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Point based Reenactment/events - a concept
#16
From where I stand on these matters, I think Piotr is right about the necessary minimum level of kit for a Roman being a tunic and appropriate footwear. As several people have also said, how much you spend on these particular items is largely down to how much you want to spend. This applies to most mediaeval periods as well. When I first took up 11th century re-enactment back in 1992 I made my first soft kit from two old blankets. Both had an appropriate weave and one (with careful cutting) gave me the material for a tunic and trousers. The other gave me the material for a cloak and leg bindings. I spent a minimal amount on a couple of cheap fabric dyes and carved my belt buckle, strap end and cloak pin from bone, which came free from the butcher. Shoes and belt were made from a leather hide we had bought together as a group. The cost of kitting out each person to a basic level was minimal. This is true as stated above for Roman kit. If you are on a tight budget you do not have to buy expensive fabric. An old blanket may again provide for your basic fabric needs to make a tunic and possibly a sagum type cloak. A basic brooch to do up the sagum can be easily made from a piece of cheap brass rod. Footwear might cost a little more but nothing outside the price range of anyone who was serious about getting into the hobby and saved up for a couple of weeks.

Most people will want to get themselves into hard kit as soon as possible but this can be done in stages. Once you have your basic soft kit a military belt is the next thing you need. Again, how much you spend is up to you but there is no need to use inaccurate kit just because you do not have much to spend. With very little skill you can make up your own belt from parts which are available from a number of vendors or you could look at some of the tutorials here on RAT and make some yourself. You might end up finding that the only thing you had to buy in the end was the buckle and the leather, which again can be got cheaply if you are determined to be accurate on a tight budget. There is absolutely no need to get one of the absolutely abominable belts made by Indian junk factories which are available on the internet just because you don't have much money to spend.

Hard kit (weapons and armour) will be more expensive than soft kit for any period.
However, weapons and shields, as well as helmets and armour, can often be borrowed from the group you join while you save up for your own. If you can't borrow hard kit, then get it one piece at a time, starting with a sword, then a shield, then a helmet and then body armour. If you do not have the available funds then save up. At each stage of equipping yourself you can have an accurate impression without compromising and buying rubbish. Some items you can make yourself, such as a shield. A clipeius is much easier to make than a scutum and again, there are tutorials here on RAT.
Most people would assume that a soldier would need to have all the kit to look convincing but that is not the case and as has already been said, it is your attitude which will count most with the public.

I have never had much money to spare and I generally live on an extremely tight budget, but I have never felt that that was an excuse to go down the road of inaccuracy. I borrowed other people's helmets for over a year before I got one of my own. If I had not been able to borrow a helmet I would have gone bareheaded. A display can always be explained to the public as a depiction of a unit training, where some men are newer recruits and have not yet been issued with their full kit. During this time I was in a minimum wage job but I bought my helmet from White Rose Armoury by saving just a few pounds every week. There was never a need for me to buy a cheap and inaccurate helmet.
Similarly, a few years later I felt the need to replace my aging and inaccurate Simkins pattern scabbard. I could have got a replacement Simkins scabbard from a friend but as it was by then known to be an inaccurate pattern I declined. I could not afford to buy a decent quality scabbard, so I used the skills I already had and developed some more and made my own, with constant reference to pictures of originals and advice from people who I respected who had made accurate scabbards themselves. I then documented the process here on RAT so that others could do this too (for any here who were following it, I will be finishing the 'how to' thread when I have saved up enough for a jar of tinning paste). If my boots could not be worn I would go barefoot, as I once did while leading members of the public along a gravelled Roman road when I had accidentally left my boots at home. If the gravel had been too much for me, I would have walked on the grass next to the road. What would a genuine Roman have done in the same situation - exactly that, I am sure. Again, no need to compromise accuracy.

There is no excuse for using a lack of funds as an excuse for being inaccurate. Ignorance of what is or is not accurate is, perhaps, another matter. It is not cheap to kit yourself out as a Roman soldier, but you do not have to spend a fortune if you do not want to either. Nor do you have to get it all at once. Very few of us can afford to go shopping with Erik Koenig or Holgar Ratsdorf, but that does not stop us from trying to achieve an accurate impression.

Start with the right information and go on from there. RAT is a wonderful resource to learn from and I would echo Magnus' suggestion of using Matthew Amt's Legio XX site as a basic handbook of what to do.

Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers.  :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:

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