To Join or Not To Join

[hsifeng]

The investigation begins: I know that several folks who are readers of this journal are also current/former members of the SCA. I have been on a number of ‘SCA’ involved lists (including the GermanRenCostume list) for years – and have been impressed by the level of research and dedication I find in some of the folks involved there.

 

So the question is: What are the benefits of joining?

 

I am very interested in medieval/Early Modern crafts and I suspect I would be able to get a good amount of interaction/input/craft buddy time as a SCA member. I understand that membership ‘requirements’ (participation and whatnot) are pretty much at-your-own-pace. I am pretty darn sure that I can reenact my German persona there.

 

The hitch is this: I have done ‘RenFaire’ for years and am not in love with the whole ‘anachronism’ thing. Obviously there is a wide range of accuracy involved in SCA groups (as there is with RenFaire).

 

So - Is the balance worth it?

 

If I am interested, step two would be getting hubby to show up and not snark at the weapons folks: He can be very personable, but I don’t know how he’ll feel about the rules interpretations vs. historical texts on fighting. Anyone have a fighter husband/S.O. who could hand down some thought on this?

Comments

waters, weapons, et cetera

[rwfranz.livejournal.com]

About those "wasters", weights, et cetera.

The SCA has some fairly strict rules about how long a weapon can be (mostly for safety's sake, especially here in California).

Here's a link containing an article comparing rattan weapons and actual real weapons from period. Sorry, it's a pdf and not html.

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Other_Articles_IV.pdf

The guy who wrote it, Cariadoc of the Bow, is in mundanity David Friedman, the economist and writer. Cariadoc is reasonably well known in SCA circles (he's a Pelican, a Laurel, and a Duke). Cariadoc is also very much into authenticity: Cariadoc's Miscellany. (http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Miscellany.htm)

At any rate, the rattan weapons must be at least an inch and a quarter in diameter; the largest opening allowed in the armor is one inch; these requirements are for safety reasons. Some people use larger weapons than that.

Re: waters, weapons, et cetera

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Thank you for getting this information to me. I will have to share it with the hubby and see what he thinks.