How traditional are you?

[Gene L]

Choices are (completely subjective)

a. Not very, I'll shoot any ML rifle (except inlines) wearing bluejeans and using BP or substitutes. Cap locks are fine

b. A little more traditional...I use BP and round balls, but don't dress up for it

c. Pretty traditional...I strike fires with flint and steel, stick strictly to flintlocks, will wear mixed clothing and gear, what ever's handy. I know what a rondezvous is, but only go there to buy equipment.

d. WAY traditional when shooting and get in character. I dress in period garb, attend rondezvous regularly in period dress, refer to others as "hoss" and myself as "this child." Sleep in a tipi and knap my own flints. Might wear a capote.

e. All the way when I'm in character. No prepared foods in camp, use only knives as eating utensils, smoke clay pipes, wear linen or leather clothing and drink clear liquor.

f. something else, either less than a. or more than e. Maybe shoot an arquebus on the far end.

Edited to add: I didn't account in the post above for AMI or Civil War reenactors. Which are pretty hard core, I think, once they get in character. And I suppose there are degrees of that as well.

 

[bubba.50]

A. for me. I've had other guns includin' a flinter or two but right now all of mine are caplock T/C's except for the Lyman 50cal Plains Pistol. it's caplock also. I know how to load & shoot roundballs well enough but much prefer maxi-balls & the like. I shot the sub powders most of my shootin' life because it wasn't 'til fairly recently I found a place to get real black & I never have enough money for a shipment or people to share an order. so, it's still a learnin' curve for me.

 

[Cruzatte]

Somewhere between B and C, depending on the weather, my mood, the alignment of the stars, tea leaves, or sun spots.

 

[AZbpBurner]

My shooting glasses have polycarbonate lenses and titanium frames. My earmuffs have stereo electronics and use lithium-ion batteries.

My watch still needs winding, but it is largely stainless steel, sapphire glass, and is waterproof to 600 ft.

It takes 270 horses to haul my shooting gear out to the range, often driving in airconditioned comfort. Otherwise if I'd hitch up the mule to the wagon, it would be an all day journey just to get there.

My underwear has elastic and cotton-poly blend fabric. My shoes are made specifically to fit left and right feet; they are not interchangable.

I use 2 ply toiletpaper not only for personal applications, but also to make wads for my cap & ball revolver. In addition to 2F & 3F BP, I own 2 granulations of pyrodex.

My black powder rifles have steel barrels. One has a rubber buttpad, peep sights and a globe front sight.

I keep bottled water and granola bars in a plastic cooler. It took more technology to make the bottle labels and the granola bar wrapper than was needed to send man to the moon.

I cast roundballs from a precicion aluminum mold. My lead pot is electric.

My pan primer (when I use it) is made from a bronze-aluminum alloy

One (or more) of my powder horns is likely made from cattle raised on artificial growth hormones.

Some goober at the range saw my GPR flint rifle and called me "old-fashioned". Imagine that ... :idunno:

 

[wattlebuster]

I hunt with as traditional of a weapon as you can get in this modern world. I dont think anyone is or can be totally traditional nowdays. Ask yourself if your reading this on your 1757 style computer :idunno:

 

[Captjoel]

I consider myself the last of the great pretender's!
I got rid of all of my modern weaponry years ago.
I enjoy shooting flintlock's best, but do own & shoot them modern percussion guns occasionally.
Out in the woods I find it very easy to just close my eyes and travel back to earlier days.
Also never worried about what to wear except to dress appropriately for the weather at hand.
Unless I have brought along a full length mirror, I do not see myself so I can imagine just about any type of costume that suits my fancy.
I spend most of my money on long rifles, Kentucky pistols, and what it takes to feed them.

 

[tenngun]

Some where between d and f. I try very hard to be as correct as I can, but will wear machine stiched clothing and have safety soles on the bottom of my trecking shoes. My Glasses are about thirty years late for me, but they stay on my face well. I wont carry a bic or matches in the woods or to an event, and try to use right foods. I have too much cotton and only a few hand sewn pieces. My blankets are too late. My rum is brown and I will have beer in bottles hidden in my market wallet. My hasty pudding is mostly a seven grain bear mush instead of just corn meal. Most of my knifes are too late. I smoke a latikia 'English' blend, though I doubt if any American at my time or for some years later would have ever tasted latikia.
I do sleep and sit on the ground and strive to be hard core. I don't speak like Bill Tyler, but when doing a demo at an historic event can use a few timely terms. I sing to my self a lot and may throw in a WTBS song or even a little later, most of my music is timely though I sing more sea shanties then a land bound boy would know.
I knew where I could do better, but don't beat myself up over my mistakes, just hope to do better next year.

 

[smo]

C + for me. :thumbsup:

 

[Calum]

”˜morning,

Somewhere between B & C, depending on the mood, weather, etc.

And I’d have to respectfully disagree regarding Civil War reenactors. We also have very varying levels of authenticity, often within the same unit. But generally speaking, members of a unit tends to be of the same relative authenticity level to the unit in general, and also to the umbrella organization (if there is one).

Calum

 

[Archer 756]

:thumbsup: Does it matter, just have FUN! :hatsoff:

 

[Rick Richard]

Just like to shoot and hunt with the front end loaders. Really don't care about all the other stuff.

"To each his own"

 

[Grenadier1758]

It depends:

At the club matches, I wear blue jeans and shoot either flint or caplock depending on the targets being shot.

When I reenact, I use traditional clothing, British military regimental for the F&I period and keep to a correct wedge tent. I try to speak as an 18th century Englishman.

When I am at events such as the Trade Faire at Fort de Chartres, I dress the part of an 18th century colonial.

There is far more variation and richness in the interpretation of different historic periods than the limitations of 1840 Rendezvous. Each has their own place.

The real point is to enjoy using traditional firearms in a manner that give you pleasure from using them.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I may hunt with modern clothes, but always use the flinter.

I may go to a match in period garb, or not.

If I'm camping, the clothing and gear tends to be very traditional, but I won't mind it if I use something prepared when it comes to cooking, especially when I am cooking for others in a group camp. Myself, I can do a "cold camp", a cooler-free camp, as well as a camp with ice in a chest.


If I'm trekking...., hard core..., the only modern stuff are the cell phone and the car keys in a special container, and the contents of my historically correct container of first aid supplies.

LD

 

[Vaino]

None of your listed choices describe my forays afield... being mainly a hunter who just uses a flintlock.

Seeing I have neither the time nor inclination to "dress properly" to meet the requirements of being traditional, I just imagine while hunting that I'm wearing buskskins from a deer I shot and which my wife back at the log cabin brain tanned and hand sewed.... yes, my wife is Ojibwa.

I further imagined that when stalking a deer, an ***** raiding party came buy and fortunately was headed away from my log cabin and wife.

These and other imagined scenarios really "do the job" because as I'm walking out of the woods in my blue jeans headed for my car, "my experiences", some harrowing, seemed like they were real.

But...then sadly as I'm driving my car home {I never imagined that my car was either a horse or a buckboard, but that's another possibility}, reality sets in and I'll have to wait for another hunting trip to continue my "dream".

To each his/her own, but letting my imagination run wild suffices for me.....Fred

 

[Black Hand]

More than many, not as much as some. Still raising the bar for myself...

 

[coloradoclyde]

All of the above......

Except for limiting or contradictory statements...... and Smoking.....Being a tobacco slave is not something I want to reenact....I lived it once already.

 

[Elkeater]

:thumbsup: Does it matter, just have FUN! :hatsoff:

I second that.
b

 

[Gene L]

It doesn't matter on any cosmic scale, just curious. You can have fun with an inline, I guess, but I wouldn't. Sometimes having the right equipment is a big part of the fun rather than excluding fun. Otherwise so many people wouldn't do it.

 

[Black Hand]

For me, having equipment/clothing/food/drink that are as close to the "original" as possible adds to the enjoyment ("fun" as it were). That said, I wish to experience what they might have experienced, and you can't do that unless your gear is similar to what they had. I've been hot, cold, wet, dry, thirsty, soaked-through and slept wrapped in a blanket sitting under a tree in the rain. While no one would know I was "cheating" if I was wearing poly-pro long underwear and Gore-tex socks - I would know...

 

[George]

What he said.

Spence