Any Tips on safari outfit?

[Mojave Jack]

Incidentally, I just finished watching King Solomon's Mines for about the 300th time, but this time because I am in the process of setting up my Mauser. I'm sending the bolt off this week to have the handle bent and the whole thing polished. Afterwards I was looking into Granger's Rigby Mauser he uses for most of the movie and came across this post about his double rifle:

STEWART GRANGER and his .577′s

I want the shirt he is wearing in the first photo!

 

[Oldsarge]

Jeez, look at those shell pockets. Has anyone calculated how much eight .577's weigh? I sure as heck don't want that clanking around my midsection while I'm trying to move quietly through the jess and the waitabit bushes.

 

[Memnon]

Hi Mojave, it's been a while. Good to see you're still kicking.
I looked at the pants but wasn't impressed at all with them. I don't remember the originals ever looking like that. However I began rethinking the jacket and despite the bad review got nostalgic and ordered one along with a shirt. They're supposed to arrive Friday. I'll compare the jacket with my nearly 30 year old original and report back. If they turn out to be worth the investment, great. If not, I'll ship them back.

Any update on the jacket? Is it the same as the old one?

 

[Memnon]

They've already dramatically cut prices. That can't be a good sign...

 

[Baggers]

NO! BUY THE JACKET! Sorry I haven't been back until now, but as soon as my order arrived winter returned with a vengeance two days later and then my business life took over as soon the weather warmed back up again. This project unfortunately got put on the back burner.

Bottom line, the latest edition compares very favorably with my original, except for the shoulder loops which I would refer to as vestigial. But the overall cut of the jacket is good. It's full, a bit boxy through the shoulders, but otherwise well proportioned. I could fit a light sweater under mine, but haven't tried it. I've yet to run it through the washer, so I don't know whether it will shrink up any. Suffice to say I'm pleased and am wearing it daily now that it's warmed up again.

Honestly, whoever styled that catalog photo should be fired. I certainly wouldn't have bought one based solely on it and if that is the reason they've discounted the price, then the person responsible for it should find another line of employment.

I'll update soon, I promise. But if anyone is interested, go ahead and buy one. Especially at the new price.

 

[Oldsarge]

Gosh. If despite the bad photo these things take off, once LE is free of Sears they might bring back W&G in earnest. One can dream . . .

 

[Veronica T]

Auction ended.

 

[Oldsarge]

This is a good sign! Now if only those wonderful catalogs start showing up in the mailbox . . .

 

[Veronica T]

Orvis bush poplin. Not matching / different shades of khaki. (I wrote to them and asked.)

 

[Oldsarge]

Actually, pale green is the preferred color in Africa these days, especially for shirts.

 

[Veronica T]

While tracking the elusive wildebeest across the savannah ....

.... or at the seashore golfing ....

.... and after a tough day on safari cooling down at the beach ....

.... I want my khaki to match. And everything is nearby so I don't need to go to Africa (although I have to pretend cows or bison are wildebeests).

 

[Oldsarge]

I recommend the lower left. However, I should point out that you may start 'not needing' to go to Africa and develop enough curiosity to 'want' to go to Africa. This is dangerous. Once you've been, you will return . . . probably again and again and . . .

 

[1mach1]

However, I should point out that you may start 'not needing' to go to Africa and develop enough curiosity to 'want' to go to Africa. This is dangerous. Once you've been, you will return . . . probably again and again and . . .

+1

I would go with the top left.

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

I would have all three, TL,TR, BL prefer the TR tan but would agree with Old Sarge a light green is better these days. If you are after a look just think canvas, leather and brass and clothes in muted colours.

 

[Oldsarge]

LOL, Veronica. I took my first safari on '97, a 50th birthday present from me to me. After eleven days in the bush (my vacation) we took the night train to Victoria Falls to start my wife's vacation. I was told that while there I must have a drink at the Vic Falls Hotel bar only to find upon arrival that it had been remodeled out of existence. I was a bit annoyed and went out to the veranda to sulk a bit. I was still in my safari clothes, khaki shorts, shirt and broad brimmed hat with zebra band. I got a lot of funny looks from the other guests who I suppose must have thought I was part of the local entertainment. As I sat there overlooking the broad lawns with resident baboons and warthogs I heard this deep voice behind me, "Would sir like something to drink?" I turned around to see what had to be the most professional waiter on the planet. His trousers were so sharply creased you could have shaved with them using his shoes as the mirror. And after a few seconds it came to me. Though I was at the time almost entirely a beer and wine drinker I could not help but feel that the only proper drink to order was a gin and tonic. So I did. Khakis, boots, safari hat and gin and tonic at the Vic Falls hotel. It was a perfect moment.

 

[1961MJS]

Sarge, I don't know how it would get any better than that. I may have to have a G&T tonight, no waiter, setting in an apartment in Norman OK.

Later

 

[Oldsarge]

Earlier that trip we had another one. I'd shot an eland after tracking the brute for three days. Man, those things can cover ground! Anyway after butchering the cook grilled the backstraps, cut 1.5" thick, over a mopane wood fire. With a glass of good South African Red and the Southern Cross overhead I figured I might just as well die right there 'cause it was never going to get any better.

 

[Veronica T]

From Sarge's story, without ever having heard of the Victoria Falls Hotel, that is how I pictured it.

There is a drink — I do not know if it is 'more British' than a gin and tonic — but it should rank right up there. A pink gin. Plymouth gin (a 'wet' gin similar to Old Tom gin as opposed to London or dry gin) stirred until chilled with a dash of Angostura bitters and a twist of lemon served in a cocktail glass (or what we now call a martini glass). A variation is the pink gin and tonic. After being in the summer sun for the day, pink gin might be too strong.

My safari outfit story is nowhere near as romantic or inspiring as Sarge's although there were baboons and warthogs. One summer during vacation from high school I was the guide on the zoomobile.

" .... and, ladies and gentlemen, if you look to your left, the reticulated giraffe. Standing seventeen feet tall with a heart the size of a basketball and a seventeen-inch-long purp-ple tongue. The reticulated giraffe."

Notice how I repeated 'reticulated giraffe' and drew out the word 'purple' like the ringmaster at the circus. Very professional.

I had two light khaki safari outfits: the shorts and shirt and a dress with a matching jacket, a vest and a pith helmet which I would take home to launder and iron.

Everyone is probably in awe or maybe becoming just a little bit jealous and thinking "What makes Veronica so special?" I was uniquely qualified for the job.

1. Can ride backwards in a moving vehicle without throwing up.
2. Posed for photographs and taught little girls how to flash the peace sign during parental picture taking time with me when the tour was over.
3. Have a naturally smart mouth and can shut up troublemaking wiseguys in a heartbeat.

But the fact of the matter is that I am size 2 and was the only one small enough to fit the uniform.

In all sincerity, I have been to Alaska and Canada several times on a cruise and land tour. That is not a safari. The scenery is beautiful but you spend too much time in the motorcoach as opposed to talking with the people who live there, walking, camping and observing animals that I imagine would happen on a safari. The downside of cruising is keeping to schedule. Time spent in a single port can seem very brief.

 

[Oldsarge]

That's the place! And I was sitting in that little 'alcove' between the dining room with the curtains and the big main steps up to the front door. It had just been refurbished a few months before we were there and I can tell you it is a wonderful place. Victoria Falls is one of those places that belongs on everyone's bucket list. A mile wide it falls three hundred feet down into a gorge so you can walk across the entire face of it. Magnificent!

And there is no place on earth that puts on a buffet to match a big African hotel. You can eat yourself up to hippo size in no time at all . . .

 

[L. C. Lawrence]

I've now been three times... Still awaiting conversation on proper and functional gear for a lady on safari. I'd give the long skirt a go next time if I could find one.

I'd also post a photos of a couple things if I could figure that one out.

Meanwhile I'm thinking about wing shooting in the UK... Breeks anyone?

L.C. Lawrence (yes,a woman... The lady hunts)