Middle Earth Ranger Forum

A bit o' me gear.....as a Woodsman of Mirkwood!

I love the mid-14th century...so my gear tends to lean that way!

I've made:
crossbow
Both knives
sheath
haversack
belt pouch
belt

Nice stuff Cinead! I really like the firesteel.

I feel like I haven't seen you in a bit! Good to, as always! Nice stuff! That darker pouch with the fire kit in it is really clean; love it.

Excellent! I like the big knife/little knife combo, always practical.
The thing that stands out is one buckle. I'm sure you're looking for a way to fix that up.
Well done!

Great gear! I love those knives and that axe head, where did you get the axe?

I got it off of eBay, from Eastern Europe.

I have never been able to identify the maker from the mark on the blade, but it is forged and the steel is well made.

The pattern is old, old, old...and is generically known as a "Rhineland" or "German" pattern.

Good stuff. I like the bowl and spoon; I think carved bowls are essential for Wilderland folks. Cool shape on the belt pouch too. I agree with Kortoso, that brass buckle needs tarnishing! Best way: Soak a cotton ball in ammonia, drop it in an empty jar w/ tight lid. Suspend the buckle on a string from the lid. Let it hang overnight, next morning it will be nice and patina-y. : D

Well.....I forgot to add the pic of my crossbow!

You have a source for strings for these? I have a 50's era-ish steel prod "modern" crossbow I'm slowly converting, and it has a cable instead of a string on the prod.

I make my own.

I have an endless string jig that I made this past summer.

Cinead wrote:Well.....I forgot to add the pic of my crossbow!

A decent affordable crossbow is somethingI want but cannmot find in my price range. Those that I can afford are modern and the closest i could copme was modifying an old Wham-O that I bought in the 1970's.
Those that are Period are either Wall-hangers or way too expensive.
And, unfortunatly, my skills are not up to actually making the thing.

I am so jealous of people like you who CAN build such a mechine.

I really like your gear. The haversack turned out really cool

Wow - very cool!

I love the firesteel shape - what era is it? 14th c. English? Continental?

The crossbow -WOW. That's some pretty serious engineering!
It looks like there's dowels of some kind through the wood part: do they serve a particular purpose? Or are they merely decorative?