Do you ever use your reenactment items outside an event?

[welshman15]

Last night my son had a baseball game. The game temperature was 55 degrees combined with strong winds that made for a wind chill around 40. I brought my wool blanket and gum blanket/poncho and was snug as a bug while everyone else around me were freezing in their modern windbreakers. While I was sitting there as my son's team got routed 21-3, I was pondering how useful my reenacting gear would be in the non-event world. Besides my blankets, I use my camp stool quite a bit in the garage. Anyone else use their gear regularly outside of events?

[Spinster]

All the time. Then there are the period things purchased for household use that I don't let leave the house.

[Becky Morgan]

Because of family concerns, I can't travel to events, so all of my 1861-1865 life takes place here. I try recipes to see whether they're most likely accurate, cook over an open fire/in a fireplace/on a woodstove as often as possible, and do whatever else I can to satisfy myself that the instructions or materials in some period piece will work.

I also think there are essential skills reenactors may have that should be taught much more widely. Using them often is the best way to preserve them. Everyone, reenactor or not, should know how to--
--mend a ripped seam or small tear in clothing
--clean clothing in a non-destructive way (just this morning someone was afraid to clean dirt from leather shoes and wanted to soak them in full-strength Clorox; I hope she took the better advice offered)
--build, control and extinguish a small fire in a fire pit or other contained situation
--stay warm in a cold environment, including a modern house where there is no heat (you'd be surprised how many otherwise educated people have NO clue!)
--stay cool and hydrated in excessive heat (same problem as above)
--recognize dangerous weather conditions and react appropriately
--perform ordinary first aid and know when to call for help
--judge whether food is safe to eat
--prepare simple meals with or without modern cooking devices

By and large, all of those skills were routine for anyone growing up in the 1860s, with the possible exception of men who hadn't lived on their own being forced to cook for themselves. Judging by letters and diaries, they weren't great at mending at first, either, but they picked that up soon enough. I see far too many people these days who depend on city conveniences so much that when anything in the least out of the ordinary happens, they're stuck and may be in real physical danger.

[lincolnsguard]

Yep, gum blanket, wool blanket(s), wool shirts, wool socks. Work niceley at the hunting cabin or when it's raining n a deer stand.

[welshman15]

Ah yes, the wool socks. Forgot all about them, as mine were declared contraband by my wife and confiscated at the onset of winter. I haven't seen them since.

[Radar]

Yep, when the ice storms took out the electricity for a week, broke out the blankies and oil lamps. That, and two ventless LP fireplaces, kept us going.

[Pete K]

Amazing how comfy one can be at Boy Scout Fall/ winter camp in the proper clothing under the "other" uniform. My wool shirt and sox are sooooo comfy.

[50th VA Corporal]

In the winter I will habitually shovel the snow in my CJ Daley English Import Overcoat to which it actually gets the most use of. And if there is a chill in the house I might opt for a lightweight civilian sack coat or a short shell jacket instead of a sweater. Once in a while the oil lamps will come out.

And once a summer we will set up the wall tent and dining fly plus two wedge tents and have the grandkids camp out and campfire with them.

[Pvt Schnapps]

The oak gall ink and Gillott 404 get used every day, both for the journal and bills. When I write my wife a check she sometimes reports back favorably from the teller.

[sodapop63]

Absolutely! The wool socks dress my feet during the winter at work, and my forage cap fits my head better than any hat I own (and keeps my head warm as well), so I habitually wear it during the cooler months. My sack coat keeps me company at early morning yard sales in both the springtime and autumn. And I set up my A tent with my grandson and build a fire (to be honest, he does most of the work!) and set about having a fine stew in our large tin cups while we camp and he devours Civil War history!

Scott Brown
Co M 1st MO Light Artillery, Turner Brigade
Chaplain SUVCW Sigel Camp #614, Dept of MO
VP South Central Missouri Civil War Round Table
Member CWPTO