[BlueTrain]

Sometimes reenactors use historically correct and perfectly accurate items and are unaware of some of the details, not that they necessarily need to be. After all, when the originals were being manufactured and issued two hundred years ago, that was the business of the manufacturer, not the fellow who would up with it.

For instance, canteens or water bottles used during the Revolutionary War period were mostly made of wood, not necessarily the best material for carrying liquid around in. There was little better at the time, however. The inside was generally coated with tar or pitch, or so I am led to believe. It affected the taste of the water no doubt but helped preserve the wood. I was speaking to a re-enactor a year or two at some gathering on the green in front of the governor's palace in Williamsburg a year or two ago. He was totally unaware of what was inside his canteen (other than water) but did admit it "tasted funny."

Another thing we sometimes have trouble with is the fact that most of the equipment used during the revolution (and most other wars) was essentially issued new and was not two hundred years old.