By Rick Johnson
I first learned about Howard’s Conan at the same time I learned about Burroughs’ Tarzan and John Carter, sometime in the 1960’s. Conan came out in the paperbacks, Burroughs in the Ballantine Press editions.
Needless to say, I was hooked.
Being a hiker and a fan of the past (escaper from the present) I collected whatever I could with my limited income to try to produce the gear I saw as vital. My idea was, “Were I to be dumped onto Africa or Barsoom or Hyboria, what would I need to survive and could I make what I needed?”
Then the Air Force came and taught me Civil Engineering and I began to spend my free time using government equipment and scraps to build what I could.
By the 1970’s I had discovered the SCA (a medieval recreationist group) and quickly became Master of Sciences because of my skills in engineering and figuring out HOW to make something medieval. I have since spend a lot of time looking at illustrations from history and asking myself “how do I do that?”
The result is my kit which works equally well in medieval Europe or ancient Hyboria.
This, then is a part of my kit and costuming.
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Ok, lose the glasses. Everyone wants to be a barbarian hero... until someone actually hits them with a broadsword or mace. So do I. Until I loaded all my gear, armor, weapons, etc and tried to take a walk! So I thought about things. My love for a sword, my desire to make things and my projects where I make maps of Barsoom and Hyboria and such. So, why not be a traveling cartographer? Someone sent out by the scholars to collect information and draw maps of foreign lands? I would need a sword and light chain byrnie for protection and a bow to hunt but no real arms. Mostly gear that I would take pleasure in making myself or collecting from foreign climes. So here is what I came up with.
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Former farmer from NW Nemedia so is poor and has few prospects to be a wealthy noble or promoted. (note: this allows me to NOT spend a fortune on really nice boots or such and encourages me to actually make my own gear)
Drafted into one of the wars so has some combat experience but is not a great warrior. (note: allows me to carry a sword and such but not all the weapons and gear expected of a warrior)
Thus the clothes you see are out-of-fashion due to lack of funds to keep in style. Basically generic wear for anyone in that area. Tie-pants (no belt), long shirt, strong leather boots (no laces), belt and leather cap. I also have a cloak that doubles as a blanket and rain-coat.
Basically, I sewed the clothes myself and made most of the gear myself. My ex-wife made the cloak (not shown) for my daughter who passed it on to me.
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The canteen is one I made myself. Mahogany slats for the sides, pine sections grooved for the sides.
Glued with milk-glue and bound with sisal twine. The shoulder strap is cotton webbing and the plug is cork (over the expected hard-wood plug). It holds 4 quarts of water but it is so clunky and clunky I may switch to a leather bota. |
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The cup is a general wooden mug. I have a number depending on my moods but these were purchased as I do not have the tools to make one. |
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I added the hanger (a tribute to the Japanese netsuke) to make it accessible and easy to get off and on. |
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This is a generic meal-kit. Wooden plate, bowl, cup, cutlery. I converted one bowl into a noggin. The knife is a Kindjhal I made myself. The blade from a metal shear, the handle is Russian design. I first made a Saxon shaped handle but disliked that and replaced with a new one. The fork & spoon I forged myself. The actual meal-kit will include only the plate, noggin, fork & spoon and wood cup. Why carry a heavy pewter cup and two bowls? |
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It is said that you can survive comfortably anywhere with but two tools: a means to cut and a means to make fire. Here is a fire kit (flint & steel, charcloth & tender). This is flint I found in England, a fire-striker from the Ren-faire, a steel box with char-cloth I make regularly and old sisal rope scraps for tinder. |
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Entertainment is vital when traveling. Thus this wooden flute, dice and wood chess set with cloth board. Craps is a game that even the Romans played (though with lead dice. These will eventually be replaced with bone or such). The pieces and dice wrap in the board which fits into the leather pouch. |
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Clothes get worn, torn, used up, therefore it is necessary to either gather new clothing form the locals, thus forcing one to wear a combination of strange outfits or, more likely, repair the ones you possess. This is a swing kit which fits in a brass box. It consists of buttons, thread and needles. The wooden thing on the right is a needle case. They were made of wood normally though the wealthier ladies would have theirs of carved bone or ivory. |
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For the
man-in-the-field, he is lucky to have a simple wooden case to keep his
needles handy. I bought the brass box but made the needle case, drilling
a hollow into a piece of wood then sanding the outside to match the
hollow and cutting it to the proper length. You will notice that all the
needles are large. This is because technology prevented the making of
smaller needles and being a male, my character is hardly a seamstress. I
made a second needle case which I intend to carve, possibly a Celtic korowrk at both ends with a thistle in the middle. When not working,
there is time to decorate one’s gear.
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And as chess has been around in some form for thousands of years, perhaps someone will create a REH form of chess. |
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I’m thinking of adding a sling kit for hunting small game and birds. You see two heavy leather slings for war. The blue & red and the brown are woven slings for birds and small game. The white one is a net-pouch and the brown in the lower right is a ‘Greenland’ sling. It can be made quickly from any cord or bootlace and is a good emergency weapon when lost in the woods. It can take down a rabbit or bird with a small rock. I’ve also added a bow and quiver but frankly, my longbow is too large to carry easily<g>. And I need an arrow fletcher to re-fletch my arrows. |
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This is one version of my kit. I change it around as needed.
The astrolabe is vital for locating position (pre-GPS). The thing below is a sun-dial ring. A sling is a weapon with almost unlimited ammo. BTW, the belt shown has a buckle that was stolen when my home was burgled. I didn’t get it back but the thief got 19½ years in a state prison! Don’t rob a Witch! We get testy<g>. There will also be added a:
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Copyright Rick Johnson 2009
