D&D Ranger recent youtube video

[neoaliphant]

Shadiversity recently posted this

regarding weapons for a D&D ranger

in summary he suggested falchion/messer as its blade profile is like a machete

Personally i prefer the tomahawk/knife combo as used by roberts rangers, and in the film Last of the mohaicans

Can I have some expert views on using falchion/machete for wood processing /as a utility tool in northern arboreal/european geography.
I wonder is his view affected by australia prickly flora.

 

[Wander]

Yes, because a ranger in Dungeons & Dragons, or Lord of the Rings, is exactly what being in the wilderness is all about, eh?
I mean, in no possible way could it be a made-up, imaginative, and fictional representation. Dear me, no. And so basing wilderness survival on the equipment list of D&D character class has got to be the wise way of going about it...
You said it yourself - you prefer an axe and knife. So why not stick with that?
If you want to do play-acting* then why not look on a LARP forum?

*I agree - a lot of bushcrafting can look just like that.

 

[TLM]

Can I have some expert views on using falchion/machete for wood processing /as a utility tool in northern arboreal/european geography.

Well I don't claim to be an expert but no, I would not choose something like that if I had a choice. A hatchet or small axe would be my preferred tool. That is not to say that one can't survive with skrama, especially in the summer it would not be a problem.

 

[Wander]

Oh, and don't forget to pack some lembas bread - I believe that's what the rangers use so you may want to look into that as well. If Aragorn is using it then it might be a good idea to use that instead of rice, flour, super noodles, or whatever you're currently using.

 

[Bishop]

Hmm... one to think about

Has local flora influenced the inhabitants to choose a particular type of cutting tool?

Now that is a question that applies to both the real world and whatever fantasy realm one chooses to explore.

 

[neoaliphant]

Well I don't claim to be an expert but no, I would not choose something like that if I had a choice. A hatchet or small axe would be my preferred tool. That is not to say that one can't survive with skrama, especially in the summer it would not be a problem.

Perfect, just what I was looking for, thanks

on various weapon based youtube discussions, everyone has being saying falchion/messer and agreeing with Shad, there are otehrs that do LOTR larp cosplay that are agreeing, Thought id come here to ask the experts on woodskills....

 

[neoaliphant]

Hmm... one to think about

Has local flora influenced the inhabitants to choose a particular type of cutting tool?

Now that is a question that applies to both the real world and whatever fantasy realm one chooses to explore.

Exactly, Shad was saying falchion, as blade profile is similar to long machete..
but then his austalian brush he was clearing is very different to UK

being in somerset in clear a lot of hazel and willow and so for wood processing im often using my bill hook more often.

while as UK bushcrafters we dont need anything as a weapon

i think a lot of here appreciate the skills of people like Roberts rangers etc and there is a lot of crossover with RPG enthusiats, reenactors and bushcrafters. i got in to bushcraft due to liking rangers when I was a child. my old renactment group has a section for doing authentic bushcraft camping in authentic gear and kit.

there is this forum where people cosplay authentic ( as in as decribed in the canon) LOTR personans

Home

 

[neoaliphant]

Oh, and don't forget to pack some lembas bread - I believe that's what the rangers use so you may want to look into that as well. If Aragorn is using it then it might be a good idea to use that instead of rice, flour, super noodles, or whatever you're currently using.

Just to be pedantic, the fellowship getting hands on lembas was very unusual, normally elves only

most of the otehr races had some sort of travelling food in the various lotr canon tho...
referred to as waybread.

Home

there are posts here that describe what people recreating lotr personas should be carrying/eating
very in depth, describes type of pouches, backpacks, how to carry gear, what type of shelters

 

[neoaliphant]

If you want to do play-acting* then why not look on a LARP forum?

Thats why it was in off topic section, and looking for countries experts on axe/wilderness tool use....
but I know from previous posts there are a lot of roleplayers on this forum, there is a lot of crossover

 

[neoaliphant]

Thanks everyone for the replies folks....

Has anyone here found they have replaced their axe with a machete on trips
while I have a small machete, and use it on some things, if machetes are so usefull, why dont people use instead of axes ( apart from legal aspects) ...

 

[Wayland]

I'm not going to watch 40 minutes of that but my first impression of the guy is that he doesn't know much about his own subject.

For a start he is wearing a ridiculously long sword over his shoulder that he could not possibly draw. Fail...

I have met many people like him in my years graduating from tabletop gaming through LARP, re-enactment and living history and he is the sort of person we sometimes put in the Vangard. The term for them from later historical periods is cannon fodder.

 

[neoaliphant]

I'm not going to watch 40 minutes of that but my first impression of the guy is that he doesn't know much about his own subject.

For a start he is wearing a ridiculously long sword over his shoulder that he could not possibly draw. Fail...

I have met many people like him in my years graduating from tabletop gaming through LARP, re-enactment and living history and he is the sort of person we sometimes put in the Vangard. The term for them from later historical periods is cannon fodder.

Just to put things in context, he designed a wooden scabbard that has a slit so that it can be drawn from the back, argument being easier to move, jump etc

He is a fantasy author and hostorian, specialising in castles
A lot of his videos are referencing/explaining weapons and warfare in pop culture/fantasy/rpg games etc

he came up with the longsword back scabbard as he carries longbow arrows at his side in a quiver.

Personally I think better option for an archer who needs to travel in wilderness is to use a shorter bow and have a quiver on your back, which is what I had when doing reenactment archery, much faster to draw, doesnt jostle when you run etc, then he would have space on his belt for the sword, which is exact;y how Aragorn carried his weapons in LOTR film.

Longbow as a weapon is more for field/battle archery after all, always seems a bit odd for hunting....

So he described a falchion/messer as being a weapon that a woodman could use for processing wood/clearing a path through dense undergrowth.
I had always been under the impression that medieval european forest being older tended to have less dense undergrowth, and so path clearing wasnt so neccesary.

As a backup sidearm, just like Roberts rangers a light long handled axe and knife seem a practical option.

Also a quick thankyou Wayland, I based some of my kit on your posts on your website, specifically your response pack one....

 

[C_Claycomb]

Thanks everyone for the replies folks....

Has anyone here found they have replaced their axe with a machete on trips
while I have a small machete, and use it on some things, if machetes are so usefull, why dont people use instead of axes ( apart from legal aspects) ...

While I am quite fold of Tolkien's writing, and the absurdly high level of thought and detail that went into the Peter Jackson movies, I have never for a moment thought of discussing real world applicability of kit cross-over.

Anyway, I tend to like parangs a lot, which I think of as a slightly more advanced design than a machete. I have used a couple sizes and types and for some things they are definitely better than even premium cutting axes like the GB SFA. Those conditions being cutting green material up to about 3" diameter with the majority in the 0.5-2" range.

This should tell you part of why they are not used by people here (UK) as much as axes. Axes split dry wood better. They chop thick dead wood better and they are more controlled for craft work like spoon carving. The UK in broad terms does not offer a lot of places where one's main interest will be in felling and processing large numbers of poles, or clearing trails through thin branches, saplings and weeds. Bushcraft in the UK is more likely to involve cooking on a fire (cut and split dead wood) and crafting things.

The implements carried by real and fictional "rangers" will be influenced by the type of vegetation, but also the type of fighting, the distance to be covered and the tools that are economically available. None of these characters is going to have spoon carving high on their list of needs. They are not going to have much interest in splitting big wood with a large axe that is heavy to carry, cumbersome to fight with, and makes noise that can be heard for hundreds of yards when used for chopping.

Oh, and cutting edges that are sharpened well for cutting around orc armour make hopeless wood working tools

 

[C_Claycomb]

Nothing tells your enemies that you were there and which way you went like a stonking great hacked trail through the undergrowth.

 

[bigjackbrass]

most of the otehr races had some sort of travelling food in the various lotr canon tho...

'The whole place still stinks of dragon,' he grumbled to himself.... And cram is beginning simply to stick in my throat.'

- The Hobbit, Chapter 15, The Gathering of Clouds

 

[Bishop]

The laws and customs of Middle Earth are not particularly well documented however it is highly likely that the Ents once actively enforced the "By hook or by crook" rule of gathering firewood. This would partly explain the appeal of underground living for Hobbit's and Dwarves along with the human and Elf fondness for stone. Rhohan being the exception, however any tree herder taking umbridge and wanting to complain to the king about unsanctioned felling has to cover a lot of open ground where they are vulnerable. This may explain why the trees of Fangorn forest are so aggressive.

In medieval England this same rule meant machetes/billhooks were in common use, required less metal than an axe so lighter & cheaper and in event of war could be fitted to a long pole to give the cannon fodder a better chance against adversaries. There's something like two dozen variations in the British museum from simple peasant hook to ornate Poleaxe. Styles to suit every taste or particular need.

So IMHO I would say there is room for shared ground between fantasy lore and practical bushcraft.

 

[Wayland]

Back in my LARP days when I regularly used a longbow I used to carry my bow with three or four arrows in my left hand.

The rest of my quiver was low slung on my back so the fletchings did not rise above my head while breaking through brush.

I generally carried a longsword at my left hip.

The bow can be used with the arrows still in hand and reloaded from that clutch as well.

I rarely had time for more than four shots before a skirmish broke out in practice.

In re-enactment, things were more formalised, less "real" in effect.

The irony is that re-enactors fight with more dangerous weapons so have to be constrained by safety requirements. The foam weapons of LARPers can be used much more realistically.

 

[neoaliphant]

While I am quite fold of Tolkien's writing, and the absurdly high level of thought and detail that went into the Peter Jackson movies, I have never for a moment thought of discussing real world applicability of kit cross-over.

Anyway, I tend to like parangs a lot, which I think of as a slightly more advanced design than a machete. I have used a couple sizes and types and for some things they are definitely better than even premium cutting axes like the GB SFA. Those conditions being cutting green material up to about 3" diameter with the majority in the 0.5-2" range.

This should tell you part of why they are not used by people here (UK) as much as axes. Axes split dry wood better. They chop thick dead wood better and they are more controlled for craft work like spoon carving. The UK in broad terms does not offer a lot of places where one's main interest will be in felling and processing large numbers of poles, or clearing trails through thin branches, saplings and weeds. Bushcraft in the UK is more likely to involve cooking on a fire (cut and split dead wood) and crafting things.

The implements carried by real and fictional "rangers" will be influenced by the type of vegetation, but also the type of fighting, the distance to be covered and the tools that are economically available. None of these characters is going to have spoon carving high on their list of needs. They are not going to have much interest in splitting big wood with a large axe that is heavy to carry, cumbersome to fight with, and makes noise that can be heard for hundreds of yards when used for chopping.

Oh, and cutting edges that are sharpened well for cutting around orc armour make hopeless wood working tools

Really good points, thanks

I had looked at the tomahawk/kife combo as used by Roberts rangers thinking that in D&D setting, small axed and spike or hamemrhead on the back would have good force while lightweight, not much good for parrying but for minor sheltermaking/survival tasks, making poles for shelter, banging in .
Appreciate a several pound forest axe even nowadays is a bit heavy to always carry.....

I got a bit triggered by Shads comment about Falchion being better than an axe for woodcraft/clearing.....
Thanks again

 

[neoaliphant]

'The whole place still stinks of dragon,' he grumbled to himself.... And cram is beginning simply to stick in my throat.'

- The Hobbit, Chapter 15, The Gathering of Clouds

Excellent, well found!!

 

[neoaliphant]

Nothing tells your enemies that you were there and which way you went like a stonking great hacked trail through the undergrowth.

Good point, although to be fair if you had to....
But then in a fantasy woodland setting of old forest, would there be much undergrowth??
Most of my local undergrowth is less than 20 years old where nature is trying to reclaim....