I'm going to fess up to something here and I hope it don't scare folks off..., well, not too far off.
I've been to about three Rendezvous type meetings in my nearly forty year love affair with front stuffers; and I came as a tourist even then. Never been to Friendship, don't hang out with folks who frequent such places.
I've shot muzleloaders because it pleased me, and I shoot the guns that please me. My wife of 32 years is always on me to join something or another, but I never have. I've made my own buckskin clothing, built my own guns, learned to build fires with flint and steel, read every book that I could get my hands on about the history of muzzleloaders and their users.
But no Rendezvous where someone might have something to say about what I'm wearing or carrying. Maybe that has had some impact on making me durned independent about some stuff.
I love trapping, hunting, fishing, camping, swapping enhanced truths around a campfire, but never attended a Rendezvous as a participant.