Captain McCool

Thanks a million, William! I'm fantastically pleased with the final product! Although as it turns out, I am indeed switching to hemp on my next batch of bottles. I agree that the hairiness of the jute was a little un-aesthetically-pleasing, and I discovered that when it got even a little wet, it tended to smell rather bad. So heavy-duty hemp it is! And hemp cord is very seamanly, so I figure it works. Cheers mate!

Ahoy mates! Long time no see! I've sort of taken a break from pirating for a while, and have instead been focusing on earlier period impressions. However, the Castaway Trading Co. over on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/CastawayTradingCo) is still going strong! We were recently asked to vend at a local tropical/voodoo themed ball, and we also recently went through a move, so we've been a little lax on getting new stuff up - however we are now getting back on the proverbial horse (ship? Dinghy?) with a vengeance! So without further ado, I give you the newest item from the Castaway Trading Co. (and in my most humble opinion, one of the best ever): The pirate grenadoe rum bottle! https://www.etsy.com/listing/108810793/pirate-grenade-glass-rum-bottle-flask This 8 oz glass bottle has been covered with a texturized coating and aged to give the appearance of being a real cast-iron grenadoe from the Golden Age of Piracy. The cork has been furnished with a hemp cord which has been burned slightly at the end to simulate a fuse. The neck has been wrapped with jute cord, and is finished with a small loop for easy belt-hanging. Hang one from a mug-strap on a ren-faire belt, or hang TONS of them from a baldric for that terrifying "Blackbeard" look! Just imagine the look on your mates' faces when you grab a grenadoe, pull out the cork, and casually take a swig! Anyway, I certainly hope you like them, as I feel they're right up the alley of many of the excellent buccaneers here on this forum! We'd love to hear feedback about these or any of our other products as well. And as always, stay tuned for more exciting updates as we once again labor to fill our shop back up with fantastic pirate merchandise!

Whew, what a year so far! We've nearly been cleaned out over the last month or two, and we haven't been able to quite keep up, resulting in a somewhat limited stock lately. However, we're finally starting to rebuild our inventory, and we still have a lot of new things planned and on the horizon for the near future, so keep a weather eye out! In the meantime, faire season is well and truly upon us, and the NorCal Pirate Festival is in only a few weeks! So now is a great time to grab those last few necessaries before hitting the festivals in your finest! Right now we've got lots of new pouches, as well as our excellent hats, and probably a few new belts and baldrics on the way! Check out a bunch of our newest listings below: https://www.etsy.com/listing/100290320/dark-brown-leather-coin-purse-hand-sewn https://www.etsy.com/listing/96337632/red-brown-leather-belt-pouch-medium https://www.etsy.com/listing/87576988/piratesteampunk-glass-round-bottle-black https://www.etsy.com/listing/100701066/tan-mini-leather-coin-purse-hand-sewn https://www.etsy.com/listing/89833526/miniature-double-fishing-float-for https://www.etsy.com/listing/100096396/brown-leather-pouchwallet-medium-hand https://www.etsy.com/listing/100291416/brown-leather-pouchwallet-large-hand https://www.etsy.com/listing/91399856/brown-leather-coin-purse-hand-sewn https://www.etsy.com/listing/86258837/piratesteampunk-glass-round-bottle-navy https://www.etsy.com/listing/89030331/nautical-pirate-hat-the-catalina https://www.etsy.com/listing/91200688/plum-purple-leather-wrapped-glass-bottle

Well, I just blew out the transmission on my car, and am also looking at possibly moving sometime in June or July, so once again, looks like NorCal is out for me. I am somewhat less than thrilled

Nice! While it looks like vending is straight out for me, I'm still planning to attend!

Sounds cool! Would you folks consider adding a category for festivals and conventions?

Thanks! yeah, I can see where you're coming from in that regard. I've helped put on a pirate convention called BrethrenCon (www.brethrencon.com) here in CO, for the last several years, and I have definitely learned that I much prefer attending these sorts of events to actually organizing them. Still, the prospect of vending at festivals like that sounds really appealing to me. Eventually I'd like to see if I could make an actual living doing costume sales in one form or another, so I figure it's a good way to get my feet wet.

At which event were you vending?

Just to give an idea of what I'm talking about, here are a couple shots of me in said hat: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/scyfygy/59299_451346212752_211504327752_5416190_3397215_n.jpg And here's one of Cascabel wearing a very similar style: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/scyfygy/PirateGuy.jpg And lastly some guy I don't know but lots of other people probably do, wearing a similar style, but with the side actually tacked up: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/scyfygy/Crazy.jpg

Naw, I totally get it! You want a little "swagger" in your hat! I personally like the "Barbossa" style as well - which, incidentally, is pretty close to the paintings of cavalier hats from the period (though perhaps a bit early for GAoP, but still... they look wicked cool). I like mine sort of swept up at a rakish 3/4 angle - not quite in front, and not quite on the side. If this is a nice, stout blank, you should theoretically be able to simply steam the proverbial snot out of it and then shape it to your liking without having to actually tack it up on the side. Then add a nice aged leather hat band and some epic plumage and you're ready to go!

Indeed! That stuff's downright tasty!

Wow! Now here's some thread necromancy! Haha... Well, I know it's not piratey in the least, but I believe my favorite on-screen duel of all time has to be the climactic fight between Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne in the old Errol Flynn "Adventures of Robin Hood." Talk about an amazing, classic fight! Right down to the shot of the two shadows dueling on the wall! Brilliant! I also love that the killing blow comes as a very well-timed (yet actually very simple) feint and lunge on Flynn's part, and not some huge, overly-dramatic gambit or trick of some sort. No chandeliers falling, no sand in the face (sorry Jack ), etc. Just one nice, clean lunge, and a tumble over the railing. Well played, Mr. Hood, well played Otherwise, pretty much the ENTIRE movie the Duelists is right up there, as well as the final fight in Rob Roy (strangely I haven't seen the movie, but I've seen that fight, and I friggin' love it). And okay, yeah, I do love the blacksmith shop fight from Curse of the Black Pearl. Like others have said above, it's definitely one of the things that hooked me on pirates at the get-go.

I hadn't thought of contacting NQG, but that's definitely a good idea! Thanks!

Love to try some, but at the moment, taking a trip to sell on the East Coast is simply too costly for us, especially with gas prices at an all-time high. And this still doesn't help me with WHICH festivals are good ones for vendors, and which ones are not.

Just bumping the thread. Anyone else want to sound off on this?

These are good thoughts, definitely. Unfortunately, being from Colorado, as previously mentioned, we don't personally know a lot of vendors (or any really) at festivals around the country. This is our first foray into these waters. And in regard to the merchandise, while that's probably true, we've pretty much already got an idea of what types of things we'll be selling (not all of which are currently in our Etsy shop, I might add). What I'm really wondering more than anything at the moment is what other vendors around think are good festivals to get a start in, or to look into as far as being worth the time and money, etc.

We've already looked at quite a few vendor applications, and all of them vary quite considerably. What I'm really trying to ascertain is which festivals out there seem to be the "best" festivals for merchants - especially merchants just starting out. To put it another way, we don't want to dump a bunch of time, money, and effort into a festival that we've never been to and then come away without anything to show for it. Mind you, there's always the possibility of being rained out or something of the sort, but that's just a risk one takes at festivals like these. For instance, we had considered looking into the Portland Pirate Festival in September. However, the merchant fees for Portland are something to the tune of $500. Now maybe for a company like Captain Jack's Pirate Hats or some such $500 seems reasonable for a big fair where you know LOTS of people are going to be coming through, looking at your merchandise, and buying a considerable quantity of high-dollar items. But for a business like ours, it seems... well, frankly it seems insane to dish out that kind of money on an event we've never been to, not even knowing if our business will be remotely successful there. So what I'm really wondering is if any of the folks in the Pub who have been merchants at various festivals could weigh in on which ones are their favorites, and why. Which ones seem to offer the best "bang-for-buck" ratio, and alternately, are there any you would recommend steering clear of?

Good thoughts. Another thing to keep in mind is that we are based in Colorado, so West Coast festivals are much closer and therefore more cost effective for us than East Coast festivals if we have to drive.

Thank you! This was extremely informative! Some of it I had already gotten a general idea of, or had imagined would be the case, but it's good to have confirmation. Still interested in any and all input other vendors (or people who are friends with vendors) have to offer!

Hey folks! As some of you may already know, the bonny lass and I have been working on a small Etsy business called the Castaway Trading Company ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/CastawayTradingCo ). This has been a fun endeavor for us so far, and we've found it's a way of making a little extra cash that we both really enjoy. However, the Etsy business alone is not the be-all, end-all of what we want to do. Eventually, we would very much like to begin a storefront costume business - and not necessarily a strictly pirate-themed one either - but that's still a long way down the road for us, and we thought this might be a good way to get our feet wet, so to speak. At any rate, we are now looking to really hit the business hard and expand it beyond the limits of Etsy. What we would really like to do is to start vending at some of the weekend pirate festivals around the country if possible. The thing is, we're not really sure how or where to begin in that regard. At the moment, the business isn't really returning a boatload of profit, so we can't afford to extend ourselves THAT much, but as they say, nothing ventured nothing gained. With this in mind, I was wondering if anyone on here had any advice for new merchants just starting out. For instance: which festivals do you think are the best ones for vendors? Which ones get the best foot traffic? Which offer the best deal with regard to vendor fees, etc? And furthermore, if anyone has any more sort of general advice on things (like general business practices at these sorts of events, items that sell well, niches that need to be filled in the market, filing apps with the festivals, packing, setup, etc.) I would love to hear them! I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people on this board who have real roots in the pirate community, and I'd love to know what you guys think, because if we're going to start doing this, it'd be nice not to just blunder into it blindly. I figure we would do well learn from the mistakes of others before making the same ones ourselves, heh. Thanks!

From what I always understood, copper plating was a fairly late development in the Golden Age of Sail. So more like Napoleonic. I don't believe it would have been done during the GAoP. But there are certainly others on here who are far better suited to answer this question accurately than I.

I'd just like to point out how thrilled I am at the fact that, for once, Fox isn't dashing our modern romantic notions of piracy upon the rocks, haha. Bring on the awesome square-rigged ships, says I!

Good thoughts

Haha, touche, Mission! And yes, square toes were definitely not all that was worn in the era. Heck, the John King shoe from the Whydah wreck, which I've seen with my own eyes (and surely many others here have too, if they visited the Real Pirates exhibit on tour) didn't have a remotely square toe, as I recall. In fact, if I remember rightly, it was almost pointed. However, I also personally prefer square-toed shoes for this era. I can understand why you might think they look a bit silly, but overall, I rather like the look. Mind you, the Loyalist Arms shoes have an almost ridiculously squared-off shape to them, making them resemble nothing so much as duck feet to my eye, but again it boils down to personal opinion and preference.

Yikes. Good to know. Then probably RH.