Balearic Slinger\'s equipment

[jabames]

I have asked this kind of question many times, on other forums and such, but what did slingers carry in their "possibles" bag? Yeah I 've asked this question once on here but Im always curious and I need a refresher on what to carry, Im always changing what I have in my bags every once in a while.

[Matthew Amt]

Ave!

I suspect it's an im"possible" question to answer with certainty! And it probably varied wildly, from the guy who had nothing but a knife to the guy who hauled a week's worth of food (bread, oatmeal, meat, beans, apples, cheese, onions, salt, oregano, and chocolate cake) (Okay, Twinkies, then, if there's no chocolate!), cookpot, plate, bowl, cup, 2 knives, spoon, olive oil, fish sauce, bathing gear, nose rag, razor, cleaning rags, dice, money, spare clothing, oil lamp, sewing gear, bandages and his mom's favorite poultice, writing stuff, miscellaneus rags, amulet, warm wooly cap, a bundle of spare leather thongs, Homer's "Iliad", that sling that grandma gave him that never worked well but mom would whine if he didn't pack it, his lucky stone, fibulae, tweezers and nailpick set, whittling project, extra rags, and a really interesting leaf he ran across that his cousin might like.

I've hauled enough stuff in my time to clank impressively, and I've done not-quite-minimal. (I tend to like armor, so it's hard to do really minimal!) And for purposes of living history, it's fun to have all KINDS of stuff to show to the public. But it's also fun to show them the stripped-down all-you-need-is-weapons way of going to war.

The problem you're going to have is simply lack of sources. There *might* be some ancient author who mentions a specific thing or two carried by some ethnic soldier type, but it won't be anything like the kind of detail you're looking for, I'm afraid. Most likely you'll simply have to look for archeological examples of things that are "possible", like knives, and go from there. Add the few depictions that might be at all helpful (e.g., slingers on Trajan's Column). Heck, just deciding on the details of the bag itself could be a major research dilemma!

Good luck, though, and have fun!

Matthew