Join The Pyrate Trading Company as they host a genuine pirate ball 55 feet underground in the  historic 1842 cellars of O’Mally’s Irish Pub in Weston, MO. Full details can be found at the website: http://www.pyrate.org/ball.html, but in a nutshell:

• Costume Contests
• Games
• Photo Ops
• Raffle & Auction
• Performances by the Musical Blades, Chuvani Belly Dance, Pavlov’s Hips
• and much more!

It all happens Saturday, February 28th. So visit the site and get your tickets today. Why? Because the midwest sucks in winter, and we need all the piratey goodness we can get!

I just returned from the St. Louis Pirate Festival – my third year in attendance (and being as it’s their third year having the festival, I’d call that a pretty good track record on my part.)

The Scallywaggs always look suspicious.

The St. Louis Pirate Festival is held on the same grounds as the St. Louis Renaissance Festival – wooden paths checkered with nooks, cranies, and permenant buildings for vendors of food, beer, and wares. Vendors this year were decent, although there seemed to be a smidge fewer than in the past. The Pyrate Trading Company was amongst the highlights for me – not only because they’re such good mates of mine, but because they still make some of the finest hats and leather goods around. Even my father-in-law, who attended the festival with me, found himself a hat to call his very own.

Entertainment included festival veterans The Scallywaggs, 3 Pints Gone, Thom Bedlam, The Chuvani Bellydancers, and many others. Some of the former musical acts were sadly missing, though, including the Bucklers of Swash, Limey Birds, and Bounding Main. However, for the first time ever this festival hosted The Musical Blades, which was a great treat being as I’ve been a fan for years, yet never able to meet them or catch a live show.

Panama, of the Musical Blades, seemed oddly protective of his privates throughout the weekend.

Also a treat was meeting the Bilgemunky.com and Bilgemunky Radio fans. One bloke truly made my day by yelling out during the end of a Musical Blades performance that he heard them on Bilgemunky Radio. Other listeners gave me rum (yay!), one bowed to me (always a classy move), and a third I almost ran away from, being as he was dressed in Air Force fatigues and looked quite serious. Happily it turned out that he wasn’t looking to arrest me, but merely he and his daugher wished to meet “the Bilgemunky”, but had been held up most of the day with other military-type duties until the last minute. Thanks to all of you – it’s always great to meet listeners/readers. I just hope I didn’t seem too much a spaz, as I’m still unaccustomed to it all

Sadly, the weekend’s greatest disappointment was the crowd – I mean, where was everyone? Ok, granted, the weather predictions were pretty foul, but Saturday turned out to be quite decent, yet the crowds were awfully sparce. Sunday, well, the remnants of Hurricane Ike saw fit to crash the party and flood the festival, so I guess no one can be blamed for not attending that day (especially being as it was cancelled.) The good news, however, is there are still two more weeks. Sadly I can’t return myself, but if you’re even remotely in the area I heartily recommend checking it out.

Due tribute and courtesy to the Bilgemunky is always a smart move.

The Bilgemunky Logo is a trademark of Bilgemunky Enterprises, LLC

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Pyrate Leatheworx
www.pyrate.org

*note: I adore and endorse the craftsmanship of Pyrate Leatherworx. However, I’ve received many reports of late from dissatisfied customer regarding poor communication and long overdue orders. Prior to placing an order based on this review, I strongly urge you to first read these comments from concerned readers.

The time had come.

Too many times I’ve attended pirate events, had a fantastic time, and then come home to grumpy emails from readers saying, “I didn’t know you were at [Pirate Festival]! I was there too – I’d have bought you a rum!” Now, I’m not the sort to walk up to everyone and say, “Greetings, I am Bilgemunky – perhaps you’ve heard of me.” (Actually, I’d gladly do this, except for the fear of them saying, “No – now please leave me alone.”) But I’m also not the type to pass up the opportunity for readers to buy me rum. What to do?

The answer, of course, was a new hat. But not just any hat – I needed a proper hat that declared to the world, “I am Bilgemunky, hear me roar (and if so inclined, buy me rum.)”

At the time of this writing there are only two hatcrafters that I would deem worthy of making such a hat – and I just happened to be drinking with the crew of one of them when I first had the idea (drinking rum I had purchased myself, I might add.) I mentioned my interest in such a hat, and we mapped out a rough sketch together. And a short, crikey-knows how many months later, a box arrived at my doorstep.

The hat is, in a word, glorious. Pyrate Leatherworx had captured the dream I sketched out, and turned it into a hat of unimaginable beauty. My request had been for a black, front-fold hat with feathers projecting at an angle from the center, and stradled by the Bilgemunky logo. And this they did in full – the logo was a perfect rendering (always a concern, as I’d have trouble if the logo looked at all “off”), and the feathers were a billowing cascade that could make any pirate look conceited and self-important. Pyrate Leatherworx threw in the additional touch of a white band around the trim, and the entire hat is lightly beaten and aged so as to look in great shape, but not too new.

The hat looked great, and it fit great. But did it work? I found out at PyrateCon, where indeed, more than one fellow pirate saw the Bilgemunky Logo atop my head and then ordered me up a rum. It was a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Of course, should you order a custom hat from Pyrate Leatherworx, I can’t promise it will have the same powers of attracting free rum. But I am certain you’ll get a glorious, unique pirate hat. And if you have a custom logo added, it will be artfully and accurately rendered, and thus allowing you to declare to the world your piratey identity (or failing that, simply declaring that you have a really nifty hat.)

The Bilgemunky Logo is a trademark of Bilgemunky Enterprises, LLC

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Pyrate Leatherworx
www.pyrate.org

*note: I adore and endorse the craftsmanship of Pyrate Leatherworx. However, I’ve received many reports of late from dissatisfied customer regarding poor communication and long overdue orders. Prior to placing an order based on this review, I strongly urge you to first read these comments from concerned readers.

This may come as a surprise to you Jack Sparrow lookalikes out there, but part of the excitement of being a pirate is getting to dress in a fun and unique manner. Sometimes this means choosing the right slops and jacket, other times it means sporting a fine hat or funky facial hair. But other times it means we get to ACCESSORIZE!

Eyepatches are a longstanding staple of the pirate look. For the healthy-bodied individual they’re more comfortable than peglegs, and less dangerous than hooks (remember not to pick your nose!). For those disinclined to doing much research, eyepatches are generally available in three styles – black leather, brown leather, or Walgreen’s Black Satin (right next to the athlete’s foot medicine.) But that’s why it’s important to read Bilgemunky.com, because in this way you can know about all the fantastic options available to you. And when it comes to eyepatches, in fact, the options are quite infinite.

Pyrate Leatherworx makes and sells eyepatches. And if you want plain brown or black leather, they’re happy to oblige. But if you’d like to add some embelishment, this is where they truly shine. They’re indeed quite happy and capable of making you an eyepatch that sports just about any sort of decoration you might imagine. For myself, it should come as no surprise that I opted for the Bilgemunky.com logo, figuring they would just grab a premade black patch and paint it on. The actual process appears to have been a bit more involved.

My completed eyepatch is rugged and textured. The logo is not only painted, but embossed, chiseled, and in all other ways “built in” to the leather. This creates a looks that’s original, rustic, and is easily the most “historically feasible” rendition of my logo. It’s not often that the Bilgemunky.com logo is made in such a way as to almost look period, but in this case it’s not much of a stretch. The patch itself is sturdy, and surprisingly rigid. It’s formed into a domed shape, making for a comfortable fit. And Pyrate Leatherworx uses a unique strap method that ensures there are no knots to distract any and all admirers.

For anyone wanting a fancier patch, but not wanting to trouble with coming up with a design, Pyrate Leatherworx offers a couple standby images, those being skulls and (disturbingly) eyeballs. But for those wanting a truly one-of-a-kind eyepatch to set them apart from those other lubbers, a Pyrate Leatherworx patch could serve you well.

*note: I adore and endorse the craftsmanship of Pyrate Leatherworx. However, I’ve received many reports of late from dissatisfied customer regarding poor communication and long overdue orders. Prior to placing an order based on this review, I strongly urge you to first read these comments from concerned readers.

Pyrate Leatherworx’ etched flask and pouch set is basic accessorization at its finest – a basic glass flask with a jolly roger etched into its face, along with a rugged leather pouch, held shut with a doubloon and leather strap.

Little need be said of these items – except that the glass is roughly cast for that old timey feel, and various designs are available to choose from. And the pouch is a fine and functional costume item, with or without the flask (I find it terribly useful when wearing costumes without pockets.)

Basic pirate accessories can be a bear to find, but Pyrate Leatherworx pouch and flask – available for purchase together or separately, can easily compliment your get-up. And if it’s something on the fancier side you’re wanting, they offer that as well

*note: I adore and endorse the craftsmanship of Pyrate Leatherworx. However, I’ve received many reports of late from dissatisfied customer regarding poor communication and long overdue orders. Prior to placing an order based on this review, I strongly urge you to first read these comments from concerned readers.

It’s one of my pet peeves – seeing a hat listed as an “exact replica” of Jack Sparrow’s from Pirates of the Caribbean, when even the most casual glance is enough to see they’re nothing alike (this happens a lot on Ebay.) Sorry folks, a brown leather tricorn does not a Jack Sparrow make – it takes a properly weathered look, a nice wide brim, and a rolled back. And even then, it’s not necessarily safe to boast your hat as an exact duplicate.

Pyrate Leatherworx gets two instant kudos in this respect – first, they describe this hat as Jack Sparrow INSPIRED, rather than making the claims of so many other hat manufacturers. And second? It’s a pretty darn close replica.

Pyrate Leatherworx makes a wide range of leather pirate hats, so there’s no need to limit yourself. But if the Jack Sparrow look is what you’re going for, then this hat can well be the cornerstone of your outfit. It’s handcrafted (Pyrate Leatherworx’s website describes in length that their products are truly hand made, as in without sewing machines and the like,) and is made from heavy duty leather. It’s appropriately dyed and aged to have that Jack Sparrow look we all love, and requires no break-in period before it’s ready to wear.

So is it the perfect Jack Sparrow hat? For most people, certainly. Only the extremely detail oriented will notice that Jack’s hat in the movie has a slight gloss to it, whereas this hat is more of a matte finish. Or that Jack’s original had a domed top, as opposed to the more practical oval-stitched top of this hat, which gives it a slightly more squared profile. But I state these differences only in the interest of being truly thorough – they are in fact quibbles that 99.9% of folks would never remotely notice – and if you’re not looking to be a Jack Sparrow clone anyways, they’re not even worth mentioning.

The Pyrate Leatherworx is truly top-shelf — it’s sturdy, and looks very authentic (as authentic as a leather pirate hat could be, that is – leather being somewhat impractical for wearing at sea.) The one caution I would offer is that the heavy-duty leather makes it just a tad cumbersome. You won’t have trouble keeping your head upright, mind you, but wearing it for extended periods can get a little trying if you aren’t used to it. My advice it to wear it around town a few times to get accustomed.