new to reenacting

[GeoMcClellan]

Sweet Lord, man, Farb Creek? Avoid them at all hazards!
Here's a list to get a person really started and started good

www.skilletlicker.com
www.cjdaley.com
www.missouribootandshoe.com
www.haversackdepot.com
www.benderhats.com

Through authenticity can we REALLY get a step back in time. When using items from Farb Creek one looks like a re-enactor. When using detailed and researched items one looks like a Soldier of the past. And even then your time tripping is more potent. When I was a farb it was hard to go back in time with comfortable clothes, uncomfortable shoes, only leathers and a canteen in battle, a floppy forage cap, sleeping in a big tent on a tarp and a quilt with more stuff than I could carry... it all felt like I was camping in funny clothes.

When I went authentic I had clothes that were both comfortable and uncomfortable (hard to describe), shoes that were a delight to wear, full trappings into battle or on the march and it never hurt my shoulders, sleeping with no more than a gum blanket, wool blanket and scarf with the open sky above me; weather be damned... now that's when you really feel a connection, a spark. Through research, reading, detailing, learning how to sew, &c. one can rekindle the past in a way that people at Farb Creek cannot do for you.

[GeoMcClellan]

How was my post mean? I simply pointed out that Farb Creek is intollerably incorrect historically and cannot be a reliable scource for much of anything at all. My list of vendors is far from a complete list of the better vendors out there but each is a **** sight better than Farb Creek. The owners of Farb Creek may be nice but they are out to get a cheap buck. Historical accuracy is something they do not truly value. Their research is watching a movie and then getting the sewing machine and cheap wool. A true vendor with your best interests in mind is one who researches the fabrics, finds a scource for them, sees how items were sewn and replicates that, &c.

[GeoMcClellan]

Oh; and for civilian; www.cornerclothiers.com

[GeoMcClellan]

What about it? If they make poor quality stuff for 28 years then it's still poor quality 28 years down the road.

[GeoMcClellan]

Cheap leather, cheap wool, paterns from a 1950s movie, lack of attention to historic detail; you name it.

[Savez]

C & D Jarnigans is another good sutler.
http://www.jarnaginco.com/

Save your money and buy a little at a time. I suggest buying the gun first (because it is fun to shoot and people are more apt to let you borrow a uniform and accoutrements than a gun), then shoes (or you will settle for farby shoes and look dumb)and then your cartridge box and stuff. The better quality and better researched stuff is expensive but you owe it to those men of the past to be as correct as possible. I might suggest buying your pants before the jacket also. Again, it is easier to borrow a jacket than it is pants. Research and Research. An unusual source that I suggest would be artists Don Troiani's books (link below). He is one of the foremost Civil War uniform experts out there. Many reenactors will tell you not to go by paintings but rest assured his are very accurate.

http://www.historicalartprints.com/hap/cmd?CMD=BROWSE&parent=30&catid=5

[southern_belle61]

I think all of you guys have a point. I am also new to reenacting but I know that you need to research the things you but BEFORE you buy them. No matter where they come from no matter what other people tell you.

C & D Jarnigans is another good sutler.
http://www.jarnaginco.com/

Save your money and buy a little at a time. I suggest buying the gun first (because it is fun to shoot and people are more apt to let you borrow a uniform and accoutrements than a gun), then shoes (or you will settle for farby shoes and look dumb)and then your cartridge box and stuff. The better quality and better researched stuff is expensive but you owe it to those men of the past to be as correct as possible. I might suggest buying your pants before the jacket also. Again, it is easier to borrow a jacket than it is pants. Research and Research. An unusual source that I suggest would be artists Don Troiani's books (link below). He is one of the foremost Civil War uniform experts out there. Many reenactors will tell you not to go by paintings but rest assured his are very accurate.

http://www.historicalartprints.com/hap/cmd?CMD=BROWSE&parent=30&catid=5

[bucktailre-enactor]

anther great dealer is ss-sutler of gettysburg. their web site is www.ss-sutler.com

[funfossils]

How old do you have to be to do a reenactment? :?: