I like to look at Civil War, Revolutionary War, and French and Indian War kits for inspiration and guidelines. Of course, our kits will be different--no musket gear, for one thing--but it helps to give me a sense of scale. We may not carry musket gear as such, but one of the major things that is pa...

I carry two fire kits, one in my belt pouch and another in my pack, which has added to it some small beeswax candles and a couple of sticks of fatwood. I carry three working knives, in addition to my sword and fighting knife. One is a plain knife on my belt, a second is a small folding knife in my b...

Eruant wrote:What kind of cake did you get?

Chocolate, with coconut pecan frosting. Preceded by home made stew and fresh biscuits.

And today, a trip to the British import shop for Cornish pasties, real sausage, Red Leicester cheese, Yorkshire Gold tea, and IronBru. I'm homesick again....

Hawk

Thank you, All. No ranging today, one of my 'presents' was 8 inches of wet, heavy snow. Can't even use the snowshoes in this muck.

Ale and pipeweed all round!!
Hawk

What do you plan on using it for? That one is more suited to defense against point work such as would be used with a rapier. The small bucklers also work with manuals such as I33, or the later 15th century fechtbuchs. Much more of a dueling kind of scenario than a battle. My opinion, for what it's w...

Happy New Year, All! May it be better than the last and all that you hope for!

Hawk

So while the blizzard winds down, I'm going over kit, trying to figure out if I have sufficient ranger kit to do a real harsh weather day in the woods. I'm looking at some of my 16th c stuff and some of my 18th c stuff, trying to decide what will cross over and what won't. And then it occurs to me. ...

It's pictures like that that makes me appreciate the chances I get to backpack in England. Hills that are not covered in trees, where you can see for miles without having to hike to the top of some bloody mountain. Lovely, now I'm homesick for the Dales......

No problem with the matches. I keep a waterproof bag in the bottom of the haversack with lifeboat matches, a small disposable lighter, single cell AA flashlight, silver mylar emergency blanket, a modern pocket first aid kit, and a cell phone. I love the hobby as much as the next guy, but no matter h...

Sleeping with the sword on doesn't sound like something I want to try. I generally sleep with my sword right to hand, the belt wrapped around the scabbard so as not to impede a quick draw. I keep with it my haversack, which is where I keep spare fire kit, pipe and baccy, my journal and any maps, and...

One of the leather jerkins found on the Mary Rose had an inside patch pocket.

Hawk

So, what do you use for fishing kits? I've got a lot of equipment, boils down to about 3 kits right now. One is a deep sea cod line that I have for when we're out on the schooner. 100 yds of 4 ply linen line and two hooks, about 3"x1 1/4". I've got a small hand line of 30 feet of linen lin...

I have one of the Ranger Knapsacks. Bloody good workmanship and a good price. I punched 2 holes in each strap above the bag and used it to tie a blanket and oilcloth on. I'm thinking of making a packframe to go with it, just to distribute the weight a little better. The only complaint I have of the ...

Five man team- 2 soldiers, 2 woodsmen, 1 ranger/leader. I would not take an untrained youth on any mission. No way to know what the reactions would be or how skillful they aren't. Unknowns on a mission are a liability. Commendable but with fault. The king asked you to "train" them not tak...

Five man team- 2 soldiers, 2 woodsmen, 1 ranger/leader. I would not take an untrained youth on any mission. No way to know what the reactions would be or how skillful they aren't. Unknowns on a mission are a liability. Basic pack- 3 days rations is about the max you can carry, using medieval tech. T...