Post by The Archivist on Apr 15, 2015 11:27:03 GMT -5
How much do you worry about encumbrance in your campaign? Do you keep track of it or do you just bring it up if someone is really abusing how much they can carry?
As an aside:
I have a friend that had the chance to go to Alaska a few years back for big game hunting. He spent several months beforehand getting in the best shape of his life, he had worked up to doing 8 miles a day with a 50# pack. He said in Alaska he found out when they were traveling they had about 80# packs.
Then he went to Alaska and one day he when out with the guide. He got his shot and killed a big buck. They field dressed it and then the guide said, do you think you can find your way back from here, he said yes and the guide took the 150# of deer on his shoulders (and a light survival pack of about 30#) and left my friend in the dust and beat him back to camp by about 3 hours. When he went to Alaska he was 5'11" and 180#, when he came back from Alaska he was 145# and looked starved. He said it wasn't that he didn't have enough to eat, it was that he couldn't eat enough to keep his weight up. He said the weights that those guys could carry and the speed that could carry them at was unbelievable.
As an aside:
I have a friend that had the chance to go to Alaska a few years back for big game hunting. He spent several months beforehand getting in the best shape of his life, he had worked up to doing 8 miles a day with a 50# pack. He said in Alaska he found out when they were traveling they had about 80# packs.
Then he went to Alaska and one day he when out with the guide. He got his shot and killed a big buck. They field dressed it and then the guide said, do you think you can find your way back from here, he said yes and the guide took the 150# of deer on his shoulders (and a light survival pack of about 30#) and left my friend in the dust and beat him back to camp by about 3 hours. When he went to Alaska he was 5'11" and 180#, when he came back from Alaska he was 145# and looked starved. He said it wasn't that he didn't have enough to eat, it was that he couldn't eat enough to keep his weight up. He said the weights that those guys could carry and the speed that could carry them at was unbelievable.
A historical re-enactor for the 1586 attack of Sir Frances Drake on the town of St. Augustine, Florida (founded in 1565) has the following kit for the Spanish:
Chainmail Shirt 25-30lbs.
Chainmail coif 3-4lbs
Leather Buff coat
Wool Coat
Linsey-woolsey shirt
Wool breeches
Wool stockings
Leather Boots
Padded arming cap
Sallet Helmet 3lbs
Brevor (folding) 3-4lbs
Broad Sword 3lbs
Dagger .75-1lb
Spear (8ft long; 6-8lbs)
Small Leather and wood shield 3-4lbs
"Snap" Sack(this sack with shoulder straps slings diagnally across your back)-
3x extra stockings, 1x extra shirt, 1x extra breaches, 1x rope sandals, 2x wooden spoons, 2x wooden bowls, 1x sewing box (aka Housewife), 1x tinderbox, 2lbs of jerky, 2lbs of rice, 2lbs of dried beans, 1 small cook pot, 4lbs of soldiers bread or hard tack, 1lb of onions, sharpening tools, oil bottle (olive oil), pieces of shark skin (for polishing), 1x hat, 2x blankets.
1 gourd canteen (holds 2 gallons of water)
1 hunting horn (for signaling)
Extra Items(Please note these items are not all carried at once but are examples of what I have carried at past events)-
Gunpowder chest 2'x1'x1.5' 20lbs
1 or 2 small childeren 30-50lbs each
help pull a hand cart (Total weight: [approx] 200lbs [cart and all])
help pull and/or carry a cannon-depending on the size of the piece 500-3000 lbs
Includes beach landings with said kit on and traversed a very muddy swamp with said kit not to mention the number of trail marches 12-20 miles.
Chainmail Shirt 25-30lbs.
Chainmail coif 3-4lbs
Leather Buff coat
Wool Coat
Linsey-woolsey shirt
Wool breeches
Wool stockings
Leather Boots
Padded arming cap
Sallet Helmet 3lbs
Brevor (folding) 3-4lbs
Broad Sword 3lbs
Dagger .75-1lb
Spear (8ft long; 6-8lbs)
Small Leather and wood shield 3-4lbs
"Snap" Sack(this sack with shoulder straps slings diagnally across your back)-
3x extra stockings, 1x extra shirt, 1x extra breaches, 1x rope sandals, 2x wooden spoons, 2x wooden bowls, 1x sewing box (aka Housewife), 1x tinderbox, 2lbs of jerky, 2lbs of rice, 2lbs of dried beans, 1 small cook pot, 4lbs of soldiers bread or hard tack, 1lb of onions, sharpening tools, oil bottle (olive oil), pieces of shark skin (for polishing), 1x hat, 2x blankets.
1 gourd canteen (holds 2 gallons of water)
1 hunting horn (for signaling)
Extra Items(Please note these items are not all carried at once but are examples of what I have carried at past events)-
Gunpowder chest 2'x1'x1.5' 20lbs
1 or 2 small childeren 30-50lbs each
help pull a hand cart (Total weight: [approx] 200lbs [cart and all])
help pull and/or carry a cannon-depending on the size of the piece 500-3000 lbs
Includes beach landings with said kit on and traversed a very muddy swamp with said kit not to mention the number of trail marches 12-20 miles.
In the swamp which we ran into a few waist deep mud pits! It took us about 6-8 hours to move 10 men under arms through 3-4 miles of swamp (this includes having to backtrack through areas that were completely impassable).
The longer hikes were part of what we called trail battles with an oppossing force starting at each end of the trail trying to find and eliminate the other side.
On one side we had 10 Spaniards armed with crossbows, arquebuses, and halberds. These Spaniards carried much the same equipment that I describe carrying in my previous post.
On the other end were four Timucuan Indian Scouts each armed with a bow, arrows, warclub or spear and flint knife. The Indians wore only loincloth and the only other equipment they carried was one gourd canteen of water between them.
The Spaniards only made about three or four miles before the Indians were upon them hitting them with hit and run attacks for the rest of their way down the trail. It took the Spaniard 10 hours to clear 12 miles of trails.
The longer hikes were part of what we called trail battles with an oppossing force starting at each end of the trail trying to find and eliminate the other side.
On one side we had 10 Spaniards armed with crossbows, arquebuses, and halberds. These Spaniards carried much the same equipment that I describe carrying in my previous post.
On the other end were four Timucuan Indian Scouts each armed with a bow, arrows, warclub or spear and flint knife. The Indians wore only loincloth and the only other equipment they carried was one gourd canteen of water between them.
The Spaniards only made about three or four miles before the Indians were upon them hitting them with hit and run attacks for the rest of their way down the trail. It took the Spaniard 10 hours to clear 12 miles of trails.
One of the most evocative stories out of the age of exploration is the tale of DeSoto. He and is men marched all the way from Tampa Bay to the Mountains of Tennessee then turned west across the Mississippi River. All in all it took them three or four years at least and they fought innumerable battles along the way and literally lived in their armor. They accounts of the expedition tell of soldiers polishing and cleaning their metal armor into nothingness. By the end of their first year all their European clothing was gone and they were stitching clothing and protective gear out of buffalo hide. These men were all carrying their primary weapons- sword, dagger, musket, arquebus, halberd, etc. Their regular supplies, armor, and a crossbow with 40 quarrels (a backup weapon).