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Re-Enactments
- Hawks, Knives, and Traps Tomahawks and knives
are relatively inexpensive items that you can easily obtain at rendezvous,
or you can obtain these from the numerous purveyors of fur trade era goods
on the internet. Tomahawks
will generally run from around $20 to $60.
If you’re planning on throwing it, get a couple of spare handles
right away. Also, the hawk
blade will eventually find a rock to kiss, so you’ll need a file or
sharpening stone. Go to the section
on knives to see the types and styles of knives. Suitable
butcher style knives can be purchased at a second hand store for a dollar
or so. Knife blanks and
finished blades without handles can be obtained, allowing you to construct
a knife that will be uniquely your own. Custom knives, tomahawks and axes are available from numerous black- and knife-smiths catering to historical re-enactors. These products can be stunningly beautiful, however, be aware that the prices asked can also be stunning. Even if you
don’t intend to do any trapping, at least a couple of traps should be
part of your outfit. During
the fur trade era, a trapper typically had five to six beaver traps.
Modern traps are nearly indistinguishable from those used 200 years
ago. Go to the section on traps
to see drawings. Don’t get
new traps, get some old, beat, rusty traps off of E-Bay or a local
flea-market. I was able to
obtain five suitable traps for $20. Be
aware that the links on modern set chains are very different from chain
links used during the fur trade era.
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