Matty Bottles

Who is that handsome devil next to you?

That's a great photoshop job. I can't tell where they put in the Johnny Depp parts. Do you know who faked the picture?

Live by the armbar and RNC. Die by sword AND pistol.

Thank you, m'lady. My impressions of garbadine were informed by Mr. Burberry's invention. I confess that I couldn't see what was so unique about it, but I was deceived by my wiki-fu. I came across 'box weave' wool whilst searching for tropical weight wool - you can view it here. I have a number of old wool blankets I can use for my 'cool weather' clothes, but I was specifically looking for something appropriate for summer use. Kass, I don't remember if you give a recommnedation for summer or winter use with the fabrics you have available - do you?

I searched for this topic, because I suspect it was been hashed out before. But to my surprise, I couldn't find anything about it. I wonder what sort of weaves available today for wool date back to or replicate techniques of the seventeenth century? As far as I can tell, weaves such as Garbadine appear much too late. Poplin, apparently, dates to the 1400 century, though it was originally made from silk, I guess. Would wool poplin by appropriate for the GAoP? Also, what is the deal with the box weave? I can't find anything about it that doesn't refer to carpets or chainmail, and can't find a date for it.

Perhaps those who have purchased from the various cutlass manufacturers shown can give a review or their opinion of the quality. Since it's my suggestions, I guess I should start. I purchased the Dutch Clamshell Cutlass a few months ago. I had heard confliciting reports about Windlass and MRL, but I loved the look of the cutlass and I thought it was the most realistic option for ordering weapon I wouldn't have to a ) wait a year and half for; and b ) ship in from overseas. When I first recieved it, I was pretty impressed. For one, it was half a pound lighter than listed on the MRL website. It was a heavy blade, a little bit longer than I expected, I guess (even though the dimensions were listed) but everything was tightly put together - not loose and shakey as MRL's old reputation suggested. There were a few issues: the clamshell was rather tight (an observation made by many other reviewers; the leather lining of the clamshell was not very good; and the clamshell and guard are two different components. At first this didn't bother me, but after a while it sort of did. The clamshell, if you look at it closely, is clearly of modern manufacture, and I am resolved to 'modify' the guard this winter, as soon as I have the information and equipment needed to heat treat it. I have not yet had occasion to spar with it, but it seems well put together, and features a great scabbard, believe it or not, with a frog button and everything. Would I purchase it again? Well, I cannot vouch for the quality of the Loyalist Arms version, but if the quality was the same, I would purchase it again without hesitation at that price. If I ever get that chance to really have a go at somebody with it, I suspect it will cement my opinion, but right now I can't say that I would or wouldn't pay the $230 to MRL again.

There are clay oil-burning lamps out there... I wonder if this is good for the GAoP or not? (Not to get all Twill on y'all.)

Heck, why not call it the True Men (Truman) in an oblique reference to the donor Harry S?

I think I know the store you're talking about...

I haven't attached the legs to the waist band yet, so it just looks all crazy and shapeless. I'll take a picture sometime; I've got to drive to Sandwich, IL for the next few days for family business.

If they say 17th and 18th C that probably puts it right smack dab in the GAoP. As a rule of thumb, late 17th C is appropriate.

Oh, I'll be there, Maddogge. Whether that's a good idea is yet to be seen... And as for sewing, well, whether THAT's a good idea is yet to be seen as well. So far I couldn't honestly say that it looks like a pair of pants, even big, baggy sailors' pants.

Is the back stitch the one wherr you double back halfway and overlap a little bit, like an embroidery stitch? Seriously, I am the worst speller today.

I've been backstitching all night, if the back stitch is the one I'm thinking off.

The way the bottom flares out and the neck really make me think there's a connection here, but I haven't found any evidence of it yet. I'm still looking, though.

Oh, gorgeous... did you have to wait for it long?

Well, I'm starting to think that collar is much more likely than no collar. The wikipedia entry smock-frock led me to some interesting sites: The Museum of Rural English Life Historical Boys' Clothing Both of these seem to indicate that collars were ubiquitous on rural smocks, at least. This leads me to think there might be a relationship between the 'modern' sailor suit and the ASC frock.

So I was reading this book called Pirates! (it might have been by Angus Constam, I don't remember nor care) and I was looking at many of the images in their painted by one Howard Pyle, who I have been invoking as responsible for the pirate/boot misconception in modern times, and I noticed that the buccaneers who Sacked Cartegena wore shoes. Not boots, but shoes! So I looked for some other images of Mr. Pyle's. And look! Here, the cover of The Books of Pirates: shoes! And here, in "Marooned": shoes! And here, in this sketch: shoes! And in "How the Treasure was Divided": shoes! And here depicting Thomas Tew: shoes! In fact, there are more shoes, but I couldn't find large enough images to show them clearly. But in "Which Shall be Captain" they are pretty clearly wearing shoes. Yeah, there are boots, too, but I am impressed by the volume of shoes in his paintings, and I feel that I should publicly apologize for maligning his character. Mr. Pyle, I apologize.

I have looked all over for an image of an extant sailor's frock or period pictures of a sailor's frock, and all I can find is descriptions that they were like big shirts. Well, that made me wonder what the collar was like. Did they have big collars, short collars, band collars, no collars? And whilst google imaging, I found this: This is a children's sailor suit from 1906, I think. Now compare it to this image: Now, this is not the best image to compare, perhaps, but look at the similarity between the neck openings. Sure, there's only a limited way to put collars, cuffs, and whatnot together, but shirts had already changed by this time, and coats, sweaters, and jackets had been different for quite some time as well. Now let's look at the smock the Pub's own Patrick Hand assembled (this is the best picture I could find): I see similarities between what we acknowledge as the 'sailor suit' and this older design - and I mean more than just the blue cuffs. The cut, the flare of the body, the way it hangs, all seems to suggest a modern sailor suit. That makes me wonder if the GAoP sailor's frock (which is actually older than the GAoP, right?) is the predecessor for the modern sailor suit, still in use by the USN. Is this something so obvious that no one even needs to rehash it any more? Is this so ludicrous that it's not worth dicussion? I wonder if it would lead us to some clues as to how those older 'frocks' were constructed. In any case, if I were to make a GAoP frock, how big of a collar should I have?

I think if you were to start offering simple, functional, DOCUMENTABLE hangers from the late 17th century, you'd have some interested buyers, yes sir. But resist the temptation to offer later period stuff. This is my reasoning on this: Much later period stuff, appropriate for F & I and RevWar, is already well represented, particularly by Indian companies. LET ME SAY THAT I AM NOT COMPARING YOUR QUALITY TO THEM. However, they do make a variety of low-cost later period blades. A sword appropriate to, say, 1690, that is ready for fighting and is documentable according to Swords and Blades of the American Revolutions, for example, will attract the attention of both GAoP reenactors, F & I reenactors, and RevWar reenactors, don't you think? And maybe I'm off base here, but I think if you take a look at some of the blades offered by other smiths who focus on this time period, and make something else, something documentable but under-represented currently, those blades would be pretty well-recieved. But I'd get more feedback first. Maybe everybody does want the same kind of blade.

I can't find anything on her site about the repro script... Mr. Foxe, do you know any places that sell repro coins? There's about three coins, I think, available on Jas. Townsend.

Hear, hear! I'm a prime candidate for all sorts of loaner gear, although I'm furiously working on new kit materials for summer events. You're building, I'm sewing...

Master Rats, are you looking to construct a lean-to or fly? I am leaning toward lean-to myself, but realized that I don't have any idea how to properly rig one...

I stumbled over them, too, looking for tarps. I wonder what they charge in shipping. Lowes has pretty good prices and a fair variety of sizes for their canvas dropclothes (of course, you'd have to treat them yourself...maybe. they are supposed to stop paint from bleeding through...) and the shipping in that case is a known quantity - $0.00. I haven't had a chance to dash down to the local sherwin williams and check out the prices there, but I imagine they would have an even greater selection than Lowes.

And don't forget the Prince of Fops...