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Post by Black Hand on May 10, 2020 7:11:07 GMT -7
How did you come to this hobby?
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Post by hawkeyes on May 10, 2020 8:31:17 GMT -7
Many, many things...
However, for me personally I attribute two things regarding my thrust forward into the "hobby". One, my upbringing. Always had a family who has been outdoors people and maintained a lifestyle of doing things old fashioned. My grandfather was an avid blackpowder hunter, shooter and lover of history. My dad as well adopted the same love growing up around such things. Been very lucky to have grandparents on both sides who shared a love and respect for the outdoors in many ways.
The second kicker for me and something I'll always remember is shooting pap's firelock for the first time... Obviously not knowing much I just remember the flash, smell of burning powder and distinctive sound of the lock mechanism and lastly the BOOM. From there I was absolutely hooked. That distinctive moment is something I always go back to even though many other routes lead to the same road.
For me this is not so much a hobby, but more of a lifestyle of sorts. The rewards of such endeavors have been great given the opposition from the modern world in terms of being old fashioned. You gain such a deep rooted respect for things many take for granted, not to mention the outpouring of support and friendships made from fellow enthusiasts.
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coot
City-dweller
Posts: 156
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Post by coot on May 10, 2020 9:43:06 GMT -7
I explain that I entered the hobby by "walking backwards". I learned to shoot at 8 or 9 & have always enjoyed that. Part of my childhood was in South America without any TV so I read a lot - especially science fiction. Later my reading turned heavily into history & that is about all I read anymore. So, with shooting & history, I became interested in flintlocks & it just so happens that a longtime good friend is an antique gun dealer. While visiting him at a show, I said that I would really like to get a nice flintlock but a reproduction to actually shoot. He sent me back to a table of high dollar antique longrifles with instructions to look at the 3rd gun from the left - which he knew was not an antique. Turns out that it was a Jim Chambers kit, expertly assembled by a retired North Carolina sheriff that the dealer acquired as part of a multi gun deal. He was glad to sell it to me at a very reasonable price (but still the most expensive gun I had purchased up to that time) as he did not want to get a reputation for selling new guns along with his antiques. Now the "walking backwards" began - I had a gun but that was all - so I needed a horn to go with it, and then a bag to go with the horn, and then a roundhat because my ball cap looked funny with the "old" gun - then a "puffy sleeve" shirt because my T-shirt looked funny with the "old" gun, horn, bag & hat. Then my jeans looked funny so I got britches & stockings & then my "new" shoes looked funny so I got buckle shoes. Then I went to my first event on a day trip - it was fun so I went back with my wife for a second day, & she thought it was fun "canvas tents like we had in girl scouts" she says & a camper within earshot added "but we got alcohol & candlelight to boot".
So we got into living history for the next few years before an experience (for another story as I type very slowly) put us on the road to becoming specialized vendors (feel free to visit "Blue Cat Buttonworks" to see our current setup). Oh - it helps immensely if your spouse is a former scout camp counselor, history major, backpacker and (now) retired reference librarian.
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Post by spence on May 10, 2020 22:16:34 GMT -7
That's a hard question to answer. I'm not even sure I understand how it happened, myself, and have always found it hard to explain to others. This link is to one attempt I made quite a while ago. home.insightbb.com/~bspen/song.htmlSpence |
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Post by scottc60 on May 13, 2020 18:08:49 GMT -7
As a young kid in the mid-60s, we had a neighbor that crafted muzzleloaders in his basement by hand. He sandcasted his brass pieces in the garage. The only power tools he owned was a drill press and a 1/4" hand drill. He bought the barrel and made all else. And with the extra cut off pieces of barrel, he's make a pistol to go along with the rifle: same caliber. He checkered wood and metal with a bent 3-corner file. Fantastic craftsman.
He gave me a power horn with my name scrimshawed on it when I started school. Combined with watching Fess Parker as Davy & Daniel on TV probably clinched it.
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Post by lenapej on May 13, 2020 19:15:19 GMT -7
I grew up without tv, video games, etc. and spent most of my free time in the woods playing Indian or hunting squirrels, and was always interested in American history, when we would go to the library most of the books I brought home were on American Indians, and through learning more about the Lenape my interest in the 18th century grew. I have lived in Missouri for most of my life and there is lots of civil War history here and I started going to a few reenactments and thought I would love to get into that, so I started talking to reenactors and then decided to join a group in my state and did that for several years, but my interest in the 18th century kept growing and I started to combine my love of hunting with that by using a flintlock and what clothing I had, and the cw reenacting was rather expensive, and I couldn't do both, so I quit and went all 18th century.
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