Supply list for my first Rondy

[voyageur1688]

  You are off to a great start and are way ahead of me at my first one. I started with some donated clothes, my brothers old rifle,a couple wool blankets, axe, tin plate, wood bowl, copper cup, clay pipe, a canvas tarp, some sapling poles, and manila rope to make a la'vous. Now if I was to try taking EVERYTHING I would just about need a Freightliner. As for dealing with the thread counters, if they comment negatively about something,,  ask them how long they have been doing vous then explain to  them that you are new to it and are still working on perfecting your camp. Then ask them how long it will take to get all the "CORRECT GEAR" and what it will cost and how long it took them to get to the point they are at. Then ask them how long it will take for you to learn all the proper etiquet and skills. By that point they will know you are notsomone who just doesnt care but they will often be overwhelmed enough that they will back off and think about what they went through when they first started. I weent throiugh that a while back with one of the local legends of the rondy circuit and had no problems with him after that--in fact none of the people in any of the camps did after that. Years back we had another thread counter show up and he just wouldnt let up on anyone until one guy asked him if he  would buy the ones who were not PC in his eyes the gear they needed to be so.  He grumbled and griped for a few minutes then left.
Where abouts are you living at that you have a 12 hour drive to get there?
  Voy

[hrayton]

Actually Voy it's about 7.5 hours or so, but I am factoring in the two hour drive south to drop the dog, and the 2 hours back to my starting point before I leave.  If I could just go straight there....it's be a lot less. He's a pretty good dog though and worth it, but he'd lose his mind at something like this, and would end up sleeping it off for weeks if I took him with. BTW, thankyou all for your always excellent advice! I wanna be polite to "others" but kinda wanna send em away with a burr under the saddle as well without losing my cool.  Being prepared for the worst in my opinion has always been better than getting caught cold and not knowing what to say or do. After all I didn't want to overreact and maybe leave a bad impression with people who genuinely might be interested in helping me. LOL! I may want to go back next year after all. I am really looking forward to some of the seminars too...learning new stuff.

[Red Badger]

Seminars?  now ya done did it.... I want a full book report on them thar seminars within the week of your return....
Items to be covered must include:
What the seminar was about...
what materials did you need...
How well you learned the material...

Your score will be based on if I can understand enough to learn it secondhand without going to the seminar...

passing score - you get to shoot "Patience" when we finally meet...
Failing score - you have to listen to us some more and keep at it....

[old salt]

And that was from the man I have to stand over with a club to teach.

[Red Badger]

And that was from the man I have to stand over with a club to teach.

[Ranger]

Yup, what Rev said. You'll find out that there are not as many thread counters in the rendevousing scene as there are in the re-enactment scene. Skinners are much more laid back and remember the first rendezvous they went to in an old borrowed calico shirt and a pair of painter pants with a pair of philadelphia derringers tucked into their belt (that was me  ). You'll do fine, dont worry about it so much. You have your stuff together more right now than I did when I was 5 years into the hobby...

[hrayton]

Book reports?!?!?!?!? No one said anything about book reports.....what if I can't read or write.....wait a minute..... I just went and one upped myself......
Actually there is a quilling one I want to go to....I'm thinking quillwork might be right handy to know how to do, and I think theres a metal working, and leatherworking, and scrimshawing one too....I will take lotsa pics and notes as well. Might be kinda fun to look at it as an assignment. That way....HEY! Has anyone ever done an 18th century JOURNALIST character...? How cool would that be? Maybe headin west to chronicle one those there rendezvous for folks to read about in the papers back east.......talk about a fun persona!!!

[Bulldog lady]

Trout,  please check out the quilling one, see if'm they got some ways to make them longer so don't have to add a new one every two bends.  (it is a fun and labor intensive craft)  have only played with it a few times but well rewarding.  watch where ya put them clipped barbed ends, they got magnetic properties and end up where ya least expect them,!!!   Love to see a journal- got stuff for quill pens if you a thread counter (heehee) do this for fun, then get serious later, but back to subject. Have some old family histories, (peach brandy) and such and I always find my self engrossed in reliving the old days, Go for it,  Do expect a full  documentation and pics when return,   

[Red Badger]

Book reports?!?!?!?!? No one said anything about book reports.....what if I can't read or write.....wait a minute..... I just went and one upped myself......
Actually there is a quilling one I want to go to....I'm thinking quillwork might be right handy to know how to do, and I think theres a metal working, and leatherworking, and scrimshawing one too....I will take lotsa pics and notes as well. Might be kinda fun to look at it as an assignment. That way....HEY! Has anyone ever done an 18th century JOURNALIST character...? How cool would that be? Maybe headin west to chronicle one those there rendezvous for folks to read about in the papers back east.......talk about a fun persona!!!

There ya go!

[russ]

Well seeing as I am one of those "others" I will add my opinion.
If you want to learn these are the best people to talk to. They know thier stuff for the most part. There are the guys that like to grandstand and look down on others. But the real ghuys that are ui=into the material culture and the research side of it are always willing to hel pa guy improve just to awnser questions and point you in the right direction to begin your own research.
Actually I think there are some people on forums like this one that like nothing more than to see a guy at an event that is dressed impecibly and looks like he stepped out of a Miller painting and label him a stitch counter or worse a stitch nazi.
The reason for this si so they can justify thier "interpretation" of history. The facts are th facts. One cannot change history and ad to it and take from it what they like.
I have heard coments said behind my back about being one of them just because of the way I was dressed. Yet the person did not bother to talk to me and find out I was a good dude.
Anyway the others are for the most part willing to help and awnser questions. And if a guy has such a high opinion of himself and decides to comment on your outfit with out knowing you tell him to stick it up his ass then challenge him to throw down. I would bet you a dollar he wont take you up on you offer. I have found that people that are willing to run thiers motuhs are rarley willing to back it up.

[hrayton]

I have seen other events listed online, that seemed designed to exclude others, and while I can understand it to the letter, I guess I don't get it for the spirit of it all ya know? These same sites practically scream out, "If you don't agree with me, I will attack you verbally, try to humiliate you, and take what you say out of context to prove MY point." Then get others to do the same...but the hypocrisy of it all is, in another thread on the same site they are bemoaning the fact and wailing that no one wants to play with them anymore...I just like to have a good time within reason, I like to camp, I like to be outside under the stars sleeping at night and listening to the wind through the trees, and when I am out there I like to wake up early, and watch the sun come up with a cup of coffee in my hand, and a cheery little fire at my feet, and see the day break through the treetops. The reason I mentioned "others" is that I get the distinct impression that they are worried more about what other people are doing than trying to take enjoyment from their own journey through life, and I think that maybe they are missing the point of being there entirely. I wanted to know how to handle the people whose sole purpose in life is to point out the shortcomings of others, without alienating folks who just wanna give me a pointer or two. I guess I am less interested in documentation than I am in experience. "Documentation" is the reason I left Academia behind many many moons ago...because I gotta tell ya one simple fact, unless they are packin a reference library out in their Freightliner in the parking lot, there is no way to document anything at one of these gatherings. One thing I know to be true is that people 200 years ago had the same priorities as people today....find what works and use it to make your life easier, we wouldn't BE HERE where we are today if they didn't. I'm still not sure if that is a positive or a negative thing...we have pictures, and sketches, letters, and family journals, and occasionally we have an artifact or two handed down to us, but the simple fact of it all is we have NO IDEA how these folks lived, and looked, and behaved other than the clues they left behind...we just have to live and learn and try, and sometimes it starts with a first outing like the one I have coming up. I have read a lot more books than most people I know, I have travelled farther, and visited more places than most folks I come into contact with, and in many ways I have been blessed to experience things that no one else has been able to do....and one thing is crystal clear to me....the more I see, experience, learn, read, and explore....the more I realize I know nothing.....nothing at all. The world is simply too large and full of wonderful things to know it all.

[Red Badger]

Ahh the sweetness of discourse... While we all agree that there are some people and some events that seem to enjoy tearing a person apart for not be 100% there are others where a person is welcomed with open arms just for the attempt...

Thread counting does have it's place... anywhere a person is volunteering or being paid to historically recreate a situation... but there are and should be events for people to get the practice and pointers they need to perfect their image...  Some of us are not so deeply into the historical significance and just want to dress up and shoot our black powder guns, others take it a might more serious... Either one is correct.  The world is not black and white, and we need to remember that the pilgrim needs to experience things in order to learn.

All that being said I do have an opinion on the statement "... The reason for this si so they can justify thier "interpretation" of history. The facts are th facts. One cannot change history and ad to it and take from it what they like..."  History from my point of view is not fixed, the victor writes the history and then the "facts" are made to conform to that image... until another set of "facts" are found that totally wipe out the first set... and so on....  In other words History is fluid with the "facts" changing every now and then...

Look at what is being taught as "History" in our schools these days...

[old salt]

   When we talk about juried events or historical reenactments they are stricter on dress and equipment because they are portraying history in a particular place and time. They are  living history, and are trying to teach it as near to the actual fact as possible. There fore they have the right if not the obligation to demand that people conform to certain standards
   A pre 1840 time frame on the other hand can stretch back 200-250 years there fore it is hard to limit just what an individual should wear or the equipment that they will have.
   The problem we run into is when mixing the participants is that some of the living History group think that there way is the only, that is not to say that some of the rendezvous folks are not just as bad on the other side of the coin in not trying to correct.
   Most of us rendezvous folks are first stage to get people interested in living history. We start with the basics to get you started. If you decide that you want to go strictly period  correct most of us can and will help you do so, but if you show up at your first event and I jump on you with both feet about what you are wearing or the equipment you have 9 chances out 10 you will not come back.
  The biggest problem I have with what we call thread counters are the ones that tell folks that they have to dress a certain way to partsipate and are not dressed properly themselves.  Unless it is a juried even most living history even will make allowances for medical reasons. To give an example, I was at the Woolarock event some years ago while setting up turned my angle and was wearing my lace boots when one of the dog soldiers ask if I thought they were period  correct, my answer was no sir but on the other hand I don't believe the pins and wire would be either, the man looked at me smiled and said you know sometime I ask some dumb questions, have fun and enjoy your stay. Most of the time I were moccasins, but at time I am forced to wear the boots. I have never been ask about the since.
  I said all of this to show that both groups are necessary, the fine art is to know when to say some thing and when to ask questions before saying something to a person about what they are wearing or the equipment they have.
  OK I will get off my soap box

[russ]

History from my point of view is not fixed,

I have to disagree withtis statement. history is fixed. But on the flip when it comes to historical interepretation never say never because as soon as you do someone will prove you wrong.

I am off trach here the point I wanted to make in my erlier post was that just because a guy is more into the historical side of it than you dont assume he is a jack ass. Now if he is acting like one call him on it.
Going to rendezvous and getting mad because people are not up to ones own standards is like going to the proctologist getting supprised when he sticks his finger up your ass.
Now if you are at an event that has set standards expect to follow those standards or go home.

[hrayton]

there are others where a person is welcomed with open arms just for the attempt...

THAT is EXACTLY what I like about THIS site.  That ole Dryball knew what he was doin'....