C.J. Bloomer - Kentucky Frontiersman

So a week or so ago I went Trekking to a popular waterfall site here in Southern Kentucky.  What I failed to really take into account is the remnants of our very wet winter and early spring.  The ground was cold and wet.  And I wanted to trek period correct. This involves getting all my gear together like I'm either scouting or on a lightened load (still about +30lbs for my stuff) and hiking around in my moccasins or period correct shoes.  I chose moccasins since they're lighter and the day was supposed to be nice.  As soon as I hit the trail I was having problems- It was still slick from all the rain we were having, and the ground was slippery as owl snot.  How would a feller in the 18th century solve this problem?  Take 'em off.  So I went barefoot.  Sure I got more traction, but the ground was still cold too.  There was still ice and snow in the shadier spots.  I figured I'd just walk until I couldn't stand it anymore. Well turns out I can stand it for a lo

Powder horns say a lot about the person using them.  That's why I've gone through great lengths to make one that suited my persona.  However, when you're first starting out, you take what you can get.  And sometimes, you luck out and get some good stuff! Let me show you my journey through powder horns and tell you a bit about them.  We'll save the lengthy explanations for another time.  But for the first horn I ever received, was not one I had made- it was one of those cheap horns that do the job. This one had been given to me by a fellow I worked with who said he had bought it a long time ago in a mom and pop hunting store in some far flung place in the Midwest.  It had a flat stopper on it, a little mass produced knob on the front with just some thin leather making a strap for it all.  It was nearly transparent, blonde, and had some places where beetles chewed on it.  It was not suited for reenactment, so I had to alter it quite a bit. I'm very ambitious

After I got my flint lock rifle ready to go and firing, I needed a pouch to carry all the stuff that went with it.  Being the somewhat forward thinking man I am, I had already tried to remedy this problem when having a rifle was just wishful thinking.  I had some commercial tanned leather scraps and some scrap material that I figured would make a decent pouch.  I over worked the seams by wrapping them thoroughly in the linen thread I was using, but I guarantee it won't break a seam ever.  Here's what it looks like- And here's the interior- I made a little "canoe" pocket on the inside, but overall I didn't like using it.  It was too small and floppy for my liking.  The hand hole was too small also, as I have giant hands.  It never took the field, and now functions as the overflow to my extra black powder shooting supplies.  It stays in the car or on the bench at the range when I'm shooting.   After figuring out this little pouch ain

The first year I was reenacting was a fun year.  I got to do a lot of fun stuff, but I had to miss out on some fun stuff too.  Most of it was because of time or location.  The thing that irked me the most however was that during the sieges I really couldn't participate.  I didn't have the proper equipment to do so, and to a degree this was a giant hole in my kit also.  I needed a gun, and I needed to learn how to use it.  I had it in my head that year to try and build my own gun, and after talking to a few fine folks that were experts in the matter I thought I had the skills and materials to get it done.  There was one major problem I found out- I didn't know how a flint lock's lock works.  Or the trigger.  Or the barrel and how you line it all up.  Also I needed to get the proportions right for it to be functional.  This idea was quickly becoming overwhelming.   That's when I remembered that these buggers come in kit form.  I thought I'd get a kit, put

I figure I'll start my blog at where I started.  I was always interested in living history, but knew relatively little about it, other than it being expensive and exclusive.  Me and Traci (my lovely wife and fellow reenactor / living historian) live in southern Kentucky, right near the Cumberland River where there was a somewhat famous Civil War battle- The Battle of Mill Springs.  The battle reenactment takes place about once every 10 years or so, and is a major event for the area.  Traci had been to the first one many moons ago, and insisted we go to this one.  I agreed, and we both had a great time.  We would continue to patronize the events the Mill Springs groups would put on, but never really thought about participating other than the occasional comment of "It'd be neat to do that" sort of thing. Fast forward a few years and we caught wind of a Winter Trade Days at Fort Boonesborough, which is about an hour and a half up the road from us.  We thought it'd