michaelsbagley

As someone who occassionally dabbles in the SCA, I was fairly certain that the SCA's focus was pre-1600 AD.... But there weren't any HARD rules on this, and that the pre-1600 focus was a guideline.... So on that logic, my thoughts were that an early GAoP (1680ish) wouldn't be too far out of the SCA's guidelines, and hence not any more out of place in the SCA than a "T-tunic" would on a Viking... So my suggestion is go for it (I am)... Having said that, different local groups in the SCA have different levels of tolerance for what they consider non-standard SCA garb/gear/authenticity/etc.... So you may want to do some asking around before jumping in with both feet. But in my experiences with the SCA (which has mostly been peripheral), most groups are fairly tolerant (minus a few individuals who can occassionally do a great job of making their minority attitudes seem like a majority)... Again, all of this is based off my limited experience with the SCA, and may not reflect the greater reality of the situation. If you ever go to Pennsic (the biggest SCA event), there are TONS of pirates around (both accurate and theatrical).... I've also heard that there are Pirate Households within the SCA... so again, all of this leads to my belief that the greater portion of the SCA is tolerant to this slightly out of mainline period persona....

As for materials... It may not be perfectly period accurate, but i was at a fabric store yesterday, and they had a 100% wool material that was gauzey and of a loose weave... On seeing it I instantly thought of the various discussions on flags and flag making on this forum. I forget the name of the fabric (I should have written it down), but essentially the fabric in question was to be used (marketed as) as a 100% wool backing for quilts. Now here's the kicker, said fabric was on sale for $2.99 per yard (and is in the 54 to 60 inch wide range).... No, I didn't buy any (I was there for fabric for garb which I got in abundance at a great price :) )... The selection of colours was not great, but not bad either... I think there was about 6 to 8 colours... Heck, I'll even add a list (which not be accurate, as we've seen my memory is shoddy) Black White Oatmeal (very much like natural unbleached linen colour) Sky Blue A pinkish red (and definately more pink than red) Medium brown Green (it was a lighter tone, but I didn't pay attention) There was definately another colour or two... I just can't remember.. Having said all of that, I would be willing to help someone acquire said fabric, but I would prefer not to be hammered by a million requests... So if you would like my help with this, please work as groups... If anyone is seriously interested I could go back and get the name of the fabric as well as a definate list of colours as well... I think the fabric is a regular item at said store (at $7.99/yard and I do not know how loong the current sale will be on.

Thanks for he advice both Patrick and Calennish, Patrick, the reason I'm reluctant to sign onto another board has more to do with my mild obsessive-compulsive nature... I'm already on more message boards than I care to count, and while most of them I am on only to look up occassional info, I let myself get sucked into checking most of them pretty regularily... I know it sounds goofy, but it is just my neurosis and a probably futile attempt of self control... Callenish, you've piqued my interest... Do you care to get a little more shameless self promotion by discussing this here? Or would you prefer to take this conversation to private message/email? I would be pretty interested in a Doglock Musket (not so keen on the Blunderbuss)....

I've been doing som reading through the archives on Muskets (so many threads, I figured this thread was the most recent...) Anyway, I found a great many links to many muskets and pistols, but I have not seen any info posted anout the musket from the following link (I gave up looking before reading all the threads I admit)... Link to Dog-Lock musket Would this be a good choice for a starter musket? I've fired before (not very often), but never owned a musket (or any other firearm). Secondly, how difficult is it to find someone to drill the "vents" on this musket? Would the cost of hiring someone (a gunsmith I presume) to do this make a huge impact on the overall cost of the musket and hence be something I take seriously into consideration when buying a musket. I've seen "check the muzzle-loader forum" a lot, I will do that if need be, but I would prefer to avoid having to join yet another forum... Any help or advice would be gretaly appreciated. In case "what type of pirate impersonation" is a factor, as generic as possible, and mid to late period is fine, although early GAoP period does peak my interest as well, just trying to handle one goal at a time...

Uhm, how early would i need to commit to attending the PiP festival to be allowed to participate as a re-enactor? it would be myself and my girlfriend, and we would probably prefer the 1720's Careening camp.... Our attendance mostly depends on me, but as a IT/computer contractor, my vacation availability can be very unpredictable, and change at almost any moment...

Sorry about the confusion.... I'm mostly interested in Military through the Ages on the weekend of March 17th and 18th in Virginia.... I really wanted to attend the March through Time in April in Maryland... But unfortunately I have been conscripted to a family obligation by the other half... So I'm targetting the Military through the ages as a substitute (placebo). Funny thing about your mentioning "Vikings" with regards to Military through the ages... As it stands, I will likely aim to do Viking for this event unless I hear of a GAoP group going out. I don't know the Viking group that is going to be there first hand, but I do know many people in common and could probably hook up with them. I completely agree on your point that Viking were not an organized army and hence why should pirates be singled out, funny where people draw the lines for these things... I may just join th Bethren discussion forum as well... Just in case I can weasel my way out of the girlfriend's family ordeal...

I was wondering if anyone has heard much about the Military through the ages timeline event in Maryland in March (March 17th - 18th this year)... It is in or near Williamsburg. Do any of the pirate groups set up or attend this one? I've attached a link below in case anyone is interested or wants to know more. http://www.virginia.org/site/description.a...&MGrp=3&MCat=11 If there is a pirate group going or thinking of going, would you mind if I joined your crew for this weekend?

I've gone over the web sites I could find with regards to the Whydah shot pouch, and I have a question about it.... I know because of the limited information no one may know for sure (although some of you seem to have more info about it than is available on the web), but what are the thoughts/opinions (actual knowledge is better if anyone has it) with regards to this pouch being case hardened? Just to be specific, I refer to the process of permeating leather with hot wax in order to harden and stiffen the leather as case hardening. I've tried to reason this out for myself, and I see only one reason why it wouldn't be case hardened, and that would be the lid. Case hardening does leave a bit of flexibility in the leather, but not much, and while I think case hardening would be advantageous to the pouch in most regards, I think it could cause the leather to crack or split along the back of the leather where the lid more or less hinges.... Love to hear some opinions about this, or hard info if anyone has it and is willing to share.

I know this isn't what you meant... But I just got this comical mental picture of an upside down X-mas tree hanging from the ceiling...

Wow... Two out of my three liked to climb the tree and try and sleep on/in it... But I don't think even the little one got as high up the tree as yours seems to have! My favourite is watching my girl trying to tablet weave... I stress trying, as all three of the rascals seem to be able to put their differences apart for the sake or tormenting dozen of loose threads... And being yelled at by the lady for their efforts.

Thanks for the tip on the yahoo group Morgan Dreadlocke... :angry: I've just gotten into the forum there, and I can already see that there is a TON of good information for the backyard boat-builder (or potential one as the case is for me)...

Well JohnnyTarr, I'm an hour and a half (okay, maybe two hours) directly south of lake Erie... Or more realistically, I am within 30 minutes of a number of smaller lakes that would suffice to take a small boat out on... Probably the nicest one of those would be at Deer Lake state park which is about 20 or 30 minutes from where I live... Or the short version is I am in Columbus in Central Ohio... I noticed from your profile (pardon my snooping) that you are in Wisconsin... Are you near either Lake Michigan or Lake Superior? (or neither?) On another note, I had a VERY slow day at work, and I did some searching, and found a two masted day sailer of a similar line to the Swiftsure (the above linked design)... I didn't bookmark that one, but the design was called "The Happy Pogo Pogo" or something like that... The photo of the pogo did not leave as good of an impression on me as the Swiftsure did.

Actually, I prefer the smell of pipe weed to any other tobacco.... I could just sit there all day in the same room as a pipe smoker... I smoked for about 15 years (on and off, but more on then off)... and damn it I miss it... Mind you I miss it less now that I live in the US than I did when I lived in Canada. No offence meant, but US cigarettes just don't smell or taste as appealing as Canadian ones do... And just about every American I have met (that smokes) says the opposite... I guess it's a situation as to what your used to. I still light up occassionally after a few drinks though, because Dennis Leary said it best when he said that "nothing goes better with a beer, than a cigarette"... or something like that.

Ya know Johnny Tarr, Now that you mention it, I took a closer look at the diagram on the wweb site... and it does almost look like there might be a forward cabin there... Then I look again, and think that those lines could be just about anything.... It's too bad that there isn't a study version of the plan. I've almost convinced myself to buy the plans in a few weeks (have some other expensive items on order right now), but the other half has been rather firmly telling me that under no circumstances, am I going to be alowed to build a boat... Not sure if I am going to listen to her on that.... But then agaion, buying the plans for my own amusement doesn't mean I have to actually build the thing.... Or there is always the option of buying the plans and talking a friend into using the plans to build a boat for themself and helping said friend so I might get the privelege of borrowing said boat....

I'm guessing that I should not have watched that at the office.... People from two and three cubicles away are looking at me funny because I am gasping so much to supress the laughter...

pout

Yeah $90 on the plans seems like a lot for a stack of paper, but the time, technical knowledge and skill in designing it needs to be considered, and from that perspective, it doesn't seem like so much... :) But then, from what i have read, those plans rely on the fact that you know what your doing as far as boat building goes... Or else it will be another $30 to $40 for a book (or more for multiple books) on boatbuilding basics... Then the cost of materials.... I love the design and look of that little sloop... but if it was a little bigger to accomodate a small cabin (just big enough to camp in) it would be perfect. Your welcome for the repost... I thought if there was anywhere that boat design would be appreciated, it would be in the Pyracy Pub! and to everyone else, for the record, I am not an official sales person of that boat plan... Just someone who has randomly become very smitten with the design and concept...

Just had a quick look at the link JonnyTarr... and that is going to be a nice looking sailer when it's done.... Hope you'll post some pics when your done! Sorry to those who see this twice.... But I posted the below link in response to JonnhyTarrs comment in another part of the forum.... and I think it might be better suited to this thread than where I originally posted it.... For anyone brave, good with woodworking, and a desire to own a scaled down pirate(ish) ship... Plans to scaled down min-sloop

That sounds like a hoot... a good ol' boat raising (in the tradition of a barn raising)... Unfortunately while Wisconsin puts you closer to me than most, it is stilll a bit far for me to go for something like that.. Best of luck to you with that! What style of sailing boat are you building? Is there a link to the plan you are using, or a photo of the boat your plan is based off? I saw this one... "A small sloop" and fell in love and have become almost semi-obsessed with giving it a go myself....

Thanks once again Kass for helping me learn yet another couple of facts about fabrics!

I sometimes get my fabric terms messed up... But if period sailcloth (or the example there of Kass cited) essentially 2/1 twill made from hemp or linen? Again, not I'm a fabric expert , but isn't most common modern canvas found in most fabric stores (also called Duck cloth) a 2/1 twill? If my above two statements are anywhere close to being on track... Outside of the composition of the fibres, wouldn't period canvas be similar to modern canvas?... once you start talking about close examination things would get a bit different... I can just about always tell linen fibres from cotton fibres... The feel of two fabrics with the same weave made from the two materials are also noticeable to me, and there is generally a slight but noticable difference in the way the fabrics hang or drape. Whether the same can be said for the difference between cotton and hemp (or linen and hemp) or not is beyond me as I have almost no experience with hemp fabrics....

Have to say Black John and Montery Jack, you are both more extreme than I... I love combat more than most, but I am pretty set on keeping it as real as possible with as little chance of real injury as possible (accepting all the sacrifices that stance brings with it)... Bumps and bruises are badges of honour (for me in my mind anyway ), but seeing stars and being knocked unconscious is something for the braver and bolder I guess. I had a discussion similar to this with an old aquaintance... We were discussion competetive dulled steel combat versus SCA heavy fighting. To quote him on this "You can fake fight with real(ish) weapons, or you can really fight with fake weapons...". That quote has always been my favourite way of summing things up since I heard it. He prefered the really fighting with fake weapons, and I was (and still am) a huge advocate of the fake fighting with real(ish) weapons... (Although I still attest the fighting with fake weapons can be done pretty realsitically if done well enough) This Shortsticking business sounds like it bridges the two as the sticks are real weapons in their own way...

As someone who started out with Olympic style foil fencing, and then moved to medieval blunted steel sword fighting, I had an incredibly difficult time breaking the habit of wanting to use thrusts... I eventually did manage to find a way of doing thrusts that is still safe enough (by the standards of most dulled steel combatants, but opinions may vary), and it looks reasonably realistic as well... I don't know if I can explain it fully or properly here, a it is one of those things that is definately easier to show (maybe we can cross blades sometime ), but it essentially boils down to thrusting with the blade at a slight angle so that when it contacts your opponent, it skids across his/her body... Almost like the opposite of a draw cut, yeah, like a push cut. If you keep your elbow unlocked, on the chance you misjudge (or your opponent makes an unexpected movement), you will less likely injure your opponent as the pressure of the connection will cause your arm to bend back rather than the point of your weapon being driven into your opponent... Another thing to keep in mind is trying to do thrusts of this variety going with your opponent's body dynamic... if his body is turned more one way or the other (as it should if he/she is using a proper combat stance) do the push/draw thrust so that if said opponent does move laterally, again your point will more likely be knocked away from him/her rather than be thrust harder into him/her... Hope this makes sense, I can try to elaborate more if you have any questions.

That whole red state/blue state thing rears its ugly head early on, eh? It seems the red/blue state thing began before the country even began... Makes me wonder why we never colour labelled the Canadian provinces?

Wow, Madder and Woad... Blue and red seem to go back further than the Middle Ages... I've sat through many a lecture on dyeing in the Dark Ages (and actually learned something in doing so ), and those two dyes with Weld (which produces yellow or green depending on how you use it) seem to be the most common dye stuffs used by most European cultures throughout most of history based on what Kass is saying here. Indigo was used in the Dark Ages as well, but was more scarce and a little more costly than Woad, and hence was more of an "Upper Class thing" (in the Dark Ages at least). So was Weld still used this late in history as well? Or did it fall out of use sometime in the seven or eight hundred years between the late Dark Ages and the GAoP? I'm actually happy that some of my knowledge of early period re-enacting is carrying over...