I'm interested in the dagger but I'd like more information on it. What type of steel is the blade, type of handle, tang, pommel, and I'd like better pictures.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but here's a useful description of the Helm of Hador. Here is the Helm’s description from "Narn i Chîn Húrin" found in the Unfinished Tales: "That helm was made of grey steel adorned with gold, and on it were graven runes of victory....

For a ranger of the North, I think appropriate clothing could go a couple ways for the lower body. First would be hosen bound up to the waistband of a set of braes. These also act as socks and do well crashing through brambles despite being mostly made of wool. For those who don't want to wear tight...

Those shapes look like chevrons to me. It really depends on what these bracers are for. In archery, one bracer is worn on the bow arm to protect the inside of the forearm from the string and to hold down any clothing. Adding raised pieces onto the bracer would just be giving the string something to ...

Alright, I have a couple comments to make on this subject. The purpose of the fibers produced by the cotton plant is just like the cotton of a dogwood tree, it is for dispersing seeds which are suspended in the fluff. Wool is a protein fiber produced by a sheep which needs to keep the animal warm in...

I wouldn't go with iron or steel buckles. Now as in period, it's one more thing to worry about rusting. I posted about buckles here, a passable buckle is sold by jo-ann fabrics for a few dollars at the very least; there are several vendors available online that will sell basic bronze buckles for a f...

That looks excellent, well done. Any plans on getting a bronze buckle for it?

I try to restrain my critique unless it's asked for, glad to hear it appreciated.

Hoods serve the practical purpose of silhouette changing stated by kaelln, and were used as a separate article of clothing historically. This separation of hood and cloak existed in Middle Earth for sure, remember the hoods of the dwarves hung along the pegs at Bag End. If there is no need for prote...

If you don't want a cloak for warmth or for protection from the wet, then the question which begs to be asked is why do you need a cloak?

So far as I've found, all modern army blankets are a wool and synthetic blend. If you go back to ww2 blankets, they will be all wool. If you want waterproof, I'd make some heavy weight linen oilcloth.

Quite nice kit, I'm still trying to fill in some of those blanks. I have a few points that you probably know about, but I may as well make them. The first thing that stood out to me is that the colors are very clear cut and seem to be lasting well. The issue is that dyes didn't behave that nicely un...

Unglazed cooking pots are one of those things which are so common to find in sites that nobody bothers to publish a lot of pictures of them. The pot I'm using now is a little glazed thing with a lid and stubby handle I picked up at goodwill, but a replica of a proper pot is on the list of ceramic it...

Alright, here we go! http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7238/7085838541_fe7590699b_z.jpg Here's Greg and Lori of course, watching as the first meal of the weekend cooks. For dinner on friday I made a baked potato, added cheese and cured beef. http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/6939765662_38062b03f8_z.jpg...

Tea and coffee I take as a luxury, I wouldn't cater specifically to making hot beverages in my equipment. If I wanted to make tea while trekking with period gear, I'd heat the water in my ceramic cooking pot, add leaves to it to brew, and drink it directly from the pot through the leaves. No extra w...