There is a lot of overlap between reneactors and loonies, at least in the UK. I can't speak for the fantasist-type of reenacting like the SCA (which, from looking at the websites, seems to me to be entirely aimed at the nerd/trekkie/saddo end of society) but even the more serious, historically-based sort can attract some oddballs.

My own period was the English Civil War and I encountered some very strange people indeed on the Royalist side. I had no qualms about fighting for either side, but some folk were far too keen on the whole King and the Cause thing. Usually, it has to be said, those who actually knew the least about the period and whose kit was the least authentic.

Among those without political baggage, there were a lot of people who were seriously interested in the period, but there were also an awful lot of rather maladjusted types for whom the Sealed Knot and the ECWS provided the social life they wouldn't otherwise have had - the sort of people you'd cross the road to avoid and would never want to introduce to any 'straight' friend who wasn't into reenacting. A bit like the folk world, really!

I joined primarily for the booze, bawds and ballads and had a huge amount of fun with all three, but eventually I found myself getting sick of making excuses for the societally maladroit. I also realised that most of the women involved were mad as rats and there was a far better standard of tottie to be found elsewhere. It was fun as a teenager, but by the time I left college it had become an embarrassment.

Even now it's not the sort of thing one admits to having done in the UK - for a lot of people it has too many connotations of bad breath, body odour and poor social skills. Far too many of its enthusiasts seem to know every word of various Monty Python sketches...