Something happened yesterday that brought something I was aware of in a distant way to the fore. I was at the bowyers' shop yestermorn and chatting with the young man there; I was leaving a bow to be tuned and adjusted. Naturally the chatter was about archery and bows and the various draw weights being used. The talk turned to crossbows.
I haven't thought much about crossbows; Rangers generally do not use them much. However, lurking underneath it all was the distant awareness that someday, if I wished to continue going on scout and hunting, I would have to use one. This might seem odd..after all, if I cannot draw a bow what would I be doing out in the wild anyway; the first thought would be that I was too old. That isn't it.
There was the fight with the dragon some years ago. The injuries have healed, yes, but the scars are still there and the damage that could not be completely repaired still affects what I do. The misalignment of my shoulder and the displacement of my collarbone are of particular note as they are directly involved in drawing the bow. Over the past couple of years I have noticed it has gotten more difficult to draw the heavier weights and holding them has become a real challenge.
In time I will be forced to take up the crossbow. I am not certain how I feel about that. Certainly for hunting it is no problem, although in these lands the decree is such that one must prove impediment to the self bow before being granted the right to use the crossbow. The crossbow is a feared weapon; it does not take the same skill to use as our longbows do, hence anyone can pick them up and shoot them in a short period of time.
I cannot see myself calmly sitting down and letting the lands go to seed because I have to use a crossbow. That is not me. So when the time does come and I am forced into is use in general, I will do so...as a Ranger, as a Huntress. I will do so boldly and damn those who look askance.
Because I know this of myself, I am turning my mind to bolts, bolt making, belt quivers for bolts, belt hooks and whatnot. Sooner is better than later in most things, this no less. I shall make my own crossbows for this purpose, perhaps purchase one for other pursuits, but in the main, I wish to build my own no less than I strive to build self bows now. It will take some study I deem; if I am to use steel prods then I must suss out the proper temper pattern for the steel for maximum life, safety, and efficiency.
When it comes to the art of the Smith, I can tell you straight forward that it is best to have a Master or Mistress...no two people see color exactly the same and learning the subtle gradations of hot metal are vital to proper Smithwork...never more so than in tempering where different parts of the metal must be tempered to different strengths for best results.
Today I will most probably remove the cherry furniture from Gûdagnir and prepare her for her new grips. While I am about that, I will turn my mind to the various needs of the crossbow. Looking into the future is a habit I have.
Nai i-Valar tiralyë
Eledhwen
The Ranger-Harper of Minhiriath
Friday, August 24, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Packs & Projects
It had been a little bit, aye.
My Ranger fitness now consists of weight training three times a week, four sets of 25 repetitions each of about ten exercises. Then, when weather allows, swimming, and again, when the weather is cooperative, hiking. Sometimes Mother hands out a mandatory day off, so to speak, but mostly this is the routine I follow.
I have been experimenting with packs, as I have mentioned in the past, and one thing has become very clear; I must have a frame. The misalignment and displacement of my left shoulder and clavicle have sufficient impact that this is necessary. It has to be done carefully; testing of various sorts of packs and methods have revealed these points;
There must be a frame.
The shoulder straps must be both wide and thickly padded
The shoulder straps must be 'women's' shoulder straps, that is, made to accommodate the breasts.
There must be a waist strap/belt along with lumbar padding
There must be a breast strap
Sounds like a lot, yes? It isn't really. However, these features pre-exist in only certain types of packs; the old military ALICE packs and civilian backpacking packs...with women's straps added in as an option. Right then, these are modern packs, and they work just fine as they were intended...but they do not work for a Ranger in Middle Earth.
For one thing, they are made of cordura...a very tough nylon fabric used for most such gear these days. Totally not ME in substance but aside from that, if one is at all attuned to the wild, they make very distinctive and easily detected noises when going through the brush where natural fabrics do not.
So what solution have I come up with? Simple really. I am going to use the ALICE frame and build my canvas, wool, and leather pack around it. Using wool for the padding of lumbar and shoulder strap pads, canvas for the bulk of the pack, and leather for reinforcement and attachment points. Doing it this way also allows me to color it as I wish and in this case that will be shades of grey, with perhaps some dull green in there too.
Why grey? Because that color, above all others, is all but invisible to most folk. The eye tends to slide over it, leaving the wearer of it a fuzzy memory in the mind's eye. It also works in any season, unlike most other colors.
So, brothers and sisters, this is the path I have chosen for a pack. I know that for the most part we choose frameless bags as packs..but I cannot for physical reasons. The tendonitis I have had trouble with this year began when I stopped using frame packs on the hikes. Since I started again it hasn't even shown a whimper. There's just too much pressure on the clavicle and nerves there if there is no frame with waist band. What Rangers do well, or would do well to strive to do well, is to Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome when confronted with obstacles.
How else shall we take on the enemies that lurk around the good free folk who are our charges? The path of the Ranger is not an easy one...but it has its rewards, aye it does.
I know it is customary for we Rangers to wear no fair thing save one, but I think on this pack I will work into it the design of our Forandiri in subtle manner. I do not think this will violate the usual lack of decoration as it will be neither gem nor precious metal...merely a design worked into the making of the pack. The fir tree and seven stars of six points is the design of my Folk here in the North and I would that it be somewhere on my person; the pack is the place.
The pack frame will be essentially hidden from view...mostly; there will be a point or two that has to show, such as the place where the shoulder straps fasten to the frame, but on the whole I think I can engine it to hide the actual frame itself. It will look more like a Mountain rucksack than anything else. I will design them with lash points for added pockets or other bits of gear...this came about in part due to a thought that I might be able to make the canvas parts reversible and so 'camouflage' one side and have grey or white on the other...but the idea to make it essentially grey and dull green trumped that. Or it has for now.
In other project work, I have to split off the cherry grip on my Elven hunting knife Gûdagnir, (Foe-Bane). Two things I wish to do for it; firstly, add a bronze ferrule to the blade end of the grip, and inlay some silver into the grip itself. Then I will add a pommel cap, probably in the form of a leaf or perhaps a deer's cloven hoof. Then I must craft a suitable sheath for it. Then will it be ready for service and better pictures.
I need to sit down with Uitirith (Ever-Guard), my sword that was the DelTin version of Glamdring and polish the blade. A leather covered wooden sheath for her would not be bad either. Nor would a decent new belt.
There is still the spine tester to build; perhaps I will get down to the hardware store to get the final pieces today. After that, much arrow building to do, of course. There's also the bowyering projects under way, and the string making. Never mind the leatherwork.
Plenty to do and the season of the Hunt begins very soon.
Nai i-Valar tiralyë!
Eledhwen
My Ranger fitness now consists of weight training three times a week, four sets of 25 repetitions each of about ten exercises. Then, when weather allows, swimming, and again, when the weather is cooperative, hiking. Sometimes Mother hands out a mandatory day off, so to speak, but mostly this is the routine I follow.
I have been experimenting with packs, as I have mentioned in the past, and one thing has become very clear; I must have a frame. The misalignment and displacement of my left shoulder and clavicle have sufficient impact that this is necessary. It has to be done carefully; testing of various sorts of packs and methods have revealed these points;
There must be a frame.
The shoulder straps must be both wide and thickly padded
The shoulder straps must be 'women's' shoulder straps, that is, made to accommodate the breasts.
There must be a waist strap/belt along with lumbar padding
There must be a breast strap
Sounds like a lot, yes? It isn't really. However, these features pre-exist in only certain types of packs; the old military ALICE packs and civilian backpacking packs...with women's straps added in as an option. Right then, these are modern packs, and they work just fine as they were intended...but they do not work for a Ranger in Middle Earth.
For one thing, they are made of cordura...a very tough nylon fabric used for most such gear these days. Totally not ME in substance but aside from that, if one is at all attuned to the wild, they make very distinctive and easily detected noises when going through the brush where natural fabrics do not.
So what solution have I come up with? Simple really. I am going to use the ALICE frame and build my canvas, wool, and leather pack around it. Using wool for the padding of lumbar and shoulder strap pads, canvas for the bulk of the pack, and leather for reinforcement and attachment points. Doing it this way also allows me to color it as I wish and in this case that will be shades of grey, with perhaps some dull green in there too.
Why grey? Because that color, above all others, is all but invisible to most folk. The eye tends to slide over it, leaving the wearer of it a fuzzy memory in the mind's eye. It also works in any season, unlike most other colors.
So, brothers and sisters, this is the path I have chosen for a pack. I know that for the most part we choose frameless bags as packs..but I cannot for physical reasons. The tendonitis I have had trouble with this year began when I stopped using frame packs on the hikes. Since I started again it hasn't even shown a whimper. There's just too much pressure on the clavicle and nerves there if there is no frame with waist band. What Rangers do well, or would do well to strive to do well, is to Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome when confronted with obstacles.
How else shall we take on the enemies that lurk around the good free folk who are our charges? The path of the Ranger is not an easy one...but it has its rewards, aye it does.
I know it is customary for we Rangers to wear no fair thing save one, but I think on this pack I will work into it the design of our Forandiri in subtle manner. I do not think this will violate the usual lack of decoration as it will be neither gem nor precious metal...merely a design worked into the making of the pack. The fir tree and seven stars of six points is the design of my Folk here in the North and I would that it be somewhere on my person; the pack is the place.
The pack frame will be essentially hidden from view...mostly; there will be a point or two that has to show, such as the place where the shoulder straps fasten to the frame, but on the whole I think I can engine it to hide the actual frame itself. It will look more like a Mountain rucksack than anything else. I will design them with lash points for added pockets or other bits of gear...this came about in part due to a thought that I might be able to make the canvas parts reversible and so 'camouflage' one side and have grey or white on the other...but the idea to make it essentially grey and dull green trumped that. Or it has for now.
In other project work, I have to split off the cherry grip on my Elven hunting knife Gûdagnir, (Foe-Bane). Two things I wish to do for it; firstly, add a bronze ferrule to the blade end of the grip, and inlay some silver into the grip itself. Then I will add a pommel cap, probably in the form of a leaf or perhaps a deer's cloven hoof. Then I must craft a suitable sheath for it. Then will it be ready for service and better pictures.
I need to sit down with Uitirith (Ever-Guard), my sword that was the DelTin version of Glamdring and polish the blade. A leather covered wooden sheath for her would not be bad either. Nor would a decent new belt.
There is still the spine tester to build; perhaps I will get down to the hardware store to get the final pieces today. After that, much arrow building to do, of course. There's also the bowyering projects under way, and the string making. Never mind the leatherwork.
Plenty to do and the season of the Hunt begins very soon.
Nai i-Valar tiralyë!
Eledhwen
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Ranger Fitness
Damn. I had been hiking almost daily along the trails on Mount Toby. Then I got a little beat up and started searching for an interim activity. I added in weight training for toning and stamina..currently only ten pounds, twenty reps, three sets of exercises, but that will be increasing to thirty reps next week and the weight will go up later.
Then I added in swimming. We have had a pool here right along but for a long time it was the hangout of smokers and skinheaded tinker toys with lots of muscles and no real brains to speak of. Me being what I am, I would be certain to irritate them..and also being what I am, that would not be a good thing..for them. So I tended to stay away. That and being stupidly and grossly obese. I have lost a lot of mass though and have of late decided that I simply do not give a damn. Smokers are no longer allowed and in the early morning there isn't anyone there; the tinker toys seem to be afternoon creatures for some reason.
The upshot is that I do sprints the width of the pool..currently twenty of them, and use side and breast strokes for the length of the pool, mixed with some flutter kicking exercises and other leg type work.
The weights and swimming left me tired...too tired to hike. I was kind of surprised but okay, I kept at it. Today I managed, for the first time, to weight train, swim, and hike. Three miles on the hike but still..in a conservative estimate I have already burned over 1300 calories today and likely more. With my eating routine I have definitely made a dent in the mass situation. :)
I have to say, though, that this takes up almost the entirety of my morning, especially if I get a late start. The afternoons are spent on doing projects, bellydance of some sort, and gardening. Yet now more will be inserted.
Daily archery, a sport that consumes a surprising amount of calories will soon become an afternoon activity. Assuming the canoe I may get actually pans out, canoeing will become a common routine during the afternoons. Probably not daily, but often. Yes, this cuts into time for projects as I will not allow the Dance to suffer from any of this. It is a necessary piece of what I do and who I am.
All of these things contribute to being a healthy Ranger. They are also reducing my mass and will, I hope, allow me to come off of medications later this year. That is the goal. And after that to keep on, getting healthier and healthier. There is hunting coming too. Hunting and swimming are, around here, seasonal activities. Winter, if there is snow, brings in snowshoeing and skiing.
Plenty of skills to practice, plenty of things to keep busy with. It will sharply reduce computer time, naturally.
The key to all of this, really, is the eating..that is the foundation. The key to the exercise is that I am doing things I really, truly, enjoy doing. It is no effort to go out and 'do it'. It is a pleasure.
Fitness is one of those things too many of us pay little attention to..yes, Rangers too. Yet it is a necessary part of being anything more than an armchair Ranger. Think about it.
Eledhwen
Then I added in swimming. We have had a pool here right along but for a long time it was the hangout of smokers and skinheaded tinker toys with lots of muscles and no real brains to speak of. Me being what I am, I would be certain to irritate them..and also being what I am, that would not be a good thing..for them. So I tended to stay away. That and being stupidly and grossly obese. I have lost a lot of mass though and have of late decided that I simply do not give a damn. Smokers are no longer allowed and in the early morning there isn't anyone there; the tinker toys seem to be afternoon creatures for some reason.
The upshot is that I do sprints the width of the pool..currently twenty of them, and use side and breast strokes for the length of the pool, mixed with some flutter kicking exercises and other leg type work.
The weights and swimming left me tired...too tired to hike. I was kind of surprised but okay, I kept at it. Today I managed, for the first time, to weight train, swim, and hike. Three miles on the hike but still..in a conservative estimate I have already burned over 1300 calories today and likely more. With my eating routine I have definitely made a dent in the mass situation. :)
I have to say, though, that this takes up almost the entirety of my morning, especially if I get a late start. The afternoons are spent on doing projects, bellydance of some sort, and gardening. Yet now more will be inserted.
Daily archery, a sport that consumes a surprising amount of calories will soon become an afternoon activity. Assuming the canoe I may get actually pans out, canoeing will become a common routine during the afternoons. Probably not daily, but often. Yes, this cuts into time for projects as I will not allow the Dance to suffer from any of this. It is a necessary piece of what I do and who I am.
All of these things contribute to being a healthy Ranger. They are also reducing my mass and will, I hope, allow me to come off of medications later this year. That is the goal. And after that to keep on, getting healthier and healthier. There is hunting coming too. Hunting and swimming are, around here, seasonal activities. Winter, if there is snow, brings in snowshoeing and skiing.
Plenty of skills to practice, plenty of things to keep busy with. It will sharply reduce computer time, naturally.
The key to all of this, really, is the eating..that is the foundation. The key to the exercise is that I am doing things I really, truly, enjoy doing. It is no effort to go out and 'do it'. It is a pleasure.
Fitness is one of those things too many of us pay little attention to..yes, Rangers too. Yet it is a necessary part of being anything more than an armchair Ranger. Think about it.
Eledhwen
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