Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy
applying the methods of progressive historic reenacting to the Galaxy Far, Far Away
It’s been awhile since our last Image Analysis, and we’re looking again at the work of Langdon Foss, who consistently infuses his images with plenty of details that sell the galactic setting, and therefore are ripe for teasing out insights!
Although this picture is chock-full of details, there’s one in particular that I will focus on later, as it has the most potential for real-world usage. Continue reading “Image Analysis: Mon Calamari outfitter”
I’ve been thinking about this item a lot recently, as a possible easy project to bang out with the drill press and benchgrinder some weekend. We don’t have many references to non-vibro knives in the Star Wars galaxy, and its identification as a “survival” knife lends itself easily to my purposes of wilderness adventure and interpretation. With a beefy 5 or 6 mm spine, I can easily see it being perfect for batoning firewood and other tasks around camp (in GFFA style, of course).
The problem is, there are two versions of Boba Fett’s ‘survival knife’ out there – so which one is ‘right’? Continue reading “Boba Fett’s survival knife: Accuracy vs. Authenticity”
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!
Continuing our look at merchandise available at Disney Galaxy’s Edge, up next is the ‘Resistance MRE’. This sells at GE for $25, and is the one item I’ve actually been able to check out in person (shout-out to Seth for picking one up for me–thanks, pal!)
If this seems unfamiliar, it’s probably because it has nothing to do with the Sequel Trilogy ‘Resistance’–that’s just another attempt by Disney to impose ‘their’ setting as the dominant one. This should more accurately be called a Rebel Alliance ration kit!, and is based on the one Luke Skywalker brings with him when he first travels to Dagobah in search of Yoda. Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: ‘Resistance MRE’”
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’.
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”
An online friend of mine, whose living history efforts I’ve helped mentor, lives in California and took a trip to the Galaxy’s Edge park recently, and was kind enough to ask if I would be interested in any of their merch.
While I am not really interested in post-Disney Star Wars, I have been using Youtube to vicariously check out the new park since its opening…because as someone (with a minimal budget) and an interest in GFFA full-immersion interactions with the public, I’m always curious to see how things get done with a Disney-sized budget behind them.
Since I was already going to discuss the one item S.K. picked up for me (much appreciated, brother!), I figured I could also springboard and offer a few comments on the other merchandise I’ve seen offered for sale at Galaxy’s Edge, as the various items might pertain to our efforts here.
Let’s start with the Jedi food capsules ($20, set of 6):
If you’re interested in portraying an Old Republic/Prequel-era Jedi, the Jedi food capsules are a key item to decorate your utility belt; per in-universe lore, these would’ve contained survival rations for Jedi to use on their missions. But are these replicas worth purchasing? Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi Food Capsules”
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’:
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”
While I’ve been humping my Bergan external frame pack around for almost a decade (and I’m very pleased with it!), I’ve been starting to wonder if maybe it isn’t…overkill. As an aspiring minimalist, I like to try and pare my outdoors kit down to the bare essentials, and a large frame pack with lots of attachment points—in a gear version of Jevon’s Paradox (as one’s pack increases in capacity, the expanded space cannot help but be filled)—only makes it too easy to throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
I realized then that while the Bergan is perfectly suited to be a winter pack—able to carry a tarp, sleeping pad, and blanket/sleeping bag, plus a drybag of spare clothes and other seasonal necessities—I might need something a bit more modest for the rest of the year. Continue reading “Building the Outer Persona: a three-season pack”
“The statue that had occupied the platform off to his left had fallen hundreds of years before. The remains of it were scattered down the forward slope and pointed toward a skillfully sculpted hand. The palm was blackened where signal fires hand burned, beckoning travelers from many kilometers away. It must have been something to see.” Star Wars: Jedi Knight (William C. Dietz) 1998.
I’ve always liked this piece from the Jedi Knight novella. Actually, Dave Dorman’s photo-realistic paintings have always been very influential in terms of how I imagine the GFFA. This vignette just happens to be one of the few EU depictions of an isolated cell of commoners on the run from Imperial forces – and so is very useful for my purposes.
Here we see a familiar mishmash of gear that is very inspirational for those of us who portray fringe-y Rebel personas:
Continue reading “Image Analysis: Ruusan lookout”
When I wasn’t working at the zipline, getting merchandise and materials ready for an earthskills festival, and taking a three-day Middle-earth trek in Wisconsin, every spare minute of the first half of July 2017 was spent finishing gear for a second survival presentation at the Frazier Museum’s summer camp—after the first session, I had told my facilitator that I had a Rebel militia persona in the works, and couldn’t go back on my word!
Therefore, I spent the entire two full days (July 12&13) before the camp finishing my Pepakura RFT helmet (which, as discussed earlier, came out looking surprisingly decent considering it was my first attempt with fiberglass), converting the last of my green army dress shirts to bib-front RFT-style, and getting my DH-17 retool in mostly-presentable condition.
After staying up til 0100 for multiple nights in a row, I managed to get everything done and was finally ready to debut my Rebel partisan impression, ‘Citizen Olis’, to a group of 10-13 younglings in grades 3 through 6!
Continue reading “Event debrief: 14 July 2017”
Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy 