It did start in the 1500s... but most "pirates" at the time were technically privateers like Sir Francis Drake, "working" for a government. There weren't that many independent pirates at the time.... that said. Yea, I can do a bit of research on the time period and what the buccaneers/privateers used. But the Caribbean at the time was largely controlled by the Spanish and the other European powers used privateers to harass Spanish merchants and ports, which allowed room for the other powers to move in and establish their own ports and settlements. But I guess that might be irrelevant if we're doing a fictional world.