[Ansteorra] painting fencing masks

[Dave W]

Just a couple of observations:

- While we are talking about cost of equipment, I would say it is silly to
discard a piece of equipment for another while it is still fully
functioning. I now have a burgonet with perf faceplate to fence in, after
20+ years of fencing, only because the mask finally started to fail, and I
needed a new one.

-I don't believe the suggestion is to toss out the masks, certainly they can
be made available to newbies to help make it even easier to get started (not
that anyone has to loan gear, but our folks are very generous about doing
so...).  They can then move to better gear after they have had a chance to
develop their persona and learn more about the gear we use.

If one has money falling out of the skies into their hands and wishes to
upgrade to a completely period kit, more power to them. I say though that if
we are going to focus our attention on getting anything more period, it
should be footwear. That is something that is not too expensive, that will
do a lot to making a kit more period on and off of the field.

- I often wonder how many folks do their 'SCA math'.  It seems that I often
hear folks lament the high cost of getting started, or especially about the
cost of 'period gear', then turn around and see that same person burn
through a couple packs of smokes at every event or routinely crack out a
bottle of single malt scotch along with a cooler full of beer.  While
everyone is certainly entitled to their own priorities, (and I certainly
enjoy a cider or two), I know they easily indulge enough in their poisons of
choice to pay for many an 'upgrade' to period gear.  Just a matter of
setting priorities, but it makes sense to me to prioritize gear that looks
and works well for what we do...

Regards,
Alexis