New Quiver Project (Pics included)

[Greg]

I've been heming and hawing for quite some time about replacing my old quiver, which is a little too "Modern day fantasy" for my current tastes, and updating it with a more subdued, rugged, functional ranger quiver. My old one was decidedly functional, but the studs, dye job, and tooling are a bit much for my current kit; it just doesn't fit in anymore, and isn't my style.

The original quiver was my own design, which was brought to life by Silverleaf armoury, which I don't believe is actively producing products all that much any more. At any rate, to replicate the major dimensions of my quiver, I pried out all the rivets to lay it out into my original pattern, traced the design onto my new material, and then made a few adjustments before cutting it out. No, don't panic. I ]am re-assembling the old one.

The original design was inspired by the quivers of the Ithillien Rangers in PJ's films. At this point, I like mine better, to be honest. There's an awful lot of leather used in theirs for a small arrow capacity and no additional utility, so I'm a bigger fan of mine now.
http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Hum ... af_med.jpg

So here's the old one on the new material, prepping for cutting.


And here's after some preliminary stitching, as it's starting to take shape. I've layered the material to stiffen it up, unlike the original which was made of one solid piece. There's a piece that runs down the inside back in a flared shape that I rather like, and then there's also a stitched-on border around the hole in the center, shown here.


There is more that I've stitched on since, but I want to get some higher quality photos of the end result, so that'll have to wait a day or two. Here I'm showing the preliminary strap setup, without final detailing etc. The main shoulder strap is almost 2" wide, helping to distribute the weight of a full bedroll, quiver-mounted pouch, bow, and a loaded quiver MUCH better than the 3/4" strap on the previous model. All buckles are Christian Fletcher Valiant Signature Buckles designed for the Bristol belt/scabbard rig.


Sometime in the next few weeks I'll get the luggage straps done, finish the burning, get it all oiled up, and then get some higher quality pics with it loaded, while in kit to show how it fits in. In the meantime, let me know what you think!

[Cimrandir]

Wow.. I think it looks great. It strikes the right balance between fantasy and practicality IMHO.

[Ringulf]

Beautiful work Greg! I love the new quiver for its simple elagance and utility but I also really liked your old one and the intricacy of it's decoration. I would love to see a nicely done pattern made from that, it would be a very popular item! (and you gotta bet that Tandy isn't going to have it!)

I realize it is to be used with an inner sleeve type bag but is the cut out in the body large enough to use a stealth draw from the arrows head if the bag were not used?

[Jon]

Very cool, Greg. Tell me, how do the straps work over your cloak? always a problem that I have not found a solution for..

[kaelln]

The new one is nice, but the old one is awesome! What do you plan to do with it?

[Ernildir]

Very nice!

I agree with Ringulf; I'd love to see a pattern for that. I have plans to try making a quiver at some point, and I love your style, though I might make mine a bit roomier.

[Mirimaran]

I have to say that I like your version better, Greg! Great job!

Ken

[Greg]

Thanks, Ken! Me too!

I realize it is to be used with an inner sleeve type bag but is the cut out in the body large enough to use a stealth draw from the arrows head if the bag were not used?

I store all my arrows in an arrow sock with a drawstring at the top to keep the fletching dry when it starts raining, yes. However, when I'm trekking/hunting, I most always have a single broadhead shaft outside the sock, on the front, for just that purpose. If I come across a deer or a group of orcs, I don't want to give myself away preparing for my first shot, but after that initial shot, odds are a smoother, faster, but more obvious draw motion won't be an issue since everyone and their mother will be focused on me anyway. So in short, yes, it does work for that.

I can see where you guys are coming from, what with the old one being pretty and all that, but I personally don't really think it fits well into my vision of Tolkien's Rangers. At least, not the human ones. Elves it'd probably suit well, but I simply don't like Rivets much for my gear. "There was no gleam of stone or gold, nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness." The old one just didn't fit that.

As for what is to happen to it...I am confident that some elf somewhere will put it to good use for many happpy years.

There's no real good way to wear a two-strap quiver over a cloak. I just made extra-long straps so it can fit over it all. A single-strap works well since it holds one side out of the way and allows the other to flow freely, allowing to cover oneself, etc., but a single-strap will NOT gurantee that the arrows will be exactly where your had expects them to be when you reach for them, and THAT is critical.

[Peter Remling]

Very nice Greg ! Great job on the personalization/decoration.

[Jonathan B.]

Wow great work Greg.

[Ringulf]

"There was no gleam of stone or gold, nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness."

Very good point! way to use the text man!

As far as the utilization of your old one let me know I would be interested in purchasing it for my son whose persona has a bit more of a Ranger/bard flair and loves that type of quiver.

[dwayne davis]

Greg, i have to say i am impressed with the new quiver. i love the overall pattern of it. and the new wider staps look like they'll do the job nicely. i second the motion of having a pattern . good job my freind. i my self am in need of a new quiver ( wink) would you mind us borrowing youre design a bit?

[jbook]

"There was no gleam of stone or gold, nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness."

Very good point! way to use the text man!

I think if we are going to do Tolkien justice this needs to be the primary thing to look at when putting together gear. The text in many cases is pretty clear and when not I always say just fill in with something historical or at least very close to. After all Tolkien based his world on historical and mythological (based in history) stories.
Almost everything I wear for my hobbit gear I can either document to Tolkiens writing, or at least make a pretty fair guess about it. I also use the movies, but I prefer to check the text before jumping on something that may look "cool" but may not be appropriate.

[Lori]

Greg, I am surprised at how many people like your old quiver, I thought you said this site was historically accurate.

[Ringulf]

There is nothing "un" or "Anti" Historical about fine craftsmanship and decoration.
We as modern crafters certainly don't have the corner on that market!

I look at the embelishment of items no matter how large or small as a reflection of care and pride that the individual shows to his or her gear.
This is very true of the mideival time period in which Tolkien is basing his "fantasy" world in, and is very common through the ages.

Have you ever been on a whaling ship or have seen the inside of viking settlements (some of them anyway) It is surprising that almost every square inch of some of those are covered with carvings and knotwork and such. People like that, soldiers, seaman, hunters etc, were often confined by weather or long passages and spent alot of time expressing themselves in thier gear.
To some it was all they had, to others it was a way to relieve the tediousness of the long hours.

In Tolkien you see this workanship as more Dwarven or Elven in their own styles. I think the only reasons that the Rangers were so simple and plain is due to the fact that their gear was meant to be quickly and easily made, expendable and non recognizable, as well as camoflage of sorts. Our representation of kit is a bit more precious to us and I think many of us wish to make it seem so.
If a Ranger was fortunate enough to have been given an elven quiver in appreciation of his services to the elves, or given a family heirloom that was carried by his forfathers, I think he would use it with pride!

Greg has given us his reasoning for the way he sees his kit, based on the text, which as seen above I applaud, but it is hard to deal in historical absolutes in a fantasy world, or not broaden the view of what was truly historical.

The historical nature of it, IMHO is not hurt one iota by a bit of embelishment on treasured posessions.