Hawkyns

I'd love to get the sutlery out there, but 6 nights hotel plus gas, plus fees and it's not financially viable. Especially with the reduced table size. Not to mention driving across NYS in February. Any chance we're ever going to get this on the East coast? Hawkyns

I guess I'll start by saying that the only aging a piece needs is use. False aging looks like false aging. Blackening a brass hilt will give an all over patina, it will not show the wear points where your grip would keep the brass polished. Sweat from your hand will take the newness out of the brass, as well as putting the appropriate wear on the hilt. Use it. If you don't have a battle ready blade or a partner to work with, suspend one of those pool noodles and use it as a practice target for a couple of hours a week. You'll not only age the hilt, but you'll get an idea of just what swinging a cutlass is all about, and build up your arm strength at the same time. If you have a battle ready blade use an old car tire. That will also put some nicks and scrtaches on the blade. The wear on a blade should not be patina. All steel blades should be kept clean and free of rust and corrosion. The wear you would see on a blade would be scratches and small nicks. Larger nicks would be filed out so as not to create a weak point where the blade will break. Hawkyns

Nay lad. Tha mun do summat beside t'West country. Dun't tha know other ports rand England? Filey, or Scarbro, or tha could even be a Scouser. It's a rum go that lads allus go wi't'bloody southerners. Stop laikin abaht an use thi nut. I just revert to my native Dales accent. Watch episodes of the old TV show "All Creatures Great and Small". Hawkyns

Depends what I'm doing. If I'm in 16th/early 17th century rig, I carry a bollock knife with a 7 inch blade . They were the common English knife of the period. For late 17th/18th century, I carry a sheepsfoot knife with a 5 inch blade. Additionally, on my gunners belt, I have a triangular profile blade with a thick spine. On that spine are the measurements of the various bore sizes of English cannon. The scabbard for the knife also has a secondary sheath for a vent prick. Hawkyns

I'll be stitching leather in the sutlery. New kit and repairs if people need them. Hawkyns

Which poor sod did you have in mind?? hawkyns

Hell yes. Stress builds up after multiple firings. Metal fatigue is a funny thing. It is very hard to track and generally requires destructive testing and microscopes to determine just how far it has progressed. Dad was a QC engineer on turbine blades for Rolls Royce. I heard plenty about metal fatigue testing while growing up. Hawkyns

Just bloody lovely!! Not enough details to figure out what happened. Both articles said he was loading the cannon, but that may not mean much, considering few reporters know the procedures. If I had to guess, I'd go for the seriously overloaded. Cannons with flaws generally break into a few large pieces. The article indicates this one fractured like a grenade into multiple small pieces. Hawkyns

22x22 including ropes. Merchant area. Hawkyns

Since numbers are now an issue, I'd like to point out that I don't see the sutlers listed on the Roll Call. I am definitely planning on being there with the sutlery, At The Sign Of The White Rose. Hawkyns

Bugger!! Not going to make it. Perfect storm hit, stock issues, schedule stuff, and a DMV glitch. Sorry, All! Hawkyns

That may be valid at pirate festivals, but at living history events, I don't sanitize for the public. History should not be disneyfied. Hawkyns

Excellent news. I'm looking forward to it and will definitely be bringing the sutlery. Hawkyns

A most excellent reason to party in camp with friends and not bother going out to the bars with drunk mundanes. Hawkyns

http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1112.html Slightly OOP but there are references to similar blades http://www.therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c967.html these were still in use http://www.loyalistarms.com/pirateswordscutlasses%20.html the shell guard at the top of the page (This would be my choice, out of the commercial stuff out there) Hawkyns

Well, not to attempt to resurrect the deceased equine for continued flagellation, but that is rather a major part of the problem. As Red Sea said, people need to do a little research before attending an event and actually know what they are going to, what kind of an event it is. That sounds really good on paper (or screen). What we have though, is people who don't do the research, show up in the wrong kit, and don't feel uncomfortable and don't care. Unfortunately, what has emerged over the last few years, since the great expansion in pirate reenacting, is the attitude "I'm a pirate, I don't have to follow any rules, and I don't care what anybody thinks". I've heard it too many times and everytime I do, it makes me cringe. It's a disservice to the whole community, and a slap in the face to those uf us who do this on a regular basis, not just for the occasional faire. Hawkyns

Not to hijack the thread, and maybe this deserves a thread of it's own, but I'd like to answer. I'll agree that for many people, the sword and pistols are nothing but large, expensive jewelry. For some of us, however, they are more. I don't carry a weapon that I can't use, be it cutlass, rapier, pistol or blunderbuss. Swords shall be properly maintained, well scabbarded (so they won't fall out ) and properly sharpened. Firearms shall be clean, well fitted of flints, and capable of hitting their targets. Its a martial arts thing. Don't carry something you can't use or are not prepared to use. Not a case of planning to use it, but being able to use it in that .000001% chance that it might be needed. Hawkyns

As someone who's never re-enacted, I'm curious: why is this? Given that pirates had to live and work all day under a hot Caribbean or Red Sea sun as often as not, why would they wear very hot clothes? Tricky question but it goes mostly to the difference between perception and reality. You are correct, sailors working under the hot sun would strip to shirt and slops, or even just shirt. They'd likely be barefoot on deck and aloft, and have a single belt with only a short working knife. The problem with that is that it does not scream PYRATE!. Many pyrate types want to show off their clothing and kit, so they are wearing a ruffled shirt, fancy weskit, fancy breeches, boots, cocked hat, and weapons belt with sword, dagger, and a pistol or two. Add a gentleman's frock coat, frequently of modern (poyester or similar) material, and a few more odss and ends hanging from the belt, and you are encasing yourself in a lot of things that don't breathe or let you you breathe. If the temp is over 80, I wear a thin linen shirt, linen slops, buckle shoes without hose, a belt with a short knife, silk scarf on my head, and a short cutlass on a baldric. More accurate, much more comfortable, but it does not have the 'pyrate panache' tha many are looking for. Hawkyns

Just attitude and perception, I guess. Peace tying takes a weapon and turns it into a large, expensive piece of jewelry. I don't pay several hundred dollars for a sword and then remove it's purpose for existing by making it unuseable. Hawkyns

I'll disagree with that one. I don't peace tie my weapons and it bugs the hell out of me when I have to do it at those fairs where it is required. I think it it might be reasonable for new people or for people who only carry for show. On the other hand, weapons are what I do. I know where my sword and pistols are and who's near them. 30 years of carrying a sword on my hip, training with it, and teaching it give me the clue. And I never drink when carrying, so the "drunk in a bar' scenario doesn't apply. I think the rule should be more like "know your weapons and your weapons capabilities". If you only carry occasionally, or have never trained, or tend to drink more than one or two, then peace tie or don't carry. If you take your weapons seriously, train with them as you would any martial art, and make them part of yourself, then peace tieing is unnecessary. Hawkyns

So I've been asked to do some 1812 stuff this weekend with the Free Men of the Sea. They, like many others, are putting together 1812 kit for the upcoming anniversary events. Jacket, shirt, overalls and shoes I have. My cutlass hilt will change easily. But I need a hat. Any suggestions what is the best hat for a Napoleonic period privateer that can be made in 4 days? Hawkyns

Any documentation on the knitted coif? I wear a linen one under my statute cap, but I've never seen reference to a knitted one. Hawkyns

Are you talking officer or enlisted? Officers would have bullion tape, either silver or gold, depending on regimental requirements. Enlisted trim was most commonly worsted wool tape in the appropriate colour to the regiment. 96 Storehouse, Angela Trowbridge, Reconstructing History all carry some of the tapes, mostly in the wools. Proper bullion tape is very hard to get and expensive. Hawkyns

The handgonne was a 14th/15th century weapon. By the end of the Hundred Years War or the War of the Roses, say about 1480, the serpent had appeared. At first just an 'S' shaped bar screwed to the side of the stock, by the early 16th century it had become a proper lock with internal workings. At that point it was no longer called a handgonne, but was being called an arquebus in most references. Considering the crude manufacture of these weapons, I would find it highly unlikely that a hnadgonne would still be in use. An arquebus possibly, but most likely one with a proper lock. The had all the basics of a regular matchlock musket, but the shape had not yet assumed what we would think of as musket shape. The flair of the stock where it hits the shoulder was a development of the mid 16th century. the earlier arquebus was more of a lengthened crossbow type stock with a thickened but not overly flaired shuolder piece. Hawkyns