Testing, 123...

"Jeez, when they said we needed to bring a weedwhacker out here they weren't joking."

Sarge! I think their sending the same two guys at us over and over again and I'm runnin' low on ammo!!

"Home, home on the range..."
There's nothing new to report.

School is so boring, wish I was here:
Don't you?

I think I might get into reenacting the 7th Cavalry in Vietnam or WW2 USMC. RATTATATATATATATAT.

Muhahaha!
I finally got a Tokyo Mauri Thompson AEG Airsoft gun!
I Haven't gotten to shoot it yet but it's awsome and has tons of metal.
Weighs a lot too. Now I just need a battery for it, then I can dish out the pain. ;-)

Well the Laguna Mountain Rendezvous is coming up so I probably should start sewing on some patches on. My family and I went to Gettysburg, Pa. and Va. again and I bought some cool stuff for rendezvous. Namely, some Corporal's stripes and a hat badge and some replica pistols, which are awesome.

Well, if I did ever end up reenacting WW2, at least I have a knife!
I bought M3 combat knife, it's almost exactly the same as an actual one from the WW2 period,
just made a newer, more conventional way.
I plan to take it camping this week and see how it does, being nice and sharp and all.

Summer sure ends quickly, doesn't it?
Oh well, back to school.

(must...stop...playing...day...of...defeat...source...)

I think I might start getting into reenacting World War 2. I found an interesting group that is based mainly in southern California. You can visit their ultra cool sight at http://www.easy39th.com/home.php I am considering joining them, they told me they had an opening on their 2nd machine gun team. I guess I might have to lay the muzzeloader down for a bit and pick up a Colt .45 pistol. I'll tell ya one thing though, reenacting sure ain't cheap.

Once I finish school up I should be able to post here more often. And hopefully this summer i'll do some more reenacting. That's it for now!

Another great rendezvous has passed, but I got a new gun!
I bought a barely used .69 calibre Smoothbore Springfield Musket. It's soo nice and a blast to shoot, I might not even go back to my rifle. (ok maybe I will eventually!) Now all I need is a bayonet...

One of the best parts of reenacting is the ability to freely carry around weapons! I'm not talking about pocket knives and long, sharp sticks, I'm talking about Bowie knives, tomahawks, Kentucky Flintlock rifles, cap-and-ball revolvers stuck in your belt, and smoothbore, .75 caliber muskets hanging from a sling on your shoulder. Unfortunatly the real prize, a good rifle/musket, will usually cost around $500. But once you have one, they're a blast to shoot. Let's say you're short on cash, you can buy a good, period Bowie knife or hip knife for under $100. If you have, like no money, steak knives with wooden handles actually are pretty period-like. Tomahawks/hatchets usually cost around $30. Single shot or Cap-and-Ball revolvers are usually the last piece of weaponry you might buy, probably because they aren't as important as, say, a good rifle, but are fun to own if you've got the money. These run about $200-$300. A good place to buy non-firearm weapons is www.crazycrow.com while a good place to buy guns is www.cabelas.com. Many reenactors choose bows rather than guns, which I say takes more skill, but a good bow can be expensive also, running from around $100-$200. But I personally think guns are better!

Here's a picture from Rendezvous. You can see more at http://sdcml.homestead.com/.
You might wonder what I actually do there. I mainly just hang around and talk to people there, other than play Poker, shoot my gun and work strenuously, that's it.

Here's a picture I took in 1900! Just kidding, I took this photo but I changed the coloring. You can even see the Capital in the back.

A picture taken by me from the Cold Harbor National Battlefield. One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, in which over 13,000 Union and 2,500 Confederate soldiers died. Thousands of Union soldiers were slaughtered in a hopeless assault against the fortified troops of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Grant said of the battle in his memoirs "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made." At Cold Harbor no advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss sustained among Union troops, about 12,000 of them died in the first 20 minutes, while hoplessly charging heavily entrenched Confederate positions.

If you saw the movie "Gods and Generals", you saw part of the Battle of Fredricksburg. Remember that wall that the Confederates used to shoot at the Union army when they crossed that wide open field? This is a picture of it now, a.k.a. the Sunken Road. (now it's a bit lower) Pretty cool huh? That field the U.S. soldiers crossed is now a bunch of houses and building.
I took this picture myself.

This is us visiting the Chancellorsville battlefield in Virginia, a site of one of the many bloody battles of the Civil War. The Civil War is the time period most (or at least a lot of) reenactors represent. This is one of the artillery positions of the Confederate army. I took this photo.

My Equipment so far is a pair of combat boots (which are farb but don't look out of place), a cotton shirt or two, some blue dress pants, a green canvas overcoat, 2 mexican war era wheel caps (one blue one green), a dark blue fatigue coat, and a non-firing Brown Bess Musket.
Along with a belt, bayonet, canteen and cartridge box.

I personally have chosen to represent the Mexican-American war period, which was officially from 1846–1848 but had some roots in in the Alamo (1836) and even as far back as 1824.

For all of you who don't know, the correct way for a historical reenactor to refer to something as out of place is to refer to it as "Farb". Funny name, but it kinda sums it all up.

After you've been to rendezvous once or twice, and you really want to get into it, then its time to choose a time frame to represent. You might be a young French Voyaguer, a British redcoat, a plain farmer, tough mountain man, or numerous other things. After you have chosen your character (real or made-up), you must begin to gather supplies that you need for your character and his calling. If you are an indian, then you might need to buy some moccasins, and a part of the colonial militia needs a tricornered hat obviously. Buy what you really need, then proceed to buy what you want. (a.k.a. a rifle or good tomahawk)
Then you are pretty much set!

I 1st began rendezvous with pair a pair of jeans(farb) and a cotton shirt.
For shoes i just use (and still use) a black pair of combat boots, they are out of place, but look fine if your pant legs cover most of them. Make sure and remember a belt.
Rendezvous takes place in the time frame of 1763-1850 approx. so no Civil war stuff.(like kepis)
Beginners should also make sure and have a period looking knife, kitchen knives with wooden handles work well. Also make sure and have a blanket-a blanket or sleeping bag is a MUST if you plan on staying overnight. (I should know:-)

There are four types of rendezvous'.

1st there is the relaxed: "Sunglasses are not allowed."

2nd is the mild: "Keep that bottled water hidden and out of sight." - (I belong to one of these!)

3rd is the tough: "Don't think about bringing your aluminum cot!"

4th is the hardcore: "I'm sorry but your tent poles are made of the wrong type of wood."

Get the point?

For all you who don't know, rendezvous is a recreation of fur trappers of old bringing their furs they have collected and giving them to the men(normally from St. Louis) who came to a prearranged meeting place to take the furs back east to sell. They often traded and swapped stories and news. Nowadays you can still visit a historic rendezvous where you can see volunteers who love history, act as a character or other person from the fur trade era.
If you have period clothes and a place to stay you can even take part in it yourself!

I was 10 when I 1st really began getting into reenacting. Using the KONOS homeschool curriculum, my mom instilled in me a love for history, which has partially made me what I am today. I then started visiting the Manzanita Mountain Rendezvous, which you could freely visit, but to stay overnight you had to wear complete dress and garb of the time frame of 1763-1850.
Thats when I got into collecting clothes and equipment of the 18th and 19th centuries.
But I don't just collect them, I use and wear them too(at rendezvous of course!).

Blog started/began/written April 2006 with the express purpose of showing my interest in historical reenacting.