Opps - Help - I'm melting!

[bob 125th nysvi]

Well I'm not but the knapsack seems to be.

The old bottle of "sweet" oil leaked in ye ole knapsack and now I've got the waterproofing turning gummy on me in two spots.

Anybody have this one before and is there any remedy short of a new knapsack?

[Memphis]

Hang the knapsack outside in the sunshine until it dries. This may take a week or more.

Good luck.

[bob 125th nysvi]

Its been hanging out there but we haven't had any sunshine in the NE for a while.

I'll keep at it.

[Memphis]

Getting rid of the rancid olive oil smell may be a bigger challenge. I forgot to mention that little tidbit of information. Hey, at least it wasn't a big load of molasses in the bottom of a haversack.

[bob 125th nysvi]

Getting rid of the rancid olive oil smell may be a bigger challenge. I forgot to mention that little tidbit of information. Hey, at least it wasn't a big load of molasses in the bottom of a haversack.

so the oil smell won't bother me.

And if it had been molasses you would have heard me swearing down IN Memphis!

[Kevin O'Beirne]

You may not want to hear this, but original haversacks and knapsacks typically left black stains on the men's uniforms. If it doesn't dry fully and it remains sticky, as much of a nuisance as it would be relative to storing and transporting the knapsack, during events the marks it leaves would certainly make you "more authentic" in appearance, and that's something that, as they say, "is underrepresented in the hobby" compared to how original soldiers looked.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Thanks, Kevin -- now reenactors around the country will be looking for freshly tarred driveways to lie down on... :)

[MMurphy]

resealing it here in a month or so...any reenactors wanting to roll on tar in the driveway are welcome to do so...for a low fee of 50 bucks per...plus the rights for me to film you and put it on youtube, or sell it to a network...

:p

[Frenchie]

Thanks, Kevin -- now reenactors around the country will be looking for freshly tarred driveways to lie down on... :)

Mike, should they do that before or after finding a nice, dusty country road or empty lot to roll around on, followed by running through the lawn sprinkler?

We can buy "pre-washed" jeans that are already faded and frayed. When are sutlers going to start selling new, "pre-campaigned" uniforms that have been dragged over a muddy field behind a pickup truck? http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/Darkfold_2006/Emoticons/jk.gif

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I understand the jokes, which are largely justified, given some reenactors' tendency to quickly adop the "fad of the month". I think "all soldiers were filthy" was the fad in about 2000-2002. Yes, they got dirty, but not regularly as filthy as some reenactors tried hard to be.

My approach to "authentic soiling" (have fun with that term, boys) is: If my kit gets dirty in a way theirs did, I leave it as long as I can stand it (yes, I wash my Federal issue shirt now and then). While I'm not suggesting that guys roll their duds in newly sealed driveways to get "that authentic look", what I'm saying is, if you get black smears on your sack coat from a sticky knapsack or haversack, wear it with some knowledge that many or most Civil War soldiers had the same markings.

[MMurphy]

Hmmmm....me thinks that Frenchie has a point...a good one and an economical one...

Maybe I should open up "Old Man Murphys Authentically Pre-Campaigned Uniforms and Gear"...Heck...I'll even throw in a few free muds stains!!!

:-D

[jthlmnn]

My approach to "authentic soiling" (have fun with that term, boys)


Oh, so tempting, but way too easy! ;-)

[bob 125th nysvi]

about the fact that this probably happened in real life and that Sargent wasn't very sympathetic. So it will get worn even if it is tarring a little.

I just ain't wearing the WW coat with it. My "shoddy" (read sutlers row) coat will get that priviledge of the tar marks.

And I'm copy righting it as a trade mark so anybody who rolls in tar will owe me some script.