ANST - Southern Regional Fighter Practice

[Keith Hood]

I was thinking of bringing the new trebuchet and everything else, but I
guess combat arrows and ballista bolts are out, huh?  Or what about
bolts?  They're just tennis balls with plastic tubes taped on.

Anyway, hopefully I'll have the Mantis there.  But I thought of
something else just a minute ago--training aids.  Is there any interest
in having a portable castle wall simulator?  I had in mind a structure
that would be roughly the same dimensions as one of the wall sections at
the Gulf War fort, with the same size of embrasure.  I have requested a
copy of the fort plans and they should arrive in the mail in the next
few days.

Making such a thing is simple as dirt; it takes a sheet of 3/4" plywood,
a bundle of 2x4's, and a sack of 3/8" bolts.  The store will cut the
plywood to order, and building it requires only simple common hand
tools.  If the person transporting it has a trailer to put the parts in
so you don't have to break it down into small pieces, construction is
even simpler; you nail most things together and have only a handful of
bolts to put in on site.  As a very rough estimate, I figure about $50
dollars for the cost.

I know some people may be concerned with the safety of the construction;
protruding bolt theads, etc.  Those things can be solved easily.  Bolt
holes can be countersunk, edges of wooden pieces can be rasped down and
taped, etc.

Anyway, I've drawn up some sketches and the actions to complete the
pieces are all easy, but there's a lot of them.  The 2x4's would require
a lot of cutting and drilling.  I am so busy at work right now I hardly
get enough time off to do laundry--I'll have to work most of this coming
weekend.  But I can work some on this.

Is there anyone interested in helping build a portable wall between now
and the 21st?  (I'd really like to build 2 or 3 wall sections like
this.)  We don't even have to be in the same location.  As long as we
all work from the same set of measurements and the bolt hole positions
are measured carefully, people can cut pieces in different locations and
we bring them all together later.  We would just have to agree on the
design and figure out who does what part.  If other people will agree to
help with the cost, I'll buy some of the wood and all of the bolts.

	Tomonaga

-- 
A long bow and a strong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!

      --  Stolen from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers"  --
                by Robert E. Howard, who should be
                  the patron saint of Ansteorra
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