Are you dressed for success?

There's nae much that a scot cannae do with a sgian doubh

There's nae much that a Scot cannae do with a sgian doubh, 'tis the Scot's swiss army knife.

It was a bit of poetic licence on my part...it rhymed with trusty...and seemed a better alternative to crusty....but now that I think of it...a dirk crusty with the blood of battle kind of has a martial ring to it.

no...it's a chello original...just me plagiarising the style of Robbie Burns.

Aye, a climate very dreary m'deary, but i was born in Australia...on my mother's side, my forebears are Scottish, Irish, French, and ....um (sugar in the porridge) Sassenachs.

Very true, but the general duty sporran was pretty accomodating, though it wouldn't do to stuff it like it was a gladstone bag.....the ceremonial horse hair sporran was entirely a different matter: it could barely accomodate a bus ticket, 3 farthings of change, a stick of chewing gum and a single foil packed condom....as a sentry on the night watch...it didn't do to confuse the last two items! : O

I wasn't in the Black Watch as such...my unit had ...and probably still has an alliance with that very famous Scottish regiment, and we wore the Black Watch tartan to commemorate and celebrate that association. I do indeed have very happy memories of my time with that unit and like to recall some of my anecdotes to my children of my time with it. I had a motorcycle at the time and used to ride kilted to and from parades at my depot...which in summer, was pleasant, but a bit breezy and freezy in winter...even for Australia.

That is so very true...the Sassenach's overlordship of their celtish subjects was rarely ever benign. Scotland was never the same after the Highland clearances, the suppression of the '45 rebellion and the imposition of the "Dress Act". People were probably "Great" Britain's greatest and most influential export in those times, and there's hardly a nation in the world that didn't benefit from the vigour of Scottish engineers and soldiers, Irish policemen and farmers, Cornish tin miners; and Welch coal miners and choristers for they took their singing with them wherever they went. Sending Scottish and Irish political exiles to the American colonies was perhaps one of Britain's greatest errors...it bit them on the bum in a big way when the expatriot Irish and Scots took up arms sanguinly against their former British overlords for the sake of political freedom in their newly adopted land.

 

You're right no abilities to make clothing myself, probably not a bad idea to learn though. No electricity would make the task even harder, unless you had one of those pedal sewing machines. If so, then might not be a bad idea to have some patterns, a bunch of different types of material, needles and yarn.

What I have stocked for clothing might not work for others in different areas. Get plenty for the type of weather in your area or were you might be going to for BOL. I do not have much of anything for extremely hot climates, except a decent supply of T-shirts and shorts. However, have plenty to stay warm and dry. Those of you in other areas probably don't need rain gear as much as we do but may need a lot warmer clothing than myself.

A good rubber cement besides shoe goo for shoe repair. I've seen some people temporarily repair shoes with duct tape. Ever seen a roofer with his boots covered with asphalt. If you already had some roofing repair asphalt that could work for repairing holes in shoes or adding a good layer to the sole.

 

The building I work in is older than dirt. Several of the corridors and basements have been locked off and abandoned due to needing EXTENSIVE repairs. Basically they've been left to rot, and no one ever goes into them. There's around 2 dozen abandoned rooms... and it takes a lot of keys to get to half of them. I rented one of the rooms for the princely sum of $5 a month "to store my Christmas/Halloween decorations in". I do prop work for some non-profit haunted houses on the side so it's a legitimate reason no one questions. There is only one key to it, and it's on my key ring.

Not too worried about OPSEC. Takes 9 keys to get from the front door of the building to the door of my room, and you have to pass 4 security cameras. The only way to break directly into the corridor that leads to my room involves going into a basement swarming with brown recluses, and then breaking down 3 solid steel doors set in industrial frames. Should TSHTF, I'll have all my stuff cleared out in a half hour anyway.

 

If I came across as I was attacking or criticizing you, I was not nor did I intend for it to across that way. If it appeared to you that I was criticizing you, I apologize. What you post or say about what you have is your business? I was merely trying to help somebody not feel bad or inferior about their own situation.

 

As in here (middle/eastern Europe) the climate is pretty classic, that means hot summers and cold winters . So i am keeping sharp eye on winter clothing (i dont like winter much either). I have awsome experience with sheep wool and leather. wool for warm layer lether for wind and wet stoper. Generaly iam not a big fan of modern matterials (gore-tex,...) because they cant be easily repaired in "field" conditions and they can lost their abbilities after some time (gora-tex is not waterproof for ever IMO). Allso some of theese modern matterials are quite nasty when they are on fire,and i think it is a real mess when your jacket is on fire, the matterial melts, and seals your zipper so you cant get that *** off.

Anyway i like things stupid simple
EDIT : and iam looking forward to little Tartan experiment(with woolen knee-socks)

 

Yep!

Good boots are an excellent choice.