Days of Knights III - 2014

[Sir James A]

Registration is scheduled to close in 5 days (10 September).  So if you have not yet registered and plan on attending (even if you may have to cancel after the fact), do so now or you will not be allowed to participate.

http://www.daysofknightsfrankfort.com/html/registration.html

Registered, and sent the site admin an email about the issues with the registration (it'll give black text on a black screen, but it is submitting) and the mysterious forum and location buttons.

Quick, everyone to the registration form!

[Ian]

The list of registered participants updates in real time it seems, so people can still check if their registration has been received in the mean time while technical issues get sorted.

http://daysofknightsfrankfort.com/html/attendees.html

Sir Nathan, I don't see you on there.  Even if you're unsure about attending, make sure you still register by the 10th.

[Sir James A]

Oh neat, real-time registration is nice.

I mentioned Sir Nathan as another party member in my group (that feels so D&D to say), just in case he didn't get registered yet. I've also got Chris coming along with me as squire, and I mentioned him as party member as well on my registration; he doesn't need to be registered separately does he? He didn't for 2012.

[Sir Martyn]

For some reason they have me listed as as 16th century, when we should be mid- to late 14th century Bohemia/Moravia.  I'll e-mail him to clarify...

[Ian]

Home stretch!  Today marks the final day of registration and thus the T-30 days to Days of Knights III! 

Time to scramble to wrap up last minute projects!  I just finished hemming some split hosen, need to add leathers to some pattens, need to make a gown, and trim the skirt on my maille shirt!  No problem 

Do we have a final count of who's going?

I think we've got:

Mike, Martin, Shawn, Doug, Ed, myself, and the maybes are James and Nathan. 

Does anyone need anything brought by another member?  Everyone have a camp to stay in or lodging out in town?  If you're bringing your own period tent expect to set it up in timeline order, not as a group of Order of the Marshal members (our impressions are too far apart on the timeline).


For the newcomers or even the guys who didn't attend last year.  Nicky has been doing tons of publicity for the event this year including TV and radio spots.  Expect large crowds!  DoK II was very well attended last year.  There was minimal downtime during public hours.  This year will be a bit more structured than last,  but expect it to be very busy.  So if you want to avoid passing out either have period water vessels available or a way to hydrate inside your tent out of public view. 

The site only has port-o-potties available so plan accordingly.

If you'll be there on Friday it's set aside for schools.  The kids love to ask questions (and some ask very intelligent questions!). 

Sat and Sun will be open for the regular public.  If you're not participating in one of the specific presentations expect to be hanging out at your camp area to help interpret your impression to the public and show them cool stuff.

If anyone has any questions about what to expect please ask, it's really a great event and a lot of fun!

[Sir Douglas]

Wooo! One more month!

Time to scramble to wrap up last minute projects!  I just finished hemming some split hosen, need to add leathers to some pattens, need to make a gown, and trim the skirt on my maille shirt!  No problem 

I just finished sewing up my mother's cote last night. You know, the kind with all those darned gores. Never again...never again. Still have to figure out her headwear, though. At the moment, I'm trying to get my woolen chausses a little more tailored to show off my manly calves. Or lack thereof. Then I have to fix my paternoster. Been looking into pouches/purses, but so far haven't had much luck finding good info for late 13th C. Probably just looking in the wrong places.
And there's probably some more stuff that's slipping my mind at the moment. So yeah, no problem at all.

Looks like I'm going to have to get a pair of water vessels, too. Who sells relatively inexpensive costrels?

[Sir James A]

A very important note on lighting for those camping; I asked on the Book of Faces page, and per the event organizer Nicky Hughes, modern lighting is not acceptable even after hours - unless it's an emergency. So candles, camp fire, period lanterns, etc, are required. No electric lighting devices; I'm assuming this includes cell phones. It also includes banning the LED lanterns we bought back in 2012, even if they are set to "orange" light.

I don't have any period appropriate lighting, nor any interest in buying it to use for 3 nights every other year. I don't like the idea fire being forced as the only option for lighting during non-public hours. As medieval as wandering around with a torch sounds, I'm now debating on taking a tent, or even camping at all. I might take only clothing.

Even with actual historical armor there, and armored combat to watch, I don't know if it's worth going if that means paying for a hotel for 3-4 nights and leaving the site after dark. So I'm still a maybe, but now leaning towards "probably not" at the moment.

Edit: Unless I'm missing something obvious / cheap / easy for period lighting?

[Ian]

Edit: Unless I'm missing something obvious / cheap / easy for period lighting?

Candles?  They're about as easy as it gets and they're cheap.  They don't have to be perfect beeswax replicas of documented 15th century candles.  I think you're over thinking this and making it harder than it has to be.

Or if you want something nicer:
http://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/search/lantern/

At the moment, I'm trying to get my woolen chausses a little more tailored to show off my manly calves. Or lack thereof.

My trick for tight fitting hosen (just finished a pair of wool split hose) is put them on inside out, have someone pin them tighter near the old seam, then re-sew the new seam, trim off the excess and now you have custom fit hose.  If they're linen don't make them too tight at the ankle, if they're wool they'll stretch, but test fit before cutting.

Been looking into pouches/purses, but so far haven't had much luck finding good info for late 13th C. Probably just looking in the wrong places.

Purses in Pieces is a great resource to make one.  If you're looking to buy a nice one then Lorifactor stocks a lot and I think they reference dates, haven't checked for 13th c.  Boots by Bohemond also stocks them and has quick shipping but they are machine stitched (but fine for DoK).

Looks like I'm going to have to get a pair of water vessels, too. Who sells relatively inexpensive costrels?

Dunno... I have an anachronistic leather bottle, but I don't have a costrel.  Strictly speaking leather bottles are not medieval, but costrels are.  I just keep modern water in my tent and fill up my period cups as necessary.  Rob van Rens will be there, who is a professional potter.  He will be vending and makes excellent period stoneware if you need cups.

[Ian]

Oh!  And don't forget to bring silverware and a plate for the feast on Saturday night!

[Sir James A]

I forgot I bought 4 lanterns back in 2012. I'm good. Put me back on "pending work approval".

[Sir Douglas]

At the moment, I'm trying to get my woolen chausses a little more tailored to show off my manly calves. Or lack thereof.

My trick for tight fitting hosen (just finished a pair of wool split hose) is put them on inside out, have someone pin them tighter near the old seam, then re-sew the new seam, trim off the excess and now you have custom fit hose.  If they're linen don't make them too tight at the ankle, if they're wool they'll stretch, but test fit before cutting.

Heh, that's actually exactly what I did. Glad to know I was on the right track.

Oh!  And don't forget to bring silverware and a plate for the feast on Saturday night!

Something else to add to the list.

[scott2978]

Is there a complete list of everything one should have for this event somewhere? Like down to the minutiae?

[Ian]

Is there a complete list of everything one should have for this event somewhere? Like down to the minutiae?

No.

Days of Knights is made up of many individual groups with varying degrees of living history experience and levels of authenticity, time period of focus,  and medieval camping experience so each has  its own requirements. Some people don't camp at all, so there's really no one size fits all list of stuff to bring, especially down to the minutiae level.

A lot of groups pool resources as well but organizing this group can be like herding cats sometimes We're also unique in that as a group the Order of the Marshal has no one specific period of focus so it's harder to pool resources since we'll likely be camping in separate areas since the event is arranged in timeline order. I'm personally going as a member of two separate organizations, my living history club, and the Order, so it makes it even more complex.

But if say you're interested in attending as a solo soft kit only impression staying at a hotel, the required stuff to bring would vary wildly from a person doing an armored impression who plans to camp.

So the best answer is it depends entirely on what level an individual plans to participate at.

Are you attending? And if so how do you plan to participate? With that information I could guide you a lot better on what to bring.

[Sir James A]

Is there a complete list of everything one should have for this event somewhere? Like down to the minutiae?

Sir Ian covered it very well, I have a thread from a couple years ago where I was packing for DoK 2012. It's not a required checklist by any means, but I thought a list of what I took might be helpful as a list of things you might use:

http://modernchivalry.org/forum/index.php?topic=2128.0

[Ian]

Wow, 252 participants in the final count of registered people.