is very helpful, thank you!
striking the perfect balance between light enough not to weigh you down, heavy enough not to blow in the wind, dense enough to keep out the weather, flexible enough to hang comfortably, durable enough to last well etc... is the key to a good cloak, and I don't think I have got there yet...
I'm thinking a comparatively thin, tight, medium-coase tweed might be where it's at. I like the "slick" water resistance of the alpine loden, but I think the slightly better grippiness of tweeds work very well with the upsides of the ruana pattern. How well that works once the greasing is done I've yet to figure out - likewise whether the greasing is worth the possible bug attractant issue Fandabi Dozi mentions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dojSfWQUeg&t=765s
For what it's worth, in the height of bug season I've walked up to our sheep herd and OMG the cloud of skeeters and black flies that gathers around them! I've never tried a lanolin-greased cloak, but I can absolutely imagine he could be right... which would be rather a disappointment.
Ursus, if you're reading this - I remember you mentioned greasing your cloak. Did you have bug problems?
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.