Hard Kit is all other accoutrements that are not clothing, weapons or armour. This includes pots and tents, and flint & steel, and other things like that.
"Since copper can leak into food in large amounts when heated, the cooking surfaces are usually lined with tin or stainless steel."
That caveat is alarmist. The two things you have to pay attention to when using copper based cookware (including brass & bronze) are:
the cooking surface must be clean i.e. shiny (when copper turns green it's poisonous) this is easy as using a scrubby pad after use (or sand when in the field)
don't cook acidic stuff (like tomato sauce)
You don't have to worry about either of these issues if the vessel is properly tinned.
-Jack Horner
----------------------------
Impression: Cædmon Reedmace | bronze founder living in Archet, Breeland. c. 3017
good to know I am not certain that the vessels I drank from did not have any greening or oxidation. that could have been the issue all by itself!
I am Ringulf the Dwarven Woodsman, I craft leather, wood, metal, and clay,
I throw axes, seaxes, and pointy sticks, And I fire my bow through the day.
Come be my ally, lift up your mead! We'll search out our foes and the Eagles we'll feed!
It's not really alarmist, the writer was just making it aware there are issues to think of. Simply states it "could" happen, not that it will.
However, I do agree that tinned copper is the way to go (and that really was the point I was trying to make). That way you don't have quite the issues with using copper and you don't need to worry as much.
Still round the corner there may wait a new road or a secret gate and though I oft have passed them by a day will come at last when I shall take the hidden paths that run west of the moon, east of the sun.
Yeah...love my cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens. The only problem is the weight. When I am out trekking somewhere on foot, I live by the backpackers mantra: ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain. When I am walking into sites (and I have done my share of 50 milers), I am looking for something light. For MERF trekking (I so want to do a period 50 miler), I am looking to mix period-esque with lightweight. Tinned copper, properly cared for, or even stainless steel lined copper fits the bill better than cast iron.
Still round the corner there may wait a new road or a secret gate and though I oft have passed them by a day will come at last when I shall take the hidden paths that run west of the moon, east of the sun.
Yeah our cast iron equipment is great.. but yeah it's the weight of them when hiking on foot that does suck hehe
They are good for being able to just stick right into a fire or hot coals.. but for hiking, if we can find a few decent lined copper cookwear pieces that don't look too obviously modern.. we will get them for our kits.
“From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.â€
Yeah MY Sam (Erich) wouldn't like it too much if I turned him into my pack mule hehehe
That whole bum knee and all
“From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.â€
The only cast iron thing I have is my small frying pan; everything else is tin-lined copper, horn, or wood...I have a wood noggin I've become very fond of.
A noggin is a burl cut from a tree; a gall like growth. Hollowed out and carved down they make outstanding cups and bowls and were used in the Colonial period a lot. Easy to make as well. A length of leather from noggin to a small ornate peg secures it; you pass the peg through your belt and it prevents the noggin from pulling or falling free.
I carry little weight; I was a backpacker long years before I became a Longhunter or Ranger. Lessons well learned.
I'll admit, a tin or copper corn boiler was on my wish list for many years... But these days, now that I think about it, there ain't nothing wrong with my stainless steel Girl Scout pot. A corn boiler would be better for solo treks, but I almost never trek solo, and it's nice to have something a little bigger for group meals. Then, only one of us needs carry a pot at all! (I also have probably the same folding cast-iron pan as you, Eledhwen.)
As much as I want to be period with my kit, there are several areas I'm willing to settle for "looks close enough." I guess this is one of them.
"If you bring a Ranger with you, it is well to pay attention to him."
Eledhwen wrote:
OTOH, I use a cast iron folding frying pan for serious in the fire stuff. Insert stick into handle and there we go. RevWar stuff, I admit it...but well within the capabilities of Hobbits...or any of the other folk in Middle Earth really. The handle is a kind of socket and it folds into the pan when not in use.
Yes, yes they did..just not quite like this one, which is a replica of a RevWar one. Not that dissimilar and since Tolkien mixed Victorian with Medieval with Arabic etc ad infinitum it doesn't really matter that much.
