How many of you more "history minded" folks take something to an event, on a very regular basis, you bought from a "mainstream" sutler? And, when you "whip this out" nobody ever knows the difference.

Fortunately, I'm the biggest anachronism I bring to an event, so it kind of distracts peoples attention from my littler farberies.  

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GrumpyDave wrote : How many of you more "history minded" folks take something to an event, on a very regular basis, you bought from a "mainstream" sutler? And, when you "whip this out" nobody ever knows the difference.

Until I was finally able to get a new blanket, I would carry in my knapsack a olive drab wool blanket that was left over from WWII/Korea.  Since I used a knapsack it wasn't visible until just before I would setup my sleeping spot.  And I attended some events that had pre-event inspections and nothing was ever said.

I find it enjoyable to respond to the "who made that" questions when using original items.  

Greg, your olive green blanket probably looked enough like the brown-green repops that no one really cared one way or another. I know when I took my Wis Vet blanket out of the zippered bag for the first time, I thought I'd been really screwed, blued, and tattooed over what looked a heck of a lot like a $5 army surplus blanket.

Charles,

Funny you should say that. I've got four old Italian Army blankets (two large, two small) that cost about five dollars each. The wool and weave looks almost exactly like my CC Confederate blanket, which cost quite a bit more.

I turned one of the small blankets into my Clint Eastwood special poncho. It really came in handy at Paine's Farm.    

Blankets are an interesting item.  We sort of use them as signifiers -- the "right" blanket sends a nonverbal message that the owner has followed the forums and knows which vendors are most highly approved.

And yet blankets were the one item that the north could never make enough of, according to Meigs, and thus probably the one item in which you would see the greatest number of variations.  The US continued to rely on imports, and I wish I knew (I'm sure I'll come across it some day) where these came from and whether or not anyone cared how closely they matched the specs for color, as opposed to dimension and weight.  There's at least one reference in the ORs to troops being asked to bring blankets from home, in which case no one would be too picky about what they looked like.

For officers, variety was probably the norm.  Henry Hitchcock's journal refers to his carrying blue mackinaw double blankets, and dirty white Hudson Bay blankets with colorful borders, as well as one issue blanket.  

So who knows, Bill, those "Italian Army" blankets might have been surplus longer than you think...

Bill,

Cupcake brings up a good point about blankets, and I really hate to say it but about 5 years ago we had a darn good lecture on US blankets, and danged if I haven't forgotten most of what was said about differentiating between the domestic and import blankets, so I'll eagerly await Fred Gaede's upcoming book on the subject of blankets. About all I remember is the lack of shoddy was a clue that it may have been an import, and I don't know that is 100% true either.

At the the 2000 G'burg LH, a couple of us walked through the knapsacks and blanket rolls laid out in company streets and identified the repop blankets by manufacturer. We didn't get stumped too often. You know, that's pretty dang bad when folks can do that sort of thing.  As an aside, we live in a time of a veritable repop blanket cornucopia, and when Wis Vet went out on a limb to produce their limited run (300 each, was it?) of blankets, that was a big help. For a while there it seemed as if someone was coming out with a new run of federal issue blankets about every three months.

Those old Italian blankets were nice, especially if you had one that didn't have that deep seated embroidery signifying unit or barracks or some such stuff. I've seen a couple of museum blankets and noticed how close they were.

We could spend some time on the blanket subject, for sure.

For me it's accoutrments. I have a set from a very mainstream vendor that has yet to raise an eyebrow at an event. I was very choosey in the set I got but at the time could not afford one from the generally accepted authentic vendors since I was just getting into the hobby and the one thing I always had trouble borrowing were the accoutrements. I went through numerous sutler's wares before I settled on the set I have. This was the only mainstream set that didn't jump out at me as being wrong in some aspect. I still plan on upgrading but for the time being it will just be my secret (everyone on this board please keep this hush hush   )

While i'm still working on trying to improve my kit..

I have found some wonderful items on Ebay..

Hot coffee, nose, keybord....LOL

I guess i should correct myself..  although the site  is mainstream  my items werent..  period dated  covrerlet, bone buttons, a few other items. glass bottles, letters newspapers etc

Grumpy,

Do you buy keyboards by the dozen? Mayhaps you'd best invest in one of those annoying vinyl covers.  

Gross.

My sin is the leathers.  I bought them from an extremely mainstream vendor.  However, with a little "use", they match up quite nicely with the C/P/H variety.

Until this year, all of my leather accoutrements were from (gulp!) C&C Sutlery. Nobody ever said a word...

If someone had asked, I would have said, "I got 'em from the quartermaster, just like you."

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BlueMassCat wrote : Lightweight drawers.  I need 'em for summer.

Noah,

I buy my summer weight drawers from Jarnagin, two pair at a time. They are really comfy and come with the legs already cut off at knee level.

The last two pair split across the back of the leg in no time and I couldn't figure out what the problem was until I had a talk with the Commander in Chief. It seems Sandy had been soaking them in bleach to get the stains out.  

I'm doing a LH at Gettysburg this weekend. Given the change in weather, I figure the Italian blanket is going inside the pack and the Childs blanket will go on top!  

Right now, my coat, hat, trousers and shirt all come from C&C

Mostly because they were what I bought first, and with no guidance! But I'm working on replacing them. Otherwise, I think my kit is pretty solid, except for those home made drawers. All machine sewn and missing one button until I can get a fourth.  

--Last edited by milo1047 on 2007-09-18 18:34:33 --

In my early years of CPH reenacting, I got by with brogans I got off Ebay for $50.  No one ever said anything.  I have MSB brogans now and wouldn't trade them for anything.

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Rob wrote : Until this year, all of my leather accoutrements were from (gulp!) C&C Sutlery. Nobody ever said a word... If someone had asked, I would have said, "I got 'em from the quartermaster, just like you."

You think that is bad. ...I still use my original leathers from FALL CREEK.....I bought them at Chickamauga in 99' and have never had a complaint!