How do you motivate others or improve the hobby?

[militiaman1835]

Again with the British mess tin covers?

Anyone know if the covers were imported along with mess tins? According to Brit sources they were oilcloth with a white buff strap to attache to knapsack. Anyone reproing these covers? I did Brit WW1 and had the khaki cover at one time. JIM HENSLEY

[BrianHicks]

Re: British mess tin covers?

A quick use of the search function revealed this previous discussion:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2873&highlight=British+mess+tin+covers

[Richmond Depot]

Re: British mess tin covers?

If you go to the bar at the top of this page, you will see an icon for search with a downward arrow. If you click on that, it will bring up the search engine. The icon is located third from the right on this bar. Not every question can be answered using the search engine, however, many can.

Best,

[Charles Heath]

Re: British mess tin covers?

Jim, to answer your next probably question, contact Skilletlicker to inquire about a custom made cover for your British mess tin. They are fun cooking implements, have a little storage capacity, and work well for soaking beans, too. This may be mentioned in the threads brought up via this forum's wonderful search engine. Yes, that is a hint. Happy hunting.

[Edwin Carl Erwin]

reproduction British Army mess tin cover

Jim,

Contact AC Approved Vendor Don Smith of Trans-Mississippi Depot for a reproduction British Army mess tin cover.

Regards,

[JerseySkilletLicker]

Re: Again with the British mess tin covers?

Jim,
Nick ************ made the mess tin covers for me back when I was retailing his goods. He did an excellent job on them but did need the tin that was to be covered in order to do the job right. Not an easy task and a bit pricey but well worth it.
Nick can be found at:
histcloth@aol.com

Shoot Don Smith an email too, I have never seen his mess tin covers but am familiar with other quality goods he has made.

Best of luck,

Joe

[militiaman1835]

Re: Again with the British mess tin covers?

Yes I KNOW where the search button is! I read the posts and if you read them you see the only mention of a maker is DEAD!! Looking for someone alive preferably!! JIM HENSLEY

[nick19thind]

Re: Again with the British mess tin covers?

Buy a WW1 mess tin cover and paint the webbing black or tar it.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Again with the British mess tin covers?

After enough complaints about this thread, it is time to euthanize it gently, kindly, quietly, and Nick of the 19th Indiana, please, please, please, no more gear improvement ideas more suitable for the Szabonese Liberation Army Forum. Gotta admit I laughed out loud when I read it, though. :p

Thanks.

[LibertyHallVols]

How's my Widget?

OK...

Jim C's post ( http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...ad.php?t=11164 )has me thinking...

Let's say there's a "widget" that is being reproduced by a number of different makers.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
How do you know it is a good reproduction Widget? What are the steps you take to make this determination?

Assumptions:
Scenario 1: You already own the book, you read it, and you've been to the museum and looked at the original widget, or one very much like it. This is a new reproduction widget and you don't have it in hand and you don't know anyone who owns one yet.

Scenario 2: You know material culture and have viewed many original items, but you've never seen an original Widget in person (couple of websites and an ebay auction, maybe). You have yet to buy the book and no "experts" have posted about it on the "Accurate-Camper" website :wink_smil and there's yet to be an article in The Dog Watcher :wink_smil. This is a new reproduction widget and you don't have it in hand and you don't know anyone who owns one yet.

Pic a scenario that applies to you and tell me how you go about it.

[JimConley]

Re: How's my Widget?

If my thread didn't get you thinking, this one certainly should.

And, I'll bite, but only after I see some responses so we can try and keep this thread honest and save it from some "me too" and "ditto" posts early on.

[J_V]

Re: How's my Widget?

Scenario 2:

I did a fair amount of homework on the "Penitentiary Jacket" I had made. There are no surviving jackets of this type to the best of my knowledge. Therefore, I had to use a mixture of primary and secondary source material.

I looked at the statistics of fabrics produced by the Huntsville Penitentiary to get an overall idea of what I was dealing with. Then, I read articles posted by well-researched authors that contained period images and commentary on those images. I studied the images thought to contain jackets of fabric produced at said institution. Third, I consulted a vendor whose passion is the Trans-Mississippi and got some of his opinions regarding the features and construction, and he sent me an article he had written on the subject. Lastly, I chose one image thought to originate with the timeframe and theater of my concern and made feature decisions for my own garment based on that image.

As I can't sew to save my hide, I had someone who knows what he's doing put the needle and thread to work according to my specifications. i was pleased with the result, and even more proud that I had helped in its construction.

Jonathan Vaughan

[27thNCdrummer]

Re: How's my Widget?

Scenario # 1 describes me. Just recently I had a "widget" that I have done extensive research on and I know is correct for the unit that I portray. The "widget" being a pair of Royal Blue Kersey trousers which were issued to the unit that I portray in Oct. of '63. No one in my unit wears these but if I know that they were issued and that my repop is constructed per the originals, I have no guilt:wink_smil.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: How's my Widget?

Scenario 2:
I did a fair amount of homework on the "Penitentiary Jacket" I had made.

Interesting variant... This is a garment you "had made". I was thinking more about items purchased "off the rack", or perhaps mail-order where the product was sight-unseen until money changed hands.

[Charles Heath]

Re: How's my Widget?

John,

Then there are those widgets that are neither reproduced nor available for viewing in collections private or public. I'm stumped on a matching set of three widgets, of which only one has been reproduced, and that run has ended. Fortunately, the measurements are given in a number of places, along with a color coding. Sigh.

Another item simply has to be in a museum or private holding somewhere, but either the owner is exceptionally tight lipped or this substance really and truly no longer exists. I'll be making some based on several rather unflattering descriptions.

Sometimes the most common items are uncommon, too. I drool over the shoe polish tin, and the cylinder matchsafe, as well as other tinware items in the display cases inside the USS Cairo museum there at Vicksburg.

I know this isn't the angle you are seeking, but I don't know if we'll ever recapture the days of folks heading to museums and digging through archives to see for themselves before they make or purchase items. Even at that, I had a fellow at a small museum in the Shenandoah Valley try to convince a small group of us that a forage cap was original, and the pattern, construction, fabric, leather, and dimestore felt 14th Corps badge screamed "repop." I'd almost bet it came from Fair Oaks Sutlery.