Ways to deal with non period camps around in the SCA

[Guy Dawkins]

How do I deal with them.? I don't "see" them.

[Thomas Powers]

Or how about this method:

A&S class at a local event:

Make a Gokstad-Style Viking Tent
Enter with empty hands. Walk out with a full-blown Gokstad style Viking tent! $50 materials fee, paid to [insert name here, default to Troll] .... No sewing machine, & only rudimentary woodworking! Alll tools & materials provided. Those who have not paid are welcome to come & learn! Each paid participant will make a Viking style A-frame, with assistance, using a minimum of labor & materials: 9 boards, some pre-sewn cloth, & a little rope. Come learn how to make this simple period tent; paid participants will walk out with a functional & authentic centerpiece for their period Viking encampment!
Location: A&S Tent #

(I'm Master Wilelm and I APPROVE of this type of thing!)

[Cap'n Atli]

One sail (or appropriate size piece of canvas); five oars, 50 - 100 feet of sissal line, two tent stakes, one extra pair of hands, 20 to 40 minutes = One oar tent! Our basic shelter for about 20 years worth of MTA weekends.

[Andrea Ferrara]

One sail (or appropriate size piece of canvas); five oars, 50 - 100 feet of sissal line, two tent stakes, one extra pair of hands, 20 to 40 minutes = One oar tent! Our basic shelter for about 20 years worth of MTA weekends.

o.O that wouldnt of done so well in that storm we got at gulf wars then again you wouldnt need to worry about water collected either

[ladyilsebet]

Andrea, don't you figure that in 20 years of camping, he's seen storms equal to the one you ran into a GW?

Sure, maybe a soulpad with a floor didn't get water in - but modern "conveniences" often mean we have to do a little more labor - IE, dig a trench if a storm's coming in.

I seriously don't get why you think this soulpad is the end-all-be-all of storm-proof camping. They did have wicked nasty storms in period, too, ya know...

[Thomas Powers]

I used a 10x20' "sail" tarp for mine and used loose canvas to put a front door and back door on it and it did pretty good in wet weather, more headroom too.

My sibley is documentable to the renaissance and has withstood sustained 70mph winds and torrential rains. More than one event it's been one of the few left standing and *undamaged*.

[Andrew Sterner]

How do you guys waterproof the canvas(or do you at all)? I have a 1 person tent, but it's not built to store anything that isn't me, a sleeping bag, and a small pack. I know you can get tarps dirt cheap, I know my knots, and I can cut down lumber to fit into my escort. My issue is waterproofing. If someone can point me the right way, I'd be happy.

[ladyilsebet]

Andrew - if the canvas you buy isn't already waterproofed, you can get canvas waterproofing at some Army/Navy surplus type places (at least there's where I found it in Metro Detroit some years ago). Good dense canvas, though, shouldn't really need it - the first bit of water swells the fibers and keeps more from coming in, at least until the surface tension is broken by something touching it. I used the canvas waterproofing on the loops of my Falls Creek Sutlery wall tent (which I LOVE, although we have our eyes open for a more 14th century style pavilion one of these years). That wall tent put up with the big thunderstorms at Pennsic about 5 years ago, on the Serengeti, with our normal stakes and high wind lines, only. I was terrified to leave the tent, and without the high wind lines it would have come down, but damn, the Romans sure weren't stupid about their tent mechanics...

[Cap'n Atli]

One sail (or appropriate size piece of canvas); five oars, 50 - 100 feet of sissal line, two tent stakes, one extra pair of hands, 20 to 40 minutes = One oar tent! Our basic shelter for about 20 years worth of MTA weekends.

o.O that wouldnt of done so well in that storm we got at gulf wars then again you wouldnt need to worry about water collected either

Given my usual quarters, a simple shelter, ashore, is downright luxurious.

[Marco-borromei]

How do you guys waterproof the canvas(or do you at all)? I have a 1 person tent, but it's not built to store anything that isn't me, a sleeping bag, and a small pack. I know you can get tarps dirt cheap, I know my knots, and I can cut down lumber to fit into my escort. My issue is waterproofing. If someone can point me the right way, I'd be happy.

Thompson's Water Sealer and a paint roller or a sponge.

Set up the tent in your yard, roll, sponge, or spray on TWS, and let dry for a day or two. One $30 painters tarp from Lowes plus $15 of TWS has stayed waterproof for almost 10 years.

[Sasha_Khan]

Thompson's Water Sealer and a paint roller or a sponge.

Thompson's changed their formula a few years back, and it no longer works as well on fabric as the old formula...

Sadly

[Tracy Justus]

Not inexpensive, but I've been happy with Starbrite, a marine waterproofing. My experience is that it does not change the appearance, feel, or flexibility of fabric at all, just makes it waterproof.

T.

[Emeryk]

I finaly set up my new tent today. Its a start anyway.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/72939713@N02/7177454200/

[Andrew Sterner]

Not inexpensive, but I've been happy with Starbrite, a marine waterproofing. My experience is that it does not change the appearance, feel, or flexibility of fabric at all, just makes it waterproof.

T.

Awesome, I'll look into it. I need to finish putting my heavy kit together first, but the tent is the next priority

[brewer]

Looking good, Witus!

Bob

[woodwose]

I finaly set up my new tent today. Its a start anyway.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/72939713@N02/7177454200/

That does look nice. I may have missed it in the pages of this thread, but where is that from, or did you make it?
It looks similar to what my wife wants to replace our little wedge tent with. I would probably add some paint to spiff it up a bit.

[Emeryk]

Yea thats the plan. I just need to research what the best paint is and figure out how I want it to look. I got it from midwest tents, it has one water stain on the back but you cant realy see it, it was a steal at $140.

[whitew01f]

As this raises similar questions to the one I will be posing regarding armor exploration, I thought I would get some feedback from this post and possibly help the purists see things from a different light.
For all intents and purposes, I have a modern encampment but it satisfies many needs; one being that from a distance it is visually period looking in design (I will post pictures later).

Without revealing too many details I believe that most things I create for the SCA take the "C" in SCA to heart. I don’t use patterns, nor do I have documentable reasons for the way my designs digress from standard (accepted) methods of construction. Mostly, I am always striving to create the best of both worlds, while enveloping the overall impression it gives in medieval flair.

I ask myself, as many do, why I succumb to such torturous means of play; when it would be so much easier and I obviously bear the skill to put together quality period pieces?
And again, avoiding unwarranted detail, I imagine that I am truly trying to learn something about the behavior of design and accepted methods on some social level while allowing myself to be an inspiration to those that may not want to be locked into what really existed or exists (fantasy and sci-fi types).

Now I realize the author of this post is looking for a way to avoid such characters draining the proverbial juices from the devotional quality of their encampment, so I offer this.
In the vein of recommending ways to include them vice exclusion, like selling them your old pavilion; I suggest you look for something in their camp or their garb that is period and reflect upon what effort they put into it. Maybe even offer a compliment on that piece and discuss their motivation to improve; understand what drives their devotion to a more period appearance. But mostly give credit where credit is due. Look for the effort involved and discover what they may be missing; materials, knowledge, a reason. Sometimes people just don’t know where to look or who to ask, as I am sure you are quite aware of being a member of the Armour Archive, it can be daunting.
Those that don’t show any effort will be hard to ignore, but attitudes in the SCA can be pretty aspiring so keep looking for that attempt to be included.

As for me, I will continue to be appreciated from afar; never getting a front row at the Erik or a court appearance in armor that aids the Herald in introducing me in their best Old English due to my authenticity. It may even keep me from achieving Knighthood or the like, but I feel like a hidden gem that will one day be polished into an example of what the SCA can really foster, a better tomorrow magnified by the best our past has to offer.

[MJBlazek]

I argue that 90% of the people in the SCA use the wrong definition of "Creative" when talking about it used in the SCA title.

I posit that it is meant as the first definition listed in Meriam Webster: 1: marked by the ability or power to create : given to creating


We in the SCA do not simply study the Medieval period, we try to Create it, we are Creative in our study. We Create things to do it.

[Gobae]

I argue that 90% of the people in the SCA use the wrong definition of "Creative" when talking about it used in the SCA title.

I posit that it is meant as the first definition listed in Meriam Webster: 1: marked by the ability or power to create : given to creating


We in the SCA do not simply study the Medieval period, we try to Create it, we are Creative in our study. We Create things to do it.

That makes sense. Now I know why so many anachronisms are created.

[MJBlazek]

I argue that 90% of the people in the SCA use the wrong definition of "Creative" when talking about it used in the SCA title.

I posit that it is meant as the first definition listed in Meriam Webster: 1: marked by the ability or power to create : given to creating


We in the SCA do not simply study the Medieval period, we try to Create it, we are Creative in our study. We Create things to do it.

That makes sense. Now I know why so many anachronisms are created.

yup.


Except Anachronisms ARENT being created. If a modern object is being used in modern times at a medievally themed event, it is the historically correct things that are the Anachronisms, not the modern things, they are just... things.

[Gobae]

Except Anachronisms ARENT being created. If a modern object is being used in modern times at a medievally themed event, it is the historically correct things that are the Anachronisms, not the modern things, they are just... things.

99% of everything there would be a "modern" object (having been made in 'modern' times). Hmmm.... so does that mean the SCA has no anachronisms?

[MJBlazek]

Except Anachronisms ARENT being created. If a modern object is being used in modern times at a medievally themed event, it is the historically correct things that are the Anachronisms, not the modern things, they are just... things.

99% of everything there would be a "modern" object (having been made in 'modern' times). Hmmm.... so does that mean the SCA has no anachronisms?

quibbler

[whitew01f]

This is just what I was looking to inspire, conversation about what attitudes or impressions make the non-period camps a problem, other than defeating an overall impression of really being in the Middle Ages, which all should be entitled to.

So MJBlazek, would you say I am part of the 90% using the wrong definition of creative?

If that definition of “creative” holds true, than we are “creating” the Anachronistic Society of the Middle Ages within the modern age, have I got that right?
Not introducing a “creative” Anachronism into the Middle Age environment.

It is a quandary. Cause I think that means an SCA event would actually be mostly Anachronistic when compared to the modern age.

Not trying to split hairs here, just trying to figure out what I might need to change about the way I play. The Armour Archive is filled with folks that inspire me to step-up my game, maybe it can also provide me with a way to see around my own shortcomings.

[MJBlazek]

Don't change the way you play. It's the way you play.
Just don't try to call a duck a squirrel.

If you want to look Authentic, then look to the authentic to extrapolate and emulate. Don't make something that sort of looks medieval and say "Close Enough." and don't ever fall into the trap of "Well they COULD have used it." That is a slippery slope. Stick to what is known, leave the speculation to the acedemics and use the known to re-create.

And beleive me, there are plenty of my own things I need to step up. I am the worst at following my own advice.

[Robert of Canterbury]

For Me, The Anachronism lies in creating the medieval in the modern world, not in creating the modern in the medieval.

Create medieval things which are anachronisms in the modern world.

[MJBlazek]

That's the point!

[Antonio]

Well, there's also the Anachronism of me (reenacting 1580's) interacting with the Roman, the saxon, the viking, and the high Burgundian.

Now, from my personas point of view, I do at least have the "They're 16th century people performing a masque of the past." excuse.

I look forward to seeing the 25th century reenactors interacting the pike square and the panzer.

[Marshal]

I explain it by "Today I woke up in The Commonwealth of Letters".

[FrauHirsch1]

Antonio, that is exactly what I do.

[FrauHirsch1]

We have several mundane tents in our camp, but they are placed carefully behind the big tents. The 14x14 wedge was used as a 'bachelor's" tent. It was a small camp for us, usually there are 3-4 large period tents, but people cancelled at the last minute.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/schutzhund ... 016639262/

[Thorgrimr]

Reading this thread inspired me to see just how cheaply I could come up with a spacious alternative to a modern tent. The most expwnsive thing about a tent is the canvas, so I first went to Harbor Freight, where I saw this little package for $14.99.



I bought a couple, and took 'em home and opened them up. I found, as advertized, a 10 oz canvas tarp that was 9' by 12', with a seam running down the longways middle, making two 6' by 9' panels.

I then set to work with my paper and pencil and figured out a cutting diagram for this size canvas.



The dotted lines are the pre existing seams in the drop cloths. They will have to be taken apart to make the side walls. this diagram makes good use of the pre existing hems, although the hems on what will be roof panel 2 and roof panel 4 must be taken apart before they are sewn together. The side walls consist of three 6 foot by 9 foot panels sewn together to make two 27 foot by 9 foot panels which wrap around the sides an overlap forming two doorways on opposite sides of the tent. The remaining center sections (1 foot on either side of the seam) in the two drop cloths used to make the roof panels will be used to make ties, loops, and reinforcements points.

Here's what the paper model looks like.



The fabric cost for this project? $80, with tax. Hopefully I'll have it finished before Pennsic.

[Robert of Canterbury]

Thorgrimr,
good call.
One thing to bear in mind, if possible, always match your seams with one straight of grain edge and one bias. If you have two bias edges in a seam it will stretch like mad.
If you do have to use bias to bias, then you will want to insert a thin strip of straight of grain, or light tape or somesuch to help prevent the stretch. thats a fair bit of faffing about, so straight + bias is the best way, if you can manage it.

[FrauHirsch1]

I still haven't found a rectangular or square tent with vertical (rather than sloped) sides in a period depiction. The single peaked tents shown in the other recent thread are the first single peaked squares I've ever seen.

Personally, I'd recommend a wedge tent because it can be created with the same or less fabric, less complex patterning, and with less hardware.

[Thorgrimr]

Robert- thanks for the tip! I didn't know that. I'll have to reinforce the bias-bias seams on the roof.

As for the wedge, it certainly IS much easier to make, and uses less cloth. I camp in one now, as a matter of fact. For my personal taste, though, I needs me some more useable space where I can stand! Lol! A square straight wall tent will do this admirably, and still look better than an earth pimple.