I can shoot a longbow, I can make a longbow, I can make the arrows, I can forge the arrow heads, I can forge my own knives, I can make my own clothing, I can write my name in half a dozen different medieval calligraphic alphabets, I can make my own inks to do that in, I can make my own pens to do that in, I can recite poetry in medieval languages … although my Old English is somewhat rusty.
Although the SCA and its society and the culture of it is purely escapism, from that escapism I have developed a whole lot of skills which I have actually found to be incredibly helpful in my mundane everyday life. My interest in leather work developed as part of the SCA, and I learnt how to make medieval shoes; but when I was in South America doing field work for my PhD, I had to repair my own field equipment and gear with bits and pieces of leather. I was in the field, I needed this equipment to complete my work, and it was broken and I was able to fix it then and there. I didn’t have to spend money on new equipment which would have been very expensive in the field in South America.