Annotated Pennsic Packing List
by Lady Katherine Ashewode, annotations added after returning from her first Pennsic
I have attended my first Pennsic. What an experience! I quickly discovered, however, that some of what I had brought was absolutely useless, and some things I hadn't brought I desperately needed. I also discovered quite a few substitutions I could have made that might have saved me some money. In the interests of helping you make your Pennsic a little easier, whether it be your first or your thirtieth, here's my list.
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On this page, you'll find:
- tents and sleeping
- clothes
- lighting
- feast gear
- getting there and troll
- toiletries
- first aid kit
- personal items
- sewing basket
- entertainment
- things to leave in car
- things to bring next year
Tent and Sleeping
Note: I borrowed a friend's tent, since I didn't actually own one. Also, because cooking was communal, I didn't bring much cooking gear, or even a cooler. Will likely have to bring one next year.
- camp chair -- Very useful, even though I got the modern "director-style" kind.
- sleeping bag and blankets -- Used the sleeping bag with cloak on top. Didn't wind up using the blankets. The blankets and my cloak could easily have been used in place of the sleeping bag, though.
- pillow -- Gotta have a pillow.
- Grunty -- My teddy bear. He goes with me everywhere.
- air bed -- Wonderful, once I figured out how to keep it filled. :)
- sheets -- Lovely, but I'd bring an extra set next year. By the end of week two, they were pertty yucky.
- air pump and batteries -- Good, but I also needed to borrow a friend's hand-pump to fill it properly.
To bring next year:
- tent
- hand-pump for air bed
- extra set of sheets
- welcome mat for front of tent -- I bought a cheap bathroom mat at Walmart that worked very nicely. I threw it out at the end of Pennsic, because I didn't want to bring home a wet, smelly, muddy mat with me.
- cheap oriental rugs / mats for tent -- Just because it's nicer than walking on nylon or dirt.
- something to hang clothes / things on
- small trestle table
Clothes
- shoes and sandals => Chinese slippers, boots, sandals, sneakers -- I didn't use the slippers at all, or the boots. My sandals gave me blisters, so I stopped wearing them. I bought new medieval-style shoes while there (from Medieval Moccasins) which were lovely EXCEPT in the extreme wet areas around our camp. For in-camp (nearly a swamp), I bought a pair of galoshes, which were wonderful. I wore sneakers for most of the the last week because I was afraid of getting fungus feet.
- leather belt and pouch -- Worked great, but I bought an extra pouch to put the "need to have with me but isn't money" stuff. I actually wound up keeping the pouch in my basket, not on my belt.
- linen and silk tunics (8) -- Linen tunics are wonderful! I don't really like raw silk, and didn't end up wearing two of them. I wore my linen tunics (5 of them) almost every day.
- linen and cotton over-tunics (including burgundy one) (3) -- Most of the time, it was too hot to wear the overtunics during the day, and I wore the tunics alone. Sometimes I wore a sleeveless light cotton overtunic over my white tunics, so that it didn't look like I was in underwear. I didn't wind up wearing the burgundy one. :) (It's very heavy.)
- underwear / bras / socks and more socks -- Didn't have nearly enough underwear! Need to buy more for next year. I barely wore my bras. I didn't wear socks most of the first week, but when I started wearing sneakers, I needed them.
- coif -- One coif is not enough!
- cloak -- Very useful, but not as clothing. It's a very heavy melton wool, which I wore during the first Sunday's downpour and subsequently used as a blanket for my bed. Worked wonders. I was never cold, even in the dampness.
- hat -- Didn't actually bring one. I wanted to buy one there, but never got around to it. The coif worked fine for the top of my head, and I didn't mind the sun on my face.
- sweatpants -- Wore these once, under my tunic, to prevent chafing. For the most part, they were too warm. Next year: "bloomer" style underwear or breeches.
- something to sleep in, bathrobe -- Actually wound up sleeping in... nothing. Had a tunic ready at hand in case I had to wake up at night to use the portos.
- rubbermaids to take them in -- Also doubled as night-tables!
- laundry bag -- Useful, but not absolutely necessary. Nice to have.
- sweater -- Didn't wear it once.
To bring next year:
- more linen tunics
- more underwear
- a hat
- more coifs / veils / etc.
- "bloomer" style underwear, boxers, breeches
- tub to soak feet (don't ask how muddy my feet were. I looked down one day and said "please, tell me that's not fungus". It wasn't. It was that much dried mud.)
- one set of fancier garb -- for court and other fancier parties
Lighting
To bring next year:
- "lantern" flashlight. If I'm still in a nylon tent, that is.
Feast Gear
Aside from the cuttlery and tankard, I didn't use much of my feast gear. Our camp used paper plates for sanitary purposes.
- basket -- The car was so packed, I actually couldn't fit the basket in. I put everything in a grocery bag and left the basket at home. Didn't miss it much, but I probably would have if our camp arrangements were different.
- waterbottle -- Bought water there and reused the bottle. I could have kept it in my tankard, but it's less portable that way, and I wanted to have it with me.
- cuttlery (knife, twook, spoons, fork)
- grindstone -- To sharpen the knife. Didn't wind up using it.
- bowls
- tankard -- Bought a second. One for camp (ceramic, fairly heavy), one for going out (copper, light). The copper one started to rust, though, so I'll have to work out something for next year.
- towels -- Bought about 20 cheap ones at Walmart for less than $15. What a lifesaver! You can do everything with them: wash dishes, wash your feet, use as a makeshift welcome mat, sop up spills, etc. And then throw them out before you leave! Absolutely wonderful!
- tablecloth -- Didn't use at all.
- extra candles and matches -- Didn't use. Donated some of the matches to camp use.
- candleholder and snuffer
- soap and scrubber -- We had camp equipment, so I didn't use this.
- trashbags -- Also just generally useful in the tent. Garbage seems to have a way of accumulating, even at Pennsic.
- ziplock bags -- Useful for toiletries also, to prevent leaking.
- sugar -- Not so much feast gear as a preference for my hot drinks. Didn't use it, though.
- tea bags -- Didn't wind up using these. The hassle of making hot water in the morning wasn't worth it.
Getting There and Troll
- snacks and liquids for the car -- Actually bought these on the road.
- passport -- I live in Canada.
- health insurance card
- pre-reg forms -- Took one copy with me, left one with my mom
- money belt -- Didn't wind up keeping the money belt on my waist. It was sticky with the heat. Instead, I kept it in my basket that came with me everywhere, covered by a towel. Didn't have any problems. I brought it into the shower with me, though, and never left it unattended.
Toiletries
- soap (anti-batcterial) -- Rarely used. Most bathrooms have it, and our camp had some. If I camp on my own, I'd probably bring some, but not as much as I did.
- soap (regular)
- shampoo and conditioner -- I took one travel-sized mini-bottle of each. Good size for the shampoo, but not enough conditioner.
- hairbrush
- toothbrush and paste
- small mirror
- nail clippers
- hair elastics -- Didn't use.
- lip gloss -- Didn't use.
- pads -- Luckily, didn't need to use. But nice to have.
- deoderant -- Being smelly is period, but it won't win you any friends.
- bug spray -- I hate bug spray. Didn't use it, and didn't have many problems, except for a spider bite on my foot.
- suntan lotion -- I hate sunspray too, but I did use it. I have very fair skin, and actually managed to keep away sunburn the entire time. Applied it to exposed areas (face, neck, hands) in the morning, at noon, and in the late afternoon.
- bath towel -- Need to bring more than one!
- hair tweezers -- Didn't use.
- toilet paper -- Didn't use. The portos were surprisingly well-stocked.
- kleenex -- Very useful!
To bring next year:
- at least one more bath towel
First Aid Kit
- inhaler
- antihistamines -- Didn't need them myself, but a friend did. Nice thing to have around.
- asperin / tylonol
- stomach medication -- Again, didn't need, but a good thing to have.
- band-aids
Personal Items
- phone card -- Brought, but didn't work. I wound up collect-calling my mom.
- money, bank card, traveler's checks -- The majority of my money was in traveler's checks, and I brought enough cash to cover the first few day's expenses. Worked out well. The bank card stayed in my money belt for emergencies. Didn't have a problem anywhere with the traveler's checks.
- class lists, shopping lists -- Yes, I really was that organized. I even brough a notebook with me when I went shopping. I would window-shop one day, go over my list, and then buy stuff the next day. In my notebook, I'd write: the item, the store I found it, and the price. That way, I could figure out how much everything would cost and be able to quickly find things again. I'm sure every merchant knows me as the "short girl with the notebook". :)
- camera and film -- Barely used. I don't take pictures in general. This was not an exception.
- sewing projects (cloak) -- Actually got about halfway through this project, and it's a big one.
- pen, leather book, notebook -- Used a normal notebook, not the leather-bound one. While I don't take pictures, I do journal. Wound up with about 25 computer pages when I typed it up at home.
- cell phone -- Didn't bring it. My mom wanted it at home.
- alarm clock -- Brought, but the problem was that the alarm was really quiet. Regardless, I didn't need the alarm, because I was waking up much earlier than normal. The clock part was nice for the middle of the night, and right when I woke up in the morning.
- batteries
- business cards -- I made up "persona" business cards, with my mundane and SCAdian names, my mundane and SCAdian cities, my email, my web page, and my arms. Worked MUCH better than trying to exchange numbers with people. Didn't cost much, and was a nice novelty item, too.
Sewing Basket
- scissors (medium, small)
- rulers and measuring tape
- needles
- marking pen
- seam ripper
- thread
- pins
- safety pins
- lucet
Mostly, this was all for one or two projects. Next time, I'll bring a little extra fabric and thread, to make tokens.
Entertainment
- Nine man morris board (buy more tokens) -- Didn't wind up using, because it was buried at the bottom of my rubbermaid. Actually made a cheap one to play one night out of looseleaf and a highlighter.
- book -- Didn't use.
- book of bardic songs and stories
Leave in Car
- clean, dry mundane clothes -- Very, VERY useful when you get water coming into your tent.
- money (for gas and food) and change (for phone) -- In cash. That way, I don't have to worry about how much I'm spending. Actually, I kept this in a separate compartment of my moneybelt, but the idea's the same.
- toilet paper -- Didn't use.
- ID and copies of important papers
- passport
- health insurance
- driver's license
- medicare
- traveler's checks
- prereg form
- All this was kept in a folder under my seat.
Things to bring next year
- tent (pavillion if I can manage to make it in time)
- cooking equipment if needed
- stuff to hang things from the poles of the tent (if pavillion) or store things (if nylon)
- mats for the floor
- stickers with my arms and group on them. -- Useful for tagging things.
- graph paper -- To plot tents layout for land grab, if I'm there that early again.
- extra storage bin
- air freshener or sachets for inside storage bins
Have comments on my list? Email me at julie.golick@gmail.com.