milsurp – Page 2 – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

Talk the talk, walk the walk

Whenever I come across someone online showing off an original Star Wars costume, few things can make it feel out-of-universe faster than visible Earthly fasteners. This should come as no surprise, as the lack of visible fasteners (zippers, buttons, etc) was one of Lucas’ chief design points when creating the original film’s visual style (see Alinger’s SWCOT). While working on a future installment of Galactic Style Guide, I realized I should probably lead by example and make sure none of my own kit pieces broke this rule…and if any did, to fix them ASAP!

Since a lot of my gear has been purpose-built for GFFA living history, most of it is fastener-free. However, some of the milsurp pieces I use would need tweaking; the first of these was my satchel, originally an M9A1 gas mask bag:

Sure, it’s ‘good enough’, but can you see what might use improvement?

Galactic Style Guide – Tents and Shelters

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! While the Style Guide has traditionally been concerned with topics of clothing and personal adornment, one’s outer persona can also include GEAR. Well, summer has arrived and after spending half of last year in a tent with my wife on the Appalachian Trail, I had two questions on my mind:
1) what kinds of shelters might adventurers in the Galaxy Far, Far Away use to protect themselves from the elements? And 2) are there any tents readily available in 2022 that might approximate these galactic styles?
The answer may surprise you!
While this topic might not be much use to readers planning a visit to the Galactic Starcruiser or their local fan convention, it’s important to remember that ‘doing (in the reenacting/living history sense) Star Wars‘ can (and probably should) take more authentic forms, and that if you want to venture into the outlands or create an in-universe encampment—like say, for an upcoming GFFA airsoft event?—having a good shelter can really come in handy.

While tents seen in earlier Star Wars materials (or only described in text) tend towards the unrealistic (at least by current capabilities)*, many shelters from visual media are actually fairly mundane, which is great for those wishing to create a reenacting encampment, or undertake an in-universe backpacking trip! _{*for a perfect example of this, see Mace Windu’s “wallet tent” in the novel Shatterpoint, which packed down to the size of a pocket yet could automatically unfold into a two-person shelter}

**Military command tents:** *Jedi Vs. Sith*; *To the Vanishing Point*.

Readily-available Star Wars tents after the jump

Project: Merino baselayer retool

First off, I want to give a big shout-out to my supporters from January and February: Sam C., Rich F., Tamara A., and Chelsea C.! Your support and kind words mean so much to me – THANK YOU! Now, onto this month’s project!

Always on the lookout for cool military surplus items to use in my various living history kits for outdoor adventuring, I got very excited back in January when Major Surplus started carrying these quarter-zip ‘undershirts’ for $15!
Now, they’re probably fine on their own, but the thruhiker in me got Really excited when I saw they were made of merino wool! Wool by itself is already great for outdoor purposes (it’s durable, insulating (even while wet!), fire-retardant, and water-resistant), but wool from merino sheep is especially soft. It’s just about all I wore on the Trail last year (props to Montana-based Duckworth for their awesome base layer shirts!), and as soon as I saw this garment I immediately thought of Dass Jennir (from the excellent Dark Times comics) who was pretty frequently depicted wearing what look like blue-gray, knit v-neck tops!:

Since I want my Star Wars wardrobe to be three-season adventure-ready—and the reviews said the shirts ran small and only Medium sizes were left in stock—I quickly snagged one up to try and retool it to be a little more GFFA compliant.

Project reveal below!

Staying true to the aesthetic

(I had originally scheduled this to post a few weeks from now, but since writing it the pitfalls described below keep popping up on my feed, so I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.) After seeing more than my fair share of Star Wars costumers and their outfits online, I’ve noticed a particular trend in the last year or two across various social media platforms, mainly in the case of the Galaxy’s Edge-inspired/Batuu-bounding or OC crowd:

The desire to slap a Rebel Alliance starbird, Jedi crest, Sith symbol, Mickey Mouse, or Aurebesh letters on bloody everything seems very strong with this segment of the fandom, and the big driver of this, I think, is of course the consumer market. As a quick test, let’s do a image search for ‘Star Wars backpack’.

Galactic Style Guide – Flightsuits and Jumpsuits

Welcome to your monthly installment of the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! This time around, we’re taking a look at the kinds of flightsuits, jumpsuits, and utilitarian coveralls typically worn by mechanics, pilots, spacers, and other common types of citizens.
Considering the ‘spacey’ and often militaristic setting, it should come as no surprise that the inhabitants of the Galaxy Far, Far Away frequently wear these kinds of garments. And why shouldn’t they?: space is cold, and maintaining spacecraft is dirty work! However, in the original Star Wars, we don’t actually see any examples until we reach the Cantina, which is fitting as it’s a style associated with pilots. Let’s start out with some actual spacesuits:

flightsuits-variations — Ohwun De Maal, a generic Duros (New Essential Guide to Alien Species), BoShek, Bossk; Trandoshan mercenaries.

Continue reading “Galactic Style Guide – Flightsuits and Jumpsuits”

Project: Spacer’s Duffel (part 1)

While doing research for my vest project this spring, I came across the following passage:

“Most sentients who make their livings as common crew aboard large civilian vessels tend to be lifelong transients, wandering from ship to ship and world to world in search of employment. A spacer might serve on dozens of ships during his career and travel untold millions of light-years, his only home the crew berths of cargo ships and the hostels, bars, and entertainment districts of spaceports. Such beings tend to travel light, carrying their entire lives with them from job to job in large cylinder-shaped bags colloquially known as spacer’s duffels. Roughly half the size of a grown human and featuring one large compartment, a sturdy zipper, and a single shoulder strap, spacer’s duffels have become a symbol of the free-and-easy life of the common spacer. Made by many different textile and storage-technology companies, these bags are as essential a piece of kit to the survival of a spacer as his certificates and his spacesuit. Among ship captains and recruiting agents, one of the most common sights in the spacelanes is a grizzled spacer with a hopeful look on his face, approaching with his duffel slung over his shoulder to inquire about work.” FFG, Edge of the Empire – Enter the Unknown, 53.

As soon as I read it, this M1943 duffel bag I inherited many years ago (and which has been kicking around the back of my closet for quite a while) immediately came to mind. I thought it would be a nice challenge—to take an Earth-specific piece of gear and try to make it better fit the Star Wars aesthetic!

Continue reading “Project: Spacer’s Duffel (part 1)”

Artifact ID: G3 cleaning kit

Our Rogue One identification series continues, with a very useful–and very accessible–piece of German hardware that you can use to diversify your Star Wars-reenacting ‘hard kit’. R1 G3box
Credit for this goes to German contributor ‘T.K.’, whose eagle eyes were able to identify the gray-and-yellow box on the shoulder of ‘Cassian Andor’ as a familiar bit of Deutschland militaria.
Continue reading “Artifact ID: G3 cleaning kit”

NRAC: Building the Outer Persona – Tracker Vest

Yet again, keeping up a flow of regular postings becomes difficult due to various project delays and bottlenecks, but rest assured, I have not been idle in the hiatus! I have two 3D printed commissions on their way, picked up a new skill that I can use to create ‘primitive’ cultural artifacts, and I spent a large chunk of my Spring Break hard at work on a new vest for my archeologist impression, and I am very pleased with the results.
AKT-TUV Continue reading “NRAC: Building the Outer Persona – Tracker Vest”

New Year, New Gear!

With the holidays behind us, I have recognized a pattern in my kit’s evolution over the last few years. Although I always have several projects in the Work-In-Progress phase, it seems I like to set aside a bit of time around the New Year to create something special:

nylon and leather belt pouch for a multitool

Continue reading “New Year, New Gear!”

Artifact ID: Donovian Rainmen revisited

As we stand on the threshold of 2019, I hope that this blog will help inspire more of you to use this year to break out of the limiting ‘cosplay box’, and experience the Star Wars galaxy in the most authentic way you can! This is a follow up to a post I made almost exactly a year (51 weeks!) ago, which identified several items of European military surplus used to outfit some Episode II background extras portraying a crew of ‘Donovian Rainmen’:
rainmen1_AotCVD
This post would not be possible without the help of one T.K., who reached out from Germany and was kind enough to supply a list of several more items from the various films that he has identified, including several from our friends the Rainmen! T.K.’s observations are backed up by actively serving in the German Bundeswehr (Army) – so he has had first-hand experience with many of these pieces of gear. Continue reading “Artifact ID: Donovian Rainmen revisited”