[TheForge] OT - dumb? idea -- historical reenactors' "catalog"

[Matthew DeStito]

I agree with Daniel about the SCA. There are quite a few people there who
utilize the group the way it was intended, that is to learn about the
middle ages via a hands on approach. There is a lot of phasing in because
the cost for everything needed is high, and people do not have the money.
They do allow non period foot ware for fighting because of safety.

You have the groups who are serious about the historical preservation, and
you have groups that just play. I only have one persona to keep track of.
If I decide to learn about a different culture, I might adopt a different
persona, but generally most of the people I have encountered in the SCA use
one persona at a time. Too much goes into creating a persona, and people do
not change easily.

I have also seen smiths who try to keep it period with forges, tools, and
fuel, but I have also seen those trying to keep the art alive by utilizing
more modern equipment like the ammo can gaser. Immersive experiences are
fantastic for those involved, and they should try to keep it authentic,
however there should be allowances for people to phase in.

I am 36 and new to forging. I wish I had picked up a hammer 20 years ago,
but I didn't have the time in my life to try something that was not modern.
I had a newborn baby, was going to school for computers, and working two
jobs. Both smithing and reenactment would have to wait till I was older. I
did decide to go the SCAdian route because I feel more connected with the
middle ages than with the revolutionary or civil war eras. just a personal
choice. I started with plastic armor covered with a fighting tunic because
of cost...have you seen how expensive plate armour is? I have started
upgrading to steel and or leather as I have money, and am currently looking
at making my own, but that will be a learning curve.


On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 6:44 PM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer <
artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:

> Stewart Brand is still around , stirring up sand.
> He was advocating nuke power as a response to global warming for a while (
> Oy!)
> And now has a series of inquires ( youtube?) about functional, large scale
> architecture..
>
>  Sep 18, 2013, at 3:31 PM, Larry Brown wrote:
>
> At 09:29 AM 9/18/2013 -0500, you wrote:
> > Pulling off something like the Whole Earth Catalog for reenactments
> would be a terrific venture.
> >
> > I still have my Catalog, much yellowed and dog eared, clearly long past
> the time the paper was designed to last.
> >
> > Mike Graf
>
> Now you have me wondering about some of the long forgotten boxes in the
> attic....
>
> Larry Brown
>
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