Patrick Hand

I'm also one of those that says if you go authentic, you can fit in with both groups.... But... it does take time to get everything right... Start with the basics (you can cheat a bit, by using cotton instead of linen, hemp and wool, but then if you do go more authentic, you have to re-make everything, but you can do it one article at a time....at least you have something to wear.....) A common sailor is a good start, then if you go to a Renn. Faire or such, you can always add a flashy coat, an outrageous hat and add a whole bunch of extra stuff hanging from your belt, and fit right in... :angry:

Dang... can't figure out what I'm frettin' about.... I have all day today an' alla tomorrow to clean and pack everything.... but I got that naggin' feelin' that I'm forgetting somethin..........

Yeah... icky stuff.... but check this one out.... much happier... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458360,00.html

Aaack... who would wanna buy an old flack jacket? dang.... they were hot, and didn't really stop anything anyway.... Sorry... knee-jerk reaction....... I won't be doing much Airship Pyrate stuff until I get back from PiP... (and I gotta sharpen my cutlass before then... something about a hair(s) cut...)

The modern reproductions are basically a flint lock with a dog added.... Doglocks evolved differently than flintlock. (wot michaelsbagley said) ....But at the time, dog locks had weird internals... basically closer to what a wheel lock used.... unfortunately, they had a bad tendency to go off when jarred... so they added the dog as a safety.... I'll have to look up the actual title of the book ...OK... it's "Arms and Amour in Colonial America" not sure how wrote it though... but there is good information about the development of doglocks and flintlocks.....

I hadda a kinda cool Thnkstakin' Day.... I got drafted to help with th' work at the Wild Grape (Carol's other restaurant) The first seating was a really cool family.... (then I waRshed alla th' dishes...) Then for the kinda open seating (whoever wanted to buy dinner) we all meet in the bar, had a few drinks and introduced ourselves.... then to eat.... The cool part... 6 different couples, family style dining... Hey there was a couple up from LA...comedians, the guy will be on a TV show within the next month, a couple from Brazil, a Mom and her son.... just a bunch people wot didn't have familys ter be wit fer th' day.... So we kinda made one big mixed sorta family fer th' night.......It was great... Kinda re-news my faith that "peeples is peeples......" (a miss-quote from one of the Muppet movies...)

Burning Man is a Hot... dusty... and icky environment.... It takes a bit of boo-boo, (and some help from your friends/camp mates) to get thought it...... But it is a happily weird kinda thing.... It cost about $280 just for tickets.... you gotta bring alla your food and water with you....(and tote it all out) (and get there....) It's kinda sorta like a survival camp... but with a buncha friends having a good time... (and really weird/cool stuff to look at...) It's kinda hard to describe.... but if you can survive it, it's a buncha fun..... (heck... it isn't as much of a hustle as Basic Training... but it is different...and it will "tax " you....) PiP is great, because I get to meet a buncha Pytates I've only been able to type at, or see once a year..... But a group of Airship Pyrates at Burning Man would be a whole buncha (hot dusty) fun.... We haven't typed much lately.... but the Brass Goggles thread on Yahoo, is where we kinda got everything together for last year.... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brassgoggles/ And for a bunch of newbies (at Burning Man).... we did a hellofa good job/showing.... Airship Pyrates could do even better.......

As Lady Cassandra Seahawke says, you might wanna check if the name has been used..... I don't know if it was something here in California, or when I was back in Tennessee... but there was a Gryphin Iron works.... and the name kinda sounds similar/common..... A fun aside:.... My Dad use to be "Black Mountain Guitar and Dulcimer Works"... well he got good at what he was doing... and was recognized as Jas. Patterson.... well someone else started up a shop and used the same name... well Black Mountain Guitar Works.... (don't worry, this is a cool story) But then they found out that my Dad had the name first... so they wrote to him.. explaining that they didn't know, and never meant to cut into his business.... My Father wrote them back, and told them that it was no problem, he was well enough known, that if they wanted the name, they could have it.... Hey.. my Dad is cool.....

I was thinkin'..... yah know wot would be really really cool.... Wot if we could get enough Airship Pyrates (wot be a little crazy) and set-up a camp at Burning Man this year..... It probably won't happen, but it would be cool if it did...... http://www.burningman.com/

And don't mind the flanged mace......

YAY..... Doin' the Pyrate Happy Dance..... One week to go, and I finally gots me a flight ter Miami... then takin' th' Greyhound down ter Key West....... Hide th' wimen an' th' rum........

Well It's official.... Carol gust booked my flight.... course I'll have to take the Greyhound down from Miami again.... Outta curiosity... looking at the Roll Call on the first page... is it still up to date? If it is.... WOW... that's a lot a Pyrates wots going ter be there .....

I'm not sure if I want to add some fur on the vest or not... I already pulled out the insulation on the jacket (kinda like the problem we have with wearing a wool Pyrate coat in July or in Key West... too hot...) But a large fur collar on it might work..... Hummm. didn't think of that... I was looking at the buckles and thinking that they would look really cool with an Airship Pyrate Crew badge or insignia soldiered or epoxied on them... We're going to have to start posting picture when we get stuff further along..... Even Work in Progress (WIP) photos might get more Pyrates playing....... That sounds like a great idea.... Now my mind is buzzing with some fun ideas....... I might be able to get some patches made... not that we would ever be able to get together as a crew... but it would be kinda fun for the Airship Pyrate Crew of the xxxx to maybe invade the Brass Goggles Forum... (At least let them know that there is a thread about Airship Pyrates here...)

Wow rats.... with a little modification, some of that stuff would work really well.... thanks for posting it.... Dang... checked the 5 belts... they only come in medium.....

I hate to say it, but a cutlass would be nice (and I already have one...)..... but a flanged mace is soooo much more elegant for killing zombies.... Once I learn how to weld, that will have to be one of my projects.... Oh yeah... most threads kinda have a topic.... I figure this one will go in so many different directions that it isn't worth trying to map it.... just run with it..... Everything from real bug-out bags, to zombie hunting bug-out bags.... to zombie killing weapons, to "Hey... has anyone noticed that Ransom and Jenny keep drinking that blood colored....they claim it's wine ...you don't think.......just maybe......?" I haven't gotten much further with what I want to pack in a bug-out bag.... I kinda lost some time reading about First Aid and Trauma kits ...

I have to finish a stupid bird mascot, and then three pairs of pvc pyrate boots for .... another bird... then I will have some time off to draw a few more pages in the Pyrate Comix befor PiP......(well after I finish two Sketchbooks.... Hey... I have them penciled... now I gotta ink them....)

I've been reading S.M.Sterling's book Dies the Fire... it's another Post apocalypses novel (hey... I like reading them...) Anyway, that and a thread in the Steampunk forum (in their version of Beyond Pyracy) about what to do when the zombies attack.... someone mentioned a bug out bag........ So I did a google search, and found another forum all about what to do when the zombies attack.... http://zombiehunters.org/index.php (this is their main page.. you gotta check out their Forum...bug out bags, guns... all kinda fun stuff....) So now I'm wondering what would I put into a bug out bag... just in case the zombies or the end of the World as we know it did happened.... ("It's the end of the World as we know it"..... come on everyone.... sing along.... you know the song....... ) I've only just started thinking about this... but was wondering if anyone else has a bug out bag, what is it, and what's in it? I'll post what I come up with as I start putting one together...... Oh yeah... I also know that preparing for a zombie attack is kinda silly, but that way you don't come off as some kinda survivalist weirdo.... OK... I don't know why surviving zombie attacks isn't as threating... just the way it works I guess......

I started kinda working on an Airship Pyrate waistcoat.... Last week I bought an old black leather jacket for $6.00 at a thrift store that I was going to cut up and make a flight helmet out of.... but the more I looked at it... the more it didn't want to be a flight helmet, and wanted to be an Airship Pyrate waistcoat instead.... So far, I've cut off the sleeves, and I have to do some minor tailoring to the body to make it fit better... figure I'll add breast pockets and eppielets... I have to re-make the four lower outside pockets (they were made from too thin cloth, so I'll replace them with canvas or linen)... but I'll make them larger for more loot anyway.... and add some more on the inside... LOTS of pocket fer all them usefull Airship Pyrate swag an stuff...(like a couple a' flask an' extra loot) Hey... an Airship Pyrate utility vest....... I had to cut off the zipper, but I'm kinda stuck with the snaps... can't take them off without scaring the leather..... Then distress the snot outta it.... it's already nicely scruffy... but a little more won't hurt..... And add a heavy leather pauldron on the right shoulder with a painted winged skull.... I've mentioned this before, but for Golden Age Pyrates, the look is simple enough to make it recognizable as a Pyrate... but for a Steampunk Airship Pyrate, I have to kinda invent a look that "screams" Airship Pyrate for a time that never really existed......Ittsa fun project, but there are some design bits that I'm still working on.....

Yeah... how much longer until he gets done wit school...?

Hey.... wit a TREBUCHET!, the Sealkie's Hide can offer incredably quick delivery service...... Any where in Key West........

Yeah, airlines are cutting back.... no Honny Roasted Peanuts....and they charge you for your baggage..... But to get people to fly with them instead of another airline, they offer incentives.... such as....Frequent Flyer Miles... So they make their money when someone flies with them instead of searching for the least expensive Airline... It's when they won't honor their agreement that they become Poopie-Butts.....

Mission......... TREBUCHET!

But Oderless...... those were only bows.... war be th' good O' blunderbi (plural for Blunderbuss) and cannon awh heck even a good ol' cutlass blow.... Dang... even a spoon (because they hurt more).......

Hey... is anyone really surprised about that? Our Government trying to protect us is worse than anything any terrorist can do......

I ain't drunk.... But DANG... me and Carol can make a buncha' darn good Margaritas..... See I knows I ain't drunk. because if I was.... spell check would have made the whole screen red.... as it is/be... I only miss-typed only 'bout three words.... so I can't be too drunk....... Hey... a lot a those margaritas were for medicinal purposes anyway.... cut the snot outta me hand tryin' ter catch a broken ...eeergh .... margarita glass tonight, and had to find some kinda pain releaver...... Not to worry... paper towels and some duct tape patched everything up nice right an' proper.....so I'm only leaking a little bit right now....