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Ive got a couple buddies who reenact world war two on the western front and they are trying to recruit me. i was curious if anyone here reenacted and if so what.

I am a member of the 84th Infantry Division, the "Railsplitters"--reeanacted. We primarily do things in central Missouri and the rest of the state, but some other members frequently participate in reenactments and competitive events across the country. As for any advice the most important thing to consider is the people you will be "playing" with and how the unit is run. Some units have weight and even race (no kidding) restrictions on who can become a member, but honestly those type of guys think they are something that they truly are not. As for the 84th we are run by a real Army Reserve Major who only asks that your hair be cut, your uniform be authentic and properly worn, and that no medals be worn on the dress uniforms unless actually earned in the real service.
 
The point, for us, is that we are a living history organization and while we enjoy the hobby ourselves, our goal is to accurately and authentically represent the men, the equipment, and the tactics used at the time so that others may learn and appreciate the real veterans of that era. Most of our time is spent at local fairs, pageants, festivals, etc. in small towns and we dress and act the part and answer questions about our rifles, uniforms, and machine guns, and tents, and a plethora of other authentic items that members have collected and display. We enjoy doing it ourselves, the vast majority of veterans, including my own grandfather who served in the 71st ID think what we do is really great, and the people we meet at events always seem to appreciate us as well.
 
So, as I said before, if you find a unit that cares about the men they represent and and the fact that what they do also helps teach others, and not a unit that does things only to impress themselves (those guys think just because they have seen Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan that they are somehow "hard corps" and know what it was like, while I am a Marine Corps veteran who never even got near combat and without question admit that I have no idea whatsoever what it was really like--then or now) then give it a shot and I think you'll enjoy it.
 
Last thing--$$$$$$$$$. 600 alone for just the combat uniform. A few more for a rifle. A couple hundred more for all the extra gear. Gas for the trips. After two years I still don't have everything.
 
Google "Railsplitters".
 
Good Luck,
Jamie

Well the unit I am considering joining is a glidar infantry, they are very concerned with all the gear being athentic and what not run by an army reserve Capt who was in Iraq and also have an army reserve Sgt who fought in Iraq. No race restrictions or anything like that, they simply don't think they are the shit and mainly do it because they love history etc etc. Also they told me you can get stuff alot cheaper at the actual events ie you can get everything but your gun for around 500 (uniform web gear and the other stuff) oh and of course ammo is like 25 cents per round.

They do mostly tactical's though they are trying to orginize an army PT event with a few otehr units just going through a weekend of authentic training and what not.

Seems the group you are considering is a good bunch. There is that fine line between being authentic and realistic and having fun too. And if you have professional soldiers in your unit I'm sure they know just where that line is at--and you'll probably enjoy being with them. Forgive me for being overly-sensitive about the bad units but I have witnessed a US "Ranger" unit get into an ugly brawl with a German unit apparently infiltrated by neo-Nazi's. And this happened at a small town Pumpkin festival where the police had to be called in and parents were fleeing for their lives with their children in their arms while all these uniformed idiots, with real weapons, tried to prove how tough they were. Even though our guys were not a part of it we have never been back there and it was a real embarassment for all of us, not to mention kind of scary, too. Both of the those units have been dissolved, though some of the members are still active.
 
The tacticals are great. Especially when they get intense and your thoughts are so consumed by what you are doing and everthing around you looks, feels, sounds, and smells so real you will experience what we call a "moment" where for a few seconds it all seems so real. Until that old back injury comes back and you remember how old you are and that you have two kids, a mortgage....you get the picture.
 
 

Well im 20 so....[:D]

Yea one of my friends who just joined that unit does WWI also he goes to Penn where they have a mile long trench line accurately recrated some of his stories of their tacticles... ie night assults are seriously amazing.

As for the bad groups yea they have told me there are several numskulls and jackasses out there. Though from what I have heard they complain more than often people simply dont use their head. IE the Army Reserve SGT had to chew out someone from a different units because he was dumb enough to put his rifle in the face of a captured German kid. Dude was dumb enough not to realize that even blanks can blind or kill people if your not safe.

Apparently at another event they had a P-51 fly over at one of their events, another one had a spitfire. Thats in the middle of the whole tactical fight thats going on an all.[8D]