Deep Winter TAB Update – Spear chunking and Atlatls at next Rendezvous

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Update from Richard for the Texas Association of Buckskinners Deep Winter Rendezvous (Jan 24-26, 2015):

Since Linda Olsen will be running the spear chunking and atlatl events at our next rendezvous, I ask her if we are able to bring our own equipment to enter the event. The answer was yes so use the ones offered by the club or bring (or make) your own. Though this is more of a “fun” event, it still has pretty good prizes. I may have extra river cane for darts (that’s what you call the 5-6 foot arrows) if you want to make your own so bring those extra arrowheads with you.

Important Details for October Fritztown Freetrappers Rendezvous!

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Two updates for the October FF event in Shiner:

1.  BRIDGE IS OUT –  see below
2.  BURN BAN CANCELLED!!!!!!
The bridge on our usual route to the Shiner Rendezvous site is gone!
But there are two other routes to take, probably depending on whether you are coming from Shiner or Gonzales.
I have shown them as the Orange and Green on the attached map.
The shortcut on the Orange route is good for all but the largest campers, and even then, they have been removing some of the overhanging branches.
We will try to put out a few signs, but not on Hwy 90A.
Thanks to Craig, our highway engineer for the heads up.
From –
Iron Burner
Glenn Darilek
Bourgeoise

Update on the Fritztown Freetrappers Burn Ban

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From Booshway Iron Burner . . . Below is info on the Burn Ban…..

Our Shiner site is in Gonzales County, which has a burn ban in effect.  This means:

“No burning of any combustible material outside a contained area that serves to contain all flames or sparks.”

To me, this means more than just metal fire rings.

Charcoal would be a good idea.

And as a safety measure we should have fire buckets full of water around every fire and never leave a fire unattended.

None of us could bear the thought of starting a grass fire, so please plan on meeting and exceeding the requirements.

Winter/Spring 2014 Events Update

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Just updated the Events Page with some new events this winter:

Texas Association of Buckskinners will be having their Deep Winter rendezvous on a new place near Cameron, TX .    Big John is the booshway for this event, so you know it’ll be a good one.

Grey Wolf has put out the word that Texas Free Trappers will be hosting their 20th rendezvous out at the Shiner, TX site.   He’ll be having a work day for the site on Feb 1st.

It’s still a ways off, but The Fritztown Freetrappers spring rendezvous will be taking place at the 2nd Annual Living History Timeline event, just outside of San Antonio, TX.   Keep an eye out for details, as that should be a pretty awesome event.

Don’t forget about Southwest Regional Rendezvous – which will be hosted near Lampasas, TX.   It’s been a long time since it’s been in central Texas, so if you are in the area – don’t miss it!

Hope to see you down the trail!

– Many Rifles

Texas Archaeology Month – October 2013

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Some recent details from Comrade Michael on some great upcoming Texas history events:

Texas Archaeology Month at the Brazoria County Historical Museum

October 3rd at 6:30pm: Alamo Artillery: Ampudia and a Real Cannon. As part of the Brazoria County Historical Museum’s Archeology Series, Dr. Gregg Dimmick will attempt to convince the audience, through historical data, that the brass cannon currently on loan to the Alamo from San Jacinto Battleground was actually at the Alamo in March of 1836.

October 10th at 6:30 pm: Prehistoric Appetites. Second of four in the museum’s Archeology Series, Jack Johnson will explore the life of prehistoric hunter gathers as it relates to weapons, edible plants, processing and cooking techniques. Artifacts and demonstrations will help bring to life the realities of our prehistoric ancestors.

October 17th at 6:30pm: Hatteras 150: Rediscovering the Naval Battle that Shaped the Civil War in Texas. Three of four in the museum’s Archeology Series, Andrew Hall will present the 1863 battle that sunk USS Hatteras, a Union warship whose mission was to help block the passage of supplies and arms to and from the Confederacy. 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the only Union warship sunk in combat in the Gulf of Mexico.

October 24th at 6:30pm: Discovering the Bernardo Plantation. The final program in the museum’s Archeology Series, Charlie Gordy will reveal the latest excavation discoveries made at Bernardo Plantation, former home of Jared E. Groce and site of the Texas Revolution encampment of the Texian Army before the Battle of San Jacinto.

All programs are free and open to the public. The Brazoria County Historical Museum is located at 100 East Cedar Street in Angleton, Texas. For Information call 979-864-1208.

Feedback on the site and correction

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I received some nice comments earlier today on the site and also a correction:

Great article on beginning buckskinning but I must say there is a small error on your explanation of a Caplock rifle.  You say a small cap is used, called a nipple…. Yes a cap is used, but it is placed on the nipple, the nipple is an integral part of the make up of a caplock gun.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

You might want to look at my webpage as well.
http://www.bearsbutt.com

Thanks!
Wynn “Bears Butt”

I fixed the page, but who knows how long I had that incorrect information on the site.  I guess it goes to show it takes a village to edit a website.

Thanks for the feedback and comments, “Bears Butt”!

Would love to hear how he got that rendezvous name! 🙂

Flier and details added for TFT Rendezvous XVII

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Joe Wolf just sent out the flier, activities schedule and a map for his TFT Rendezvous XVII. It will be taking place November 8-11 near Shiner, TX.

For those who have never attended a TFT voo, Joe’s events are usually heavily focused on shooting – so if you are looking for a nice place to camp with plenty of opportunity to burn some powder, this will be a great event!

Get outside and enjoy the fall weather at a rendezvous near you.

More details are available on the events page.

Know about an event in your area? Send me the details!

Hemp rope resources

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I recently grew tired of using the stinky rope they sell at the local hardware stores (also called “sisal rope,” by those in the settlements) in my shelters and was looking for a more period-correct alternative.  Rope is an extra with wedge tents and the like, but is crucial to setting up a good diamond fly or lean-to.   Increasingly, I am going back to my diamond fly days when flying solo at events.

I have heard that hemp rope was more period, but also harder to come by.   It’s also lighter and much stronger.  While searching for the same on the internet, I came across a company that not only offers different diameters of hemp rope, but also hemp webbing and cloth as well.

In addition to their rope, Turkey Creek Trading Company and Forge offers a selection of event and trekking goods – and a good variety of trail foods and dried edibles.

Thinking the breaking load was optimistic (about 3-4 times the strength of sisal rope) I ordered some of their 8mm rope for my diamond fly (803 lbs breaking weight).   Being a fan of spreading shipping fees across multiple items, I also ordered some parched corn for an upcoming pack-in.

The rope arrived and it was dense and extremely strong.  Though it worked great (I could have kept my diamond down in a gale), it was probably overkill.   I am going to order the smaller (6mm – closer to 1/4″, 404 lbs breaking weight), which will pack better and be easier to tie into knots.  They make an even smaller rope at 4mm (3/16″, 215 lbs breaking weight), but I thought this was just too thin . . .

Oh, and the parched corn was great, too.   I am planning on trying out their Salt Cured Bacon at a Fall event, but more on that later.

You can check out their website here. 

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Update to Spring TAB Location – Milano, TX

The spring event for the Texas Association of Buckskinners has been updated to Milano, TX

For more details on this event, or to download the flier, see the Events page.