For what it's worth, a friend once told me there was a reference to mattocks used by archers at Agincourt.
I'd imagine a perusal of popular treatments of Agincourt - particularly Henry V in print and film c. 1910-1950 might give a hint as to the Professor's inspiration there.

Other than not having left the farm in about a month, not much has changed for us so far. The sheep are lambing like crazy and I'm making sure to get a good garden in just in case this thing keeps dragging on into the summer. Not that I expect grocery stores to empty out, but the less trips out the ...

I'm thinking seriously about this one... From the videos, it certainly looks like it has great bulk and nap: I'm quite curious to hear how it works out for you! :mrgreen: the guy holds it up to the light and hardly any light shines through, is that a good measure of how densely the fibers are woven...

Cool! We talk about walnut dying here: http://middleearthrangers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4311 And some vinegaroon here, with a like to a wonderful historical leather pallete thread over on myArmoury: http://middleearthrangers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3992&p=42852 Neat experime...

Welcome!

Gosh I have been admiring that star brooch of yours since I first saw it.

Good to see you here!

Oh SHE IS ADORABLE! Gosh how fun. :mrgreen: Anyhow - I don't know anything about tack specifically, but with medieval/fantasy leatherwork generally I think absolute biggest leap one can make is using period correct hardware. Off-the-shelf Tandy buckles and modern rivets can always seem a bit Ren-Fai...

Ah - one more thing. I did a bit of quick math on each of those blankets: “What Price Glory” M1885 “Indian Wars” blanket: 1.2 oz / ft2 Faribault “Foot Soldier” blanket: 1.25 oz / ft2 Early’s of Witney plain white (walnut dyed): 1.43 oz / ft2 Knockoff “Italian Officer” blanket: 1.79 oz / ft2 Early’s ...

PS: I've never purchased from these folks, but if the measurements are in fact accurate, this looks like a grand blanket at a decent price: if a bit loud for our purposes:
https://nwtrader.com/hand-woven_early_blankets.html

Taurinor - cool! Thank you for the 18th c. link especially. Here's what I can compare: merf-wool-blanket-comparison.jpg Note: all measurements below are hasty tape-measure-on-the-bedroom-floor measurements, and some of these blankets definitely have some years and wear on them. If you tell me they d...

FWIW, just weighed the two Early's blankets we have: 4 point: 4.8 lbs. (feels like it's worn a bit thin, but still has decent life in it) 6 point: 7.5 lbs. (got second hand ~10 years ago in an Alaskan second hand store. Now it's our daily "comfy room" blanket by whoever manages to grab it ...

I have been on a total blanket kick lately, playing with all sorts of stuff - so this is a fun thread! I'm about to start getting ready for work and can't pull out everything for pictures and measurements, but a few quick notes in no particular order: 1. I've never gotten into alpaca for authentitic...

Happy birthday!

Happy happy birthday Ranger!

Welcome!!!

I've been following your instagram for ages - you guys get up to some awesome stuff!

those were awesome - it was really cool to see your stuff in there to!