The Ninja
Let me start off by saying that I am not a ninja. Funk and Wagnall's dictionary describes a ninja as "a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenaries who were highly trained in martial arts and stealth." I did not live in feudal Japan, and I am not a mercenary. Webster's dictionary describes a ninja as "a person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts and employed especially for espionage and assassinations." Well, that's a little bit closer, but still offbeat. I am trained in ancient Japanese martial arts. Let's just put it this way: I have taken some ninjutsu, but I don't consider myself a ninja. Ninjutsu in and of itself doesn't actually exhist. It is used as a word that encompasses sometimes more than a dozen different martial arts. Okay, enough of that. Let's get on with it. Having done some historical research into the ninja (which, by the way, did not include intelligent, ambulatory turtles), I've come up with a basic ideas as to what a ninja might have carried on a long range mission.
WEAPONS
SWORDS: The ninja would typically have carried a short sword, though he would actually carry whatever weapon was deemed necessary for his operation. The sword was short and straight, and of low quality. The author who popularized ninjutsu in the early 80's has stated that his master in Japan had mostly long swords with curved blades and oval tsubas. That's nice to know. But his master, though most people don't know it, was about 1/3 ninja and 2/3 samurai. You've probably heard of him. He's written several books on ninjutsu. He pupil from Ohio has cashed in on maybe a dozen ninja books, but has since moved on and invented his own martial art called To-Shin Do and become a Mikkyo Priest. Ninja blades were very short; maybe 20 inches in length. The handles were long, for the size of the sword. This aided in both quick drawing, and helped make the sword more useful for things other than fighting. Everyone knows the standard prop-it-against-the-wall thing. Nope, sorry, try again. Under bad circumstances, the ninja would not risk clanking the metal against a rock wall. He could also jump higher than the "step" would afford him. But, on occassion, he really could do that. He could also grip low on the handle and wedge the tsuba into a crack or over a ledge and haul himself up. The swords were carried slung across the back when travelling, so they would not interfere with the hips or legs when running, and were placed at the side with the blade up when expecting combat. The sword and over-sized scabbard (saya) were drawn simultaneously. A mixture of sand, pepper, and metal shavings were flung out of the scabbardat the enemy to blind him. Then, the scabbard was either discarded so it didn't get in the ninja's way, or it was wielded as a club, or it was swung around by the cord (sageo) as a sort of flail. Mostly, it was discarded. The end of the scabbard was sometimes made to be removeable, so that the scabbard could be used as a blowgun or a breathing tube. The scabbard was typically 4-6 inches longer than the blade would warrant. They could also balance the scabbard on the tip of the sword and hold it up with the cord in their teeth. They would probe through the darkness this way, and if they bumped into a guard, the guard would swing at a scabbard or at empty space. The ninja would release the cord and lunge in for a thrusting strike.
CLOTHES & EQUIPMENT
MASK: The ninja would wear a cloth mask at times, but not usually. In most cases they did not want to wear anything or carry anything that would give them away as ninjas. Think of it as someone walking down the middle of the street with a skimask on and an AK slung over his shoulder. But, when the situation dictated, he would wear the traditional nightsuit. The first part of this was the mask. This was a 6-foot long piece of cloth, up to a foot wide, worn over the ninja's forehead and face. It covered the lightness of the face, and helped break up the outline, making it easier for the ninja to hide in the shadows. They did not want to use any coloring, such as paint, grease, mud, or charcoal, because it was too difficult to remove in huried situations. The mask could simply be removed. The mask also worked to keep the ninja warm on cool nights. It helped muffle heavy breathing, and filtered vapor from breathe on cold mornings. The ninja could use this in a cariety of ways, besides as a mask. When wet, he could swing it around his head as a weapon, or could snap it like a rat-tail. He could use it to bind wounds, sling an arm, or as a tourniquet. He could use it to filter dirt from river water to make it drinkable, and if he filled it with sand he could do so even more effectively. He could weave it in a spiderweb-like pattern as a hammock, or if woven tighter it could be an overhead shelter. When wet, it served well as a short grapple, for it could cling to stone walls, or would wrap effectively around low branches. He could use it to bind prisoners, or could string it as a tripwire. He could twist it tightly and use it as a garrote.
NIGHT SUIT: They were not black. Look in the forest; do you see any black? Black is not a natural color, and the ninja were wise to this. The traditional ninja suits in movies and such are more akin to the kabuki theater suits worn by stagehands. The traditional ninja suits ranged in color from dark orange to rusty brown. They consisted of the traditional long-sleeved top and trousers, and included covers for the hand. The suit was typically worn loosely, so that it would not interfere with movement or flexibility. Loose clothing also breaks up an individual's outline more effectively, and provide more places for various weapons and tools to be hid. The gauntlets covered only the backs of the hands, and had tiny loops to slip the fingers through. This kept the fingers totally free, providing maximum dexterity. The suits were often tied at the knees and elbows with narrow strips of cloth. The ends of these would be tucked in to keep them out of the way. There are also records of them using cow tails to similarly gather the suits at the knees and elbows.
ARMOR: The ninja sometimes wore a very light shirt of chain mail, but this was done only when expecting unavoidable combat. Chain mail is noisy, and although they sometimes tried to silence it by sewing pieces of it between fabric, or by wrapping each loop in paper or cloth, it was still cumbersome. To offset this, they sometimes sewed thin bars of iron into their sleeves and shins, with which they could directly parry another weapon. These small bars were sometimes sharpened at one end and made to be removeable, so that they could either be thrown or held as a stabbing weapon.
BELT: The traditional ninja belt was very similar to modern karate rank belts. It matched the color of the suit, and was twice-wrapped around the body and tied in the front. The belt was typically three times as long as the wearer's waist was around, which left 1/3 of the length free. These lengths were usually tucked into the folds of the belt to prevent their getting in the ninja's way, but could be used in many cases similar to the mask. Many pouches were fixed to the ninja's belt, but were easily moved or removed.
TABI: These were worn by the ninja, but what most people don't know is that these were worn by most people in feudal Japan. They wore slipped all the time, so the two-toed socks became a necessity. The ninja took advantage of this and used them to the fullest of their abilities. Two toes are better then one for balance on rocks and high places, and they are much better than traditional shoes for climbing ropes or balancing on narrow ways.
SANDALS: The ninja had different sets of sandals that could do different things. The two most common were the studded sandals, used for deep wilderness travel and great for gripping terrain of the worst kind, but loud on hard floors, and the stealth sandals, with soft sloth padded soles useful for moving silently, but wearing out quickly.
POWDER POUCH: The ninja carried in this pouch, which was sometimes leather, sometimes bamboo, various powders. Typically, they favored things like sand, pepper, metal shavings, and gunpowder.
MEDICINE POUCH: In the medicine pouch, which was similar to the powder pouch, they carried various medicines and poisons in different compartments.
FIRESTARTER: This was a small metal box, or sometimes two halves of a nutshell, that contained glowing coals. They were kept insulated by the bow, and the ninja used these to light fires, or to warm themselves on cold nights.
ROPE & GRAPPLE: Do I really need to tell you what this was used for? It was typically a small grapple with a medium length (50') rope. Sometimes the rope had a weight on the opposite end of it for use as a weapon, or to counterweigh the rope to make sure it hung straight down.
ABILITIES & TRAINING
CLIMBING: they climbed trees, mountains, rock walls
RUNNING: they could travel as far as 50 miles a day
SWIMMING: they could hold their breath for long periods of time
MEMORIZING: they were trained at a very young age to memorize things very quickly
BALANCE: they had an incredibly developed sense of balance
DARING: most of what they did was accomplished through audacity