Hello,
I have mentioned before that I have in my collection a 15th century bauernwehr found in Yorkshire, England. Seemingly of German import. I have been wanting to get it replicated for a while and finally sent it off to Leo Todeschini aka http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/index.htm
One aspect I am currently debating is getting an accompanying by-knife and possibly pricker made. At first I was unsure based on the financial aspect... however that has become less of a consideration at this point.
The upside is making it a complete set... The downside is that anything beyond the bauernwehr itself is conjecture...
What would your thoughts be? Currently I am leaning towards making it a complete set.
Cheers,
Hadrian

I love the "kits" and would say go for the set!

Go for the kit! Conjecture is FUN! It's part of what is exciting about this hobby in my opinion; what could have been... Although you may only have the bauernwehr itself, it is reasonable to assume that at one point it may have had an accompanying by-knife and pricker. If examples from period art are cited the likeliness of a by-knife and pricker are quite good. Oh, and they just look cool. Besides, Tod would likely appreciate the work...

I think there is also some evidence (although I can find it at the moment) that the Bauernwehr was also carried by itself, without by-knife and/or pricker. If so, then all options are open. If I remember correctly, your Bauernwehr was dug up?

Anyway, if there is no evidence of your Bauernwehr lacking the by-knife and/or pricker, then I would go with the complete package, because that seems to be the more common variant.

Go with what you're leaning towards ... and if you lean too far and fall over, then sell the knife and pricker to me! :D

what is the pricker for, they never turn up in eating scenes or manners books so they're not cutlery, are they steels for retouching your edge? Oh and any idea what the 'in period' name for the 'pricker' is?