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Old 02-15-2009, 07:58 PM
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One Of My Other Hobbies

Hi All,

This is one of those things that sort of got out of hand. When I first came to Vegas some 20 years ago I started off my working life here working at the Las Vegas Sun Newspaper in their advertising department. One of the guys that I met there was a Civil War re enactor with a local group here that was a Union Cavalry unit. Since I had a pretty good interest in firearms that included more than a few black powder pistols and rifles I started going to the meetings and events and soon found myself with a horse, all the related tack and a number of goodies that went part and parcel with the whole thing. Of course, being a trooper required an edged weapon. I decided that a replica of the US Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber would be just the thing and soon located one. Having one was sort of lopsided on the wall, so I managed to acquire a second one. These are just like the real deal, 35 inch long blades, if you ever notice pictures of the era, most of the guys on the ground wearing them seem to be trailing them on the ground, I suppose that was one of the reasons for the oversized tip on the sheaths.



At any rate, being a son of the South, I also decided one day to show up to one of the affairs as a Confederate Cavalry trooper just to mess with them. This led to a few others in the troop showing up over the course of a few meetings in similar dress and soon we had a dual mode troop going, we could be Union or Confederate if the situation required. In order to be in keeping with the look of the period I acquired a replica 1833 US Dragoon model saber reasoning that a Confederate trooper would have had to turn in his then issued Model 1860. That is the longer of the two in this picture. One of my lady friends decided that having just one was not right so she attempted to alleviate the situation and got what she thought was a mate to the 1833 that I had, turned out it was a less expensive version and shorter to boot, I can't really give a pedigree for it as there is no real match to its' size or look but it looks sorta like a period weapon so it got to go up next to the more official version.



After a few years and due to the financial considerations of keeping a horse just for such things I was forced to stop. I still go and watch the guys and all, but it was just too much money to be spending with a job change to participate. Fast forward a couple of girl friends and some years and one Christmas I recieved a pair of Napoleonic era sabers, at least that was what I was informed from another lady friend. Not wanting to dispute the point and desireing to stay in her good graces for obvious reasons these found a place on the wall as well.



I found a new re enacting gig when they had a Mountain Man Rendevous in California that I happened across one year on vacation. I had the needed out fit for the most part, caplock rifle, various single shot flint and cap lock pistols, the leathers and such but required a blade. I first acquired a pair of oversized Bowie type blades that seemed to fill the bill. Studying up on Bowies, they were from the 1830's when a single shot pistol turned into a club once you shot your shot, a large knife was a requirement for polite social dress. While the ones I found didn't have the coffin style of grip, they were large enough to give any detractors pause. These measure out to just over 13 inches long and weigh in at about 3 pounds apeice.



To add to my now growing collection I found that another style that was popular back in the 1830's was the toothpick, basically a scaled up version of the Scottish dirk. Just about every area had their own style and when I came across an Arkansas toothpick, I just had to have one, it is the rather large one. At 14 plus inches of blade, it is a real beast. Below it is what is called a Tennesee toothpick, just another style.



In my vacations and travels I have happened across other blades that I deemed suitable to add to my collection, it is probably never ending. Most of them are Bowie styled or toothpick styles, all of them rather largeish to reflect the 1830 time period and later. The sole exception being a gift from another lady friend who saw the black handled one and decided that I should have it to add to the collection. I would not have purchased it, but have learned not to say no to any lovely with a knife in her hands.



Of all of them, these three are my favorites due to balance, feel in the hand and look overall. They have been with me on more than a few Rendevous and are excellent camp knives for multipurpose use in those conditions.



The latest one that I picked up was mostly because it looks so different being a scimitar styled blade. It shares the size of the others at some 19 inches overall and makes for an interesting comparison with the others being strictly US varieties of blade.



So, are there any of you out there who have an interest in edged weapons?

Jay Massey
treadhead1952
Las Vegas, NV
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Old 02-15-2009, 08:45 PM
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I don't belive I would pick a knife fight with ya!!!!!!! But the collection is outstanding. Was at one time into the Mountain Man look, had a collection of black powder rifles and pistols, but alas, they were sold off for some other who knows what interest at the time. Here in N.C., you have to have killed enough deers to skin to make a complete set of bucks before the fellas even consider you apart of their club, I never made it!!!! Did have a CVA Bowie I made, a 65 Cal Custers Cannon, Hawkin 50 Cal rifle, Kentucky pistol. Have a growing interest though in Tomahawks, but again the ones I like are way out of my budget. I enjoyed the collection photos. Rick:D
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Old 02-15-2009, 09:21 PM
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I rather enjoy the Rendevous, starting a campfire with flint and steel, competing in the string matches, knife and 'hawk throwing as well as the occassional turkey shoot keeps the eye sharp. I have a TC .54 cal. Hawken, .32 cal. Kentucky flint lock, 50 cal. single shot cap lock and flintlock pistols as well as molds to cast my own balls and the odd minie. I had the buckskins to make my outfit from many moons of deer hunting back home in Arkansas.

I did cheat when it came to the footwear, got tender feet so I found a Tandy Leather pattern for a pair of lace up style boots made with some hard leather soles and a moccassin style of top to the bottom part. I am fortunate in that when the yearly time comes around my company lets me get nice and shaggy so I look the part.

I am currently looking into the Reniasance Fairs they have out here in Vegas, it would be a good excuse to add some different sorts of steel to the collection not to mention some armor. Fortunately they hold it in November out here otherwise there would be some issues with heat stroke. :D

Jay Massey
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Old 02-15-2009, 09:40 PM
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This is interesting stuff. I don't know too much about knifes except from what the guy I sit next to at work tells me. He's really knowledgeable about it and it sounds like an interesting hobby.
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Old 02-15-2009, 09:50 PM
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I used to do Civil War reenacting. I traded a SW compact 9mm for a full scale Mt. Howitzer tube when I was 19. My dad and I built a prarie carriage for it and started doing Confederate artillery. I had no bills but rent and food and I was working 50 hour weeks, so I had plenty of cash on hand to pay for powder and primer. Back then, I was running four shots to a pound, at $6.00 a pound for powder, and $1.00 each for friction primers. So say $2.50 a shot, at 100 shots or so a weekend, nearly every weekend. My "crew" consisted mostly of young guys like myself. Fifteen years later car payments, five kids and life in general burn up any "extra" cash might be around. Card modeling is far less expensive, and more quiet!
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Old 02-16-2009, 06:20 AM
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Having been fascinated with history all my life, the study of various weapons puts a lot of things into perspective. Edged weapons and their transistion from the earliest flint knives of prehistoric times to the ceramic blades of the modern day shows this progression. My interest in re enacting allows me to get into certain periods in a way that offers details and shares that information with other like minded individuals as well as the general public that attends these events.

Friendly competition at matches using these period weapons gives you a good appreciation of the conditions that our forebearers had to deal with. In an era where single shot firearms were the norm, knives still played an important part in daily survival. It is one thing to throw a nice modern light weight throwing knife that is going to spin in a predictable fashion for a set distance. When you have a two to four poiund bowie or toothpick, it takes a bit of practice to be able to put steel on target, not to mention not carve up your hide in the process.

I can appreciate the expense of having to do Civil War re enacting CT. Not only from the standpoint of having to keep a horse and keep your gear in good condition. I have a friend who is into the big boomers, his collection consists of a 6 pound Napoleon, a Parrot rifle, and a Mountain Howitzer. The 6 pounder is the one I am most familiar with having gone out with him on a number of occassions for practice. He owns his own black powder store to help defray the cost of his fascination. Shooting things of this nature are a real trip. Using sheets of plywood for targets at ranges out to a thousand yards is my idea of some real long ranged shooting. As the Napoleon, it is a brass barreled beast, everytime it fires, it is like ringing a bell, a large one at that. Shooting black powder also is a rather dirty affair, the stuff coats everything and has to be cleaned religiously. Black powder is hygroscopic, that is its fouling attracts water like mad and if not cleaned these things soon become rust buckets on any iron parts. Not surprising that so many of the origiinals simply rusted away from years of neglect. Transporting things like your own artilery to shoot it also offers some rather interesting intances, nobody tailgates! :D

We did have a county mountie once that pullled him over, mostly out of curiousity. After establishing that we were not out to start our own revolution, he even joined us for a bit of large sized target practice. I would have liked to hear how he explained his appearance when he got back to the cop shop caked with a few layers of black powder smudge on him and his car.

Jay Massey
treadhead1952
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Old 02-16-2009, 09:27 AM
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When I was feeding my cannon my weekly pay, I was living in South Dakota at the time! Most of the reenactments I went to were in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska so travel was a great expense. Because of the small number of reenactors in South Dakota, we sometime just got together with who ever wanted to "play and went for it. A frend out in western SD had a ranch and we would go there and meet up with his small group of mounted CS Cavalry and go against a post Civil War Army of the Frontier Cav group. They had trapdoor springfields, but we had artillery, so it was like a really bad Hollywood Civil War movie! It was fun though. We even would set up at the 1880 town, a tourist trap along I-80, and play the part of the bank robbers. The guy who owned the place would feed us and let us camp on site for the weekend, and use the employee showers! My dad still plays gunslinger there during the summers when he can. I live in GA now and all of my black powder stuff is up in SD, so I may have to order the paper model of the Colt 1851 I have seen, to put it on my wall.
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Old 02-16-2009, 09:32 AM
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Cool knives! Not a hobby I've ever been able to afford, but I definitely can appreciate it.
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Old 02-16-2009, 06:02 PM
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I have a few from Renaissance faires. I'll have to take some pictures one of these days. My primary personna is a 15th century Landsknecht Mercenary, so naturally I have a Katzbalger (cat gutter) 28" double edged short sword with a matching dirk and a two handed Flamberge (blade length around 44" if I remember right). I haven't had it out lately. As I said I'll have to take some pictures and post them.
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Old 02-16-2009, 08:42 PM
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Hi All,

CT, we have one of those touristy type trap western towns out here, I spent a summer playing around out there on the weekends, it was a blast literally and figuratively. Nothing quite like getting to get shot up by the local Sheriff at 10, 2 and 4 twice a week. :D Pay wasn't much but the opportunity to get all dressed in authentic western wear, be grubby and carry a blank filled revolver to terrify the local citizenry was fun.

For my mountain man persona, I have one that is even a bit nautical in its' history and it was a kit that I had to put together as well. It is called a ducksfoot for obvious reasons and this one is in .31 cal. When you drop the hammer on this one, all three barrels go at once! In the days of sail most ships carried a few of these at the rail at the head of the stairs leading to the upper deck. Of course the ones they really used were generally in .45 and above caliber and had as many as 7 barrels. The theory of operation being when the mutinous crew would attempt to mount the stairs to take over the ship the officers could clear the steps with a couple three blasts in short order. I am quite surprised that none of the Pirate themed movies ever picked up on this particular bit of Naval history and technology.



As to the 1851 Navy Colt, this is the one I packed as a Confederate trooper, .36 cal. and way too much fun to shoot. I even found a conical bullet mold so I can stuff some more progressive lead down the cylinder. They are far more accurate than the lead balls as well, keeping 5 in a nice little 3" group. The best I could ever do with a round ball was about 7 inches.



Lee, yeah buddy, nothing like a nice bit of manly steel like that Flamberge, not to mention that wicked wavy blade. Post some pictures when you can. I have been considering a deal that I have been offered by one of the guys that participated in the fairs here. He has a 40 inch broad sword that he has offered me for $50, he used it in the duels that they used to have, as such it is dulled and blunted. Too bad that he is much shorter and slimmer than I or I would be interested in some of the armor and chain mail that he has as well. I have found a couple places that also sells various other great swords with two handed grips and some rather lengthy blades in various designs.

Jay Massey
treadhead1952
Las Vegas, NV
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