I'm aware of the debate regarding the bowie knife. Please note I said "before Jim Bowie made it famous.". There was no substantial evidence that a blacksmith named James Black even existed when and where he was reported to. Hold on; I have recently received a paper on this very topic. I'l...

The bowie style was around long before Jim Bowie made it famous. During the Sandbar fight he actually used a large hunting drop point he borrowed from his brother Rezin Bowie. There is nothing wrong with using a bowie style knife. Use a single lugged guard and it's just a large clip point hunting k...

I like both of your points. To your point, Yavion: this is only a thought experiment, like a "what if Halbarad was dropped into 1856 Dodge City and was forced to adapt, would he go for the bowie knife or something else" sort of thinking. I'm not gonna add a bowie knife to my ranger kit, do...

So I've been thinking about the Bowie Knife recently, and specifically Bowie No. 1 here. According to old accounts, it was originally created by James Black for Jim Bowie based on a wooden model that Jim Bowie made. There's also a story that Rezin Bowie, Jim Bowie's brother, had it commissioned as a...

That's a good rock.

Well, by "my area," I mostly mean "the South." I live in Arkansas, which would probably be something of a drive for a lot of folks. I can let y'all know, though, and if it's feasible, I'll do my best to let you know ahead of time.

Blast it. Every time there's an outing in my area, I'm at work. Oh well; y'all have fun!

Very handy! Might have to make one of those myself!

Beautiful country you've wandered into, Iodo! I just got back from Ireland, so I've been doing a bit of wandering myself.

All very good points! Thanks, guys!

That's a fair point--especially in more thoroughly-settled places like Gondor, or even the Breelands. I imagine Hobbits would have a better time of it using goats for dairy products, seeing as goats are a good deal smaller than cows, so that feels more likely as far as I'm concerned. I'm almost cert...

So I'm churning some butter for the upcoming museum school fair, and I was thinking about the status of dairy products as a staple food in the Middle Ages. In early medieval Ireland, at least, dairy was such a staple that every peasant could expect to at least be given some salted butter when foodst...

Love me some early April tomfoolery

Oof, wow, I'm late to my own birthday wishes. Thanks, guys! Sorry I missed it. I was clearing deadfall with my cousin's new axe, and it was actually so much fun! I also got to futz around with his scythe, which was a good time. I got the technique down before too long.

My main focus is on arming sword. I've done a little bit of German longsword, but longswords are hard to come by in my neck of the woods, and arming swords (for me, at least) are small enough to use effectively in CQC without sacrificing the benefits of a full-size sword.