Matty Bottles

That sound great! Certain things I do I do for the most realism possible (Airsoft, anyone?) and that battlefield surgery sound just fantastic. It reminds me of advanced wound rules for skirmishes: Every player randomly selects an envelope, and if they are hit they open the envelope to see what their wound is. Then the medic, who has a dressing for every wound card, has to dress the player on the spot. There are movement limits, minimum surgery times - all this to heighten the realism.

I understand your point about toys, but I do not think it is a particularly apt analogy. Do I open the box when I get a toy? Yes. Do I open the box when I get a toy from 1828? No, of course not. If all you want is a toy, or something to look good, commission something, but don't buy an original. As Deacon Frye notes, if something is destroyed, it cannot be recovered. And that means that the quality of repros will only decline, if one more original ceases to be. I was a little put off to find out some of the weapons used in POTC were originals. It just seemed so irresponsible.

I need a knife sheath for my dagger. The sheath I have has a snap, and is far too modern for my kit. I thought of ordering one from an on-line dealer, but decided to offer the work to one of me pub-mates. If you're interested, PM me.

Black Bart Roberts raided in Newfoundland. I've never been there, but seeing how far north it is, I can't imagine it being the most temperate of climes.

*Waves his hands in a placating manner* Okay, okay, we all like pirates here, let's keep that in mind now....

Okay, um, this was a pirate question, so .... Hint #1 The pirates were based in Cilicia.

If you're talking about the factory tricorn, I can't attest to its quality, but I can say that I ordered the blank, looked at some directions Stinky reccomended in this very thread (I believe) and in about forty-five minutes I had shaped my hat into the exact form I wanted. So, I guess I would just get the blank.

Aye, the worst kind of pirate. The kind that has the full weight of society and law behind 'em. It's enough to make me go, um, pirate.

The handle design on the Marine sword (or at least one of the designs) was taken from the scimitars of the Barbary Coast corsairs, after the U.S. Marines battled them in Tripoli. Okay, um.... Approximately how long did it take Pompey to clean up the Mediterranean?

in another thread I'm too lazy to look up, I believe someone suggested it was an old sail needle.

Thanks for the sweater and wool info.

But the question on all of our minds....what about Bruce Campbell?

It's a fine poem.

Pillaging, villainy, plundering, looting, Wenching, or benching, or cannon-shooting, drinking or thinking or Roto-routing, which ever way you work or play, here's to you on your birthing-day!

There's a sort of short jacket you can get at http://www.jastown.com/coldgear/wj-155.htm Is that the sort you mean? I've seen those, and they look comfortable, but I'm wondering if the knit thing we know as a sweater existed. I'm sure it did somewhere, but I wondered if it was common in Europe or the americas around 1700.

When ye visit those Scanda-knave-vian countries I've always found it best to constantly remind them those Vikings left their best blood lines in Scotland, where they were toughened and tuned into REAL fighting men.

Yeah, and the reason starts with an 'H', end with an 'N', and has 'EROI' in the middle.

When I think of it, I'm having a hard time finding evidence for sweaters, or what we would know as sweaters. Anyone have info on styles of sweaters, and what they would have been called? I know the romanticized Carribean Pirate probably had no use for sweaters, but in history, what style of sweater would sailors have worn?

Han Solo's revenge, Han Solo at Stars End, and ......... what?

Well, in a yay way. If it doesn't work out, or it's false, it's the greatest rumor I've ever heard, and if it does work out, then it's the greatest leak I've ever heard. Keith Richards is probably very close to what some pirates realty were like: completely lost in inebriation. Add a little homicidal mania to the mix, and you have Charles Vane. Or Phil Spector.

I don't have to woory about thin, misshapen boning much. I'm interested in those frock coats starting at $150!

That is perhaps the single greatest rumor I have ever heard.

A present for you, on your date of birth, a barrel of rum, to accentuate mirth. And just so you know, before you start thanking, two buxom wenches, to begin monkey-spanking.

A present for you, on this your birthday, A bushel of limes, to keep scurvy away. And once you've avoided that particular harm, two buxom wenches, one for each arm.

What would we do, Hawkyns? What wouldn't we do! This idea is amazing! You like camping, chopping wood, battles, shooting competitions, cannon demos? We can do that! We can also play music, shout, be thoroughly debauched and inebriated (or fill up on diet pepsi), just not while we use the cannons. Heck, we could turn it into a big competition, having events where we negotiate the divison of turf and plunder, and if we can't come to a peaceful resolution, then we could battle it out. All in good nature, mind you. And think of the cross-over potential. If you want to have a cannon tutorial, or a living history seminar, or something like that, you could introduce people to a pasttime they really enoy but otherwise would never have experienced. I think this is a fine idea, and I think we should form a new thread discussing such a society, writing the articles, and such. Except I'm at work, and can't start right now. Who's with me? I mean, you know, enthuastically, not, you know, who's at work with me.