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LEGIO V GEAR PAGE
Gear is obviously one of the most important parts of Roman Reenacting. Since this is a group of mostly new members we will start right off from the begining making historically accurate gear. Gear Can be expensive, but if we spread the cost out over the length of time it takes to make stuff it shouldn't be too bad. The basics you need to reenact are caligae, balteus, and tunic. The cost for all of that can easily be done for 100 dollars. That is a lot but remember this will all be made to the level where you can use it in any other roman reenactment group for as long as you continue to reenact. All of these pieces of gear are comparatively quick to make, and assembly lining or designating people to do certain gear in exchange for other gear may be possible (I make two pairs of sandals, and Bill makes two belts and we exchange when both done). It's at least something to discuss
NOTE:
Usually you can borrow the rest of the gear if you have those. ALTHOUGH, it is expected that if you are borrowing, you are working on getting your own gear.
Caligae
The first priority of any new member is to make a good pair of caligae (sandals). The cost of materials is about 35 dollars. We usually will teach this one the first few meetings of the year for new people. But you can always get help from a veteran member. Or you can do what Adam and I did and look it up on the Legio xx Handbook.
Tunic
Roman Military tunics were made explicitly of wool. Nowadays wool is expensive. Our tunics are red wool. The fabric for my first tunic Cost me about 28 dollars (wool is expensive as crap). If you go sleeveless you can knock a few dollars off of that. (and actually sleeveless were more common). Occasionally you'll get an awesome sale and get a tunic for about 15 bucks. Again, to look for instructions for sewing and size, refer to the legio xx online handbook.
