The Armour Archive

Knut Forkbeard

Go Calafia! I'd say we have as good a shot at having the next Prince come out of this area as any other group in the kingdom does. Should be a great tournament.

Knut Forkbeard

I made my first period helmet liner earlier this year and stuffed it with raw wool stuffing which I found at a doll making supplies website. It is the same stuff that dollmaker's use to stuff dolls.

Knut Forkbeard

Really superb job! I just love the attention to detail with things like the shield fittings/mounts.

Knut Forkbeard

I've been to one war, total, so take my comments with several grains of salt. That said, I viewed CA as being part of a paper-rock-scissors thing between shields, spears and CA. Felt to me as though without CA spears would just hold way too much power on the battlefield....CA was a good counter that...

Knut Forkbeard

Compared with a couple of other what I'll call "mainstream" hobbies, I'd say ours is actually not that bad. Take golf for example. You can easily spend $150 just on one round of golf...one round. Multiple that times golfing, say, 25 rounds a year and you are talking serious cash outlay just for the ...

Knut Forkbeard

There were definitely Templars there though apparently not well represented in the photos

As mentioned in FrauHirsch's thread, apparently the pirates prefer to carouse rather than fight and all my photos are focused on armored combat, so....

Knut Forkbeard

We have pics up of the fighting from last weekend's Potrero War in the Barony of Calafia, Kingdom of Caid:

http://potrerowar2009.shutterfly.com/

I had a great time fighting in the various scenarios on all three days and want to thank all those who helped make the war so enjoyable. Vivat!

Knut Forkbeard

My lady and I will be attending. It will be my first event in Caid and my first SCA event in roughly 8 years. It will be my lady's first SCA event of any kind. We are looking forward to it!

Knut Forkbeard

Thanks for the reply Sean...very helpful. I think the pieces I need to cut can likely all come out of something roughly 2' x 3' and I'll check out ebay to find what I need. Thanks!

Knut Forkbeard

I want to add some Kydex plates to the Crash Pad shorts pads which I just purchased, but don't have any easy access to, say, used plastic barrels. Does anyone know of a place on the web where I can simply buy a sheet of Kydex to cut/form for this purpose? Thanks!

Knut Forkbeard

How rigid is the scabbard when the sword is not in it? Or is there some sort of plastic tube lining/sub-structure/etc. built into the inner lining of the scabbard?

Knut Forkbeard

I will second the recommendation for The Deepest Sea by Charles Barnitz. It is one of my all time favorites of any genre or author. I've actually tried, on a couple of occasions, to track down Charles Barnitz and see if he's ever written anything else, but have never found him. No author website, bl...

Knut Forkbeard

Morgan, I've actually thought a lot about that question in my own life in that whenever I do go to fighter practice I really love the experience. But it is a complicated issue. 1) My wife wants nothing to do with the SCA, though she is perfectly happy to support me any time I wish to go. The problem...

Knut Forkbeard

As an aside, did you use a pattern for the pants? If so, which pattern did you use? I'm looking to make a pair but don't exactly want to create my own pattern for the big "balloon" pants if I can help it. Thanks!

Knut Forkbeard

I seem to remember reading that the eastern puff style pants were hooked to the miningas just blow the knee and didn't cover the calf themselves. I had always asumed that the had a "stove pipe" on the calf which was wraped by the winingas, but does anyone have eveidence for this? Or that they did i...

Knut Forkbeard

I've done a fair bit of leather boiling in wax and simply dyed the piece the color I wanted before I boiled it. I have several pieces of very black leather that are boiled which are the same color black after wax boiling as they were before being wax boiled. I use a 50/50 mix of parafin and beeswax,...

Knut Forkbeard

He stated before I started that he had pre-paid orders that took him out two months, and that my guantlets would thus take a few days over two months. Which is exactly what it took.

Much better than the 2 1/2 years I've been waiting for the gauntlets I ordered from Armourworks

Knut Forkbeard

Wanted to let everyone know of the very good experience I had in dealing with a gauntlet order from Carlo at Truehearth. The gauntlets arrived in the timeframe he said they would, they fit perfectly and were very well made. Carlo also did a fine job in making some custom modifications I'd asked for....

Knut Forkbeard

In my humble opinion the belt wasn't anywhere near as far off as you felt it was. I think it is telling that this was the third artisan you've worked with who has been unable to meet your exacting requirements. That kind of track record indicates that it was likely not the artisans with the problem ...

Knut Forkbeard

Thaddeus, thanks for that link. That helm by Zweihammer is truly a work of art, and if any single piece of armor could entice me to dabble outside of 10th century Norse re-creation, that would be it.

Knut Forkbeard

Egfroth, based on your reply, it seems as though the Norsemen continued the practice of not wearing armor on their lower arms or legs. Would this be a correct statement? The implication being that an SCA person attempting to portray an 11th century Varangian wouldn't be wearing, say, bazubands.

Knut Forkbeard

I'd say that 4-5 oz leather would be sufficient. Any more would probably be overkill, and any thinner might tear under strenous conditions.

Knut Forkbeard

Hi The key to this being that those frags weren't being worn by Khazars or Tibetans on the field of the Visby...they were owned by men of the North. How can you know that ? I'm terrible for noting references, so don't ask where it was, but I have read an article suggesting the owner was indeed a Kh...

Knut Forkbeard

they were frags that there assembled to create a psuedo CoP/brigadine, ie it was not a laced set of lamellar. The key to this being that those frags weren't being worn by Khazars or Tibetans on the field of the Visby...they were owned by men of the North. I may be wrong on this, but isn't the think...

Knut Forkbeard

Sure it might not be unheard of but it sure wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t the base line for what the average Viking wore IMO. Completely in agreement with you here. My stance was geared more toward leaving lamellar open as a possible armor which might be worn by a person portraying a Norse persona of approximately...

Knut Forkbeard

IMO this is another nail in the coffin on the subject of Vikings lamellar. How would this be a "nail in the coffin?" Even if it was imported from some other, and seemingly quite distant, part of the world doesn't mean that Vikings didn't wear lamellar armor in and around the time period mentioned i...

Knut Forkbeard

Even though "gambeson" is a common SCA term I try to avoid it in this context because it sounds too Norman-French. Believe me, I tried hard to find another term to descibe this particular piece of clothing/armor since the last thing I want is to veer into Norman-French territory But, I figured that...

Knut Forkbeard

I'm in the process of making a suit of lamellar to fit my late 10th century Norse personna and have been wondering just how period it might be to include a linen, horse-hair stuffed gambeson as part of my kit. Though the idea of a padded gambeson worn under my lamellar makes perfect sense to me from...

Knut Forkbeard

I am wondering if anyone could point me to web sources for information on training drills for SCA combat. I've read the drills descriptions found in the Bellatrix Fighting School manual, and I've seen the drill videos which Duke Baldar has posted on his Asgard household website. I've found both of t...

Knut Forkbeard

Thanks for the re-direct Egfroth - great info as always

Knut Forkbeard

Does the row of leather make it possible for you to bend at the waist? If you were to extend the lamellar downward to cover your thighs would you still be able to move pretty well? I noticed that you also separated the "hip plates" so that you'd have even more manueverability...does this help? I've ...

Knut Forkbeard

[quote="Edwin"] For most people this would be true. A smaller opponent with a competancy in judo, or other soft martial art, would have a hay day with larger opponents using their size, strength, and power to grapple with. [quote] Ah, but you seem to be assuming that the larger person has ...

Knut Forkbeard

Explain further, sir. Jehan, squire of Sir Vitus There is a reason that competitive wrestling has weight classes. Or, using another example, there is a reason why people the size of defensive backs don't usually play the offensive tackle position on a football team. Physically moving around an oppo...

Knut Forkbeard

If so, approximately when would they be considered period? Occasionally I see fighters with a long horsetail crest flowing down from the crest of their helm and think "wow, looks great!" Then I immediately convice myself those things probably aren't period, and certainly not for a 10th century Norse...

Knut Forkbeard

SCA rules which prevent grappling and what I'll call "shield slamming" preclude the use of many of the advantages which come with height/size. If grappling or "shield slamming" were allowed smaller/quicker fighters might feel entirely differently about closing on a larger opponent who would then be ...

Potrero War Pics

Source for a sheet of Kydex

Truehearth Armory Review: Great Work!

Re: Steppe nomadic armour from Birka

Re: Steppe nomadic armour from Birka

Gambesons worn under lamellar?

Training Drills Source Information

Are horsetail crests period?