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Rendezvous Greenhorn
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Booshway
Picture of Pilgrim
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Howdy Zeb,
As said here, we ALL started as greenhorns. When I was at my first rendezvous, I was introduced to the concept of "squintin' primitive". That is: "If ya squint hard enough, it looks primitive". Start out with recreational rondy's or a club's monthly shoots and go from there. Your rifle is fine, and the important thing is to have fun.


"Any day you wake up on the right side of the dirt is a good day"
 
Posts: 428 | Location: Northwestern California | Registered: 05 May 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of SCLoyalist
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quote:

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A lot of rendezvousers pick a particular era and a person from that era and then try to make their gun, clothing, shoes, camp gear etc match. For example, you carrying your Lyman GP rifle should be just fine if you're dressed like a fur trade era mountain man of the 1830s, but you might look a bit 'odd' if you were carrying the GPR and wearing 18th century knee breeches and a tri-corn hat. The Book of Buckskinning series is a good place to start (and seems like volumes 1 and 2 both had good articles on how to outfit yourself with respect to clothing and gear for different eras). Vendors of clothing, hats and shoes that come to mind are James Townsend&Son and Crazy Crow. They both offer clothing of generally correct cut and style at reasonable prices. There are also several tailors that advertise in Muzzle Blasts and Muzzleloader, and they do really nice work, too, if you have the time and budget and know what you want. Townsend and Crazy Crow are for us folks who buy 'off the rack.' Most clubs will cut you a little slack for your first 'vous or two, provided you are obviously trying to stay in the spirit of the game and don't show up wearing blue jeans or side zip cowboy boots.

As to your camp, you need shelter over your head (Diamond fly or tent), something to sleep on (bedroll or cot, blanket), something to sit on (primitive looking chair or a wooden box), something to cook on and in, and something to eat off of (wooden bowl, tin plate, cup, etc). Keep everything that doesn't look pre-1840 out of sight (inside your tent or under a piece of canvas or blanket). You'll use water around your camp for cooking and washing, so you'll need a bucket for carrying/storing.

I don't travel light. My camp gear includes a wall tent, canvas tarp inside as a floor covering, folding army cot, two wool blankets, Blanket box used as a sidetable, a candle lantern for light, box to hold shooting and gun cleaning supplies, knife and hawk. Outside the tent, either a charcoal brazier, dutch oven (Lodge, btw) or a 'flip grill' for cooking, a wooden chest for cooking utensils and another chest for food storage, ice chest and canvas cover, 5 gallon water can & cover, a slat chair, a folding wooden table, shovel, canvas bucket, hatchet, galvanized steel bucket (not period correct, though).

Good luck, SCL


Here's a health to the King and a lasting Peace. May Faction end and Wealth increase....Old Loyalist Ballad
 
Posts: 767 | Location: Panhandle Florida | Registered: 02 February 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Graybeard
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I forgot to mention one non-period piece of equipment which will come in very handy.

Take a camera with you. That you can take pictures of the camps and outfits you like for latter reference. You'll need to make a canvas bag to hide it when you're not using it, and once a year take a picture of your own camp to see if looks the way you want it to, and to note any improvements you want to make.


Scarhand
 
Posts: 226 | Location: Fort Hall, ID | Registered: 11 October 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
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Excellent point Scarhand.My wife and I walked Rondy camps for a few years taking pics of shelters and outfits.After a while you figure out what you like and what will work for you.And just talk to people about their outfits,they are more than happy to help.They can tell you the pros and cons of equipment and probably save you a few headaches and dollars down the road.We started with a pyramid and now have a wall tent.The pyramid served us well but we love the wall tent.Wall tent much heavier to lug around and takes more time to put up,but a much more comfortable shelter."Pros and Cons".
 
Posts: 38 | Registered: 21 July 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Graybeard
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I sorta did the same thing. I started out with a pyramid and now I just use a piece of canvas for a lean-to. Smiler


Scarhand
 
Posts: 226 | Location: Fort Hall, ID | Registered: 11 October 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
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Scarhand,Well if I went to a Lean-to I'd have plenty of room, because I would be in it myself LOL!!
 
Posts: 38 | Registered: 21 July 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
Picture of crow
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Do not go spend $$$ on items you may never need or use , spend some time researching and make your own gear. After a year or so you can upgrade to what your pocketbook can hold. JasTownsend has the best gear off the shelf mail order wise.

crow

 
Posts: 23 | Location: California , SF | Registered: 17 November 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
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quote:
Hey "Uncle Zeb," Everyone is a greenhorn at first!


MIKE AIN'T KIDDING..., I was so green I was Emerald! Big Grin

I had a synthetic fabric shirt that from about 100 yards away looked like leather, painter's pants a bit modified, and some Tandy mocs... which in 1978 were really bad. My possible's bag was a Swiss Army gas mask bag, my canteen was a Spanish bota with plastic mounts Big Grin The only thing that was OK was the TC Hawkin.

FIRST..., as the folks have advised, go and look.

SECOND..., DON'T buy from sutlers when you first get started, unless you have a mentor. I could've outfitted myself 2x with the money I wasted. Sorry as I don't mean to differ from those who like store bought stuff, but sometimes it's simply not correct in any time period short of the 20th century!. If you don't know then it's easy to make a mistake.

THIRD..., try trade blankets. Guys like myself who have gained waist size at the same rate as age has increased, often have very proper clothing that simply don't fit..., and we remember when we were newbies, and LIKE to help a new person out with good deals on our used stuff. So again, check out trade blankets.

FOURTH..., it's really best to get a person to help you find the good stuff, and to help you when you need it to know who to buy a handcrafted item from.

LD


It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
 
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Welcome to the fire. I've been attending doins since 1980. I have a primitive camp but if one wished to get critical, they could. My wife and son attend most doings with me so I'l admit that the primitive camp gets compromised a little. I eat better than most all becuase my wife has become an expert open camp fire cook. She has a kithen in a box that looks like it was removed from a cattle trail chuck wagon of a later time period so it wouldn't pass muster at a stitch countin doins.

I have a primitive outfit but once more, I suppose the stitch counters would paint me out. So where do I fit? That's the question you are asking also. Well, in my case, I don't really know but I have lots of fun at the rendezvous and do not live in the tin tipi area.

Back when I started out, a friend made me some wool clothes. Eventually I had a different friend make a pair of buckskin pants for me. She sewed them on a machine so once more, if I were to attend or submit myself to the stitch counters, they'd paint me out.

Try to do the best you can and most folks will appreciate your effort. If you're going to attend a doins with stitch counters or PC police, talk to them first so you don't have any surprizes or misunderstandings.

My outfit and camp isn't perfect but I've been priveleged to give 1 hour seminars on the fur trade and the mountain men.

By the way, that Lyman Great Plains rifle will be welcome at most doins but you'l probable want to follow Mikes lead and eventually get something that more appropriatley represents the type of person you're trying to emulate in the 1800's. I"ve hunted for many years with a 54 cal LGP rifle but now I'n hunting with a Pedersoli 54 cal flintlock long rifle. I have several custom guns that I use in competition. They fit the primitive scene I'm trying to portray and I want to shoot the same guns and powder as my grandpa. To do that, I wasn't happy with most of the store bought products.

Load fast and aim slow.
 
Posts: 1726 | Location: Pacific Northwest | Registered: 08 March 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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