The Armour Archive

Gwydion Caithnes

This is exactly the kind of encouragement I'm looking for! I take the armour out of the bag every few weeks to clean it, etc., and find myself wondering if I shouldn't just sell it and hang up the rattan. Keep the stories coming!

Gwydion Caithnes

So...I'm hitting "the Big Five-Oh" this year. I've had a series of medical issues that have kept me off the field and out of the lists for the better part of three years. Not sure if the health situation will be resolved anytime soon, and am beginning to wonder how many years I should legitimately e...

Gwydion Caithnes

One of my favorite photos of me fighting was during a tournament the day my knight received his Pelican. I was fighting at the barriers for the first time ever, and in the photo (which I can't seem to find at the moment) I have the biggest shite-eating grin on my face. I vividly recall getting the c...

Gwydion Caithnes

Sad...

Gwydion Caithnes

Panther also sells a spray-on sealant that I have used with success on some patches I installed last year on my Regent. I think I re-sealed some seams, too. Ask them about it, if they didn't mention it to you themselves (which would surprise me). You need to spray it, and let it dry well in the sun ...

Gwydion Caithnes

Karen L. has assembled quite a lot of information on the subject of crests. You might start here:

http://www.larsdatter.com/crests.htm

I'm no expert on the subject, but they seem to have largely been a tournament convention. Which doesn't preclude their use in battle, I suppose.

Gwydion Caithnes

ah yes here it is. this is from "knights of the black and white" by Jack Whyte "a steel-hilted broadsword with a four-foot-long, three-inch-wide blade could weigh fourteen pounds.........thus the physical phenomenon known as the knight's build: neck and shoulder muscles, heavy and corded like ships...

Gwydion Caithnes

Since it is historical fiction he could probably get away with it, I'd think. Perhaps. But not if he's striving for a substantial degree of historical accuracy, which he seems to be. IMHO, there's enough "bad" fiction surrounding the Templars. We don't need any more polluting the environment... :D

Gwydion Caithnes

Talbot's material is indeed excellent. But remember that the Templars were disbanded between 1307 and 1314, so they probably weren't full-fledged, card-carrying members of the "14th Century Mafia" in terms of armour styles, so I'd be cautious before using descriptions of 14th Cent. kit in a historic...

Gwydion Caithnes

While the 14th Century is my primary SCA interest, the Templars are also a subject of some interest to me - I own a great many books on the subject of the Order - probably the majority of what is available in English or English translation. If you are seeking a bibliography, PM me here on the Archiv...

Gwydion Caithnes

I didn't fight this year, because I'm still recovering from some major surgery which kept me away from Pennsic altogether LAST year...anyway, enough about me...one major problem I saw with the 1pm start time was that the Woods Battle was scheduled opposite the Children's Water Battle. Two of our bet...

Gwydion Caithnes

Didn't see the chest, but the mugs are awesome. Two of my squire brothers each have one...

Gwydion Caithnes

Great - thanks, Your Grace.

Gwydion Caithnes

No. The mold hasn't damaged the leather to any extent that I can see. The leather is currently quite rigid (yet still flexible), which is what I want (it's a leather pauldron/rerebrace/vambrace combination, attached to aluminum elbows). Cleaning and leaving it to dry in the sun seems to have dealt w...

Gwydion Caithnes

Hmmm...yeah, that's a consideration. I don't want the leather to get too soft. It's actually in pretty good shape, considering how long it was neglected, and how much mold was on it. I'll take a look at the various conditioners recommended here, and try to decide which to go with. Thanks for the res...

Gwydion Caithnes

Thanks - yeah, I did use a solution of water with a little ammonia and soap, then let them bake in the sun. Seems to have killed most of the funk. May do it once more, just for good measure. I was thinking about neatsfoot, so I'll try that. Thanks for the suggestions, all.

Gwydion Caithnes

I found a pair of leather arms in my basement - had bought them years ago for light practice, but didn't like the way they fit, and never bothered to adapt them. Now I'm going to start putting kit together for my sons, and the arms will work well. I had to clean a significant amount of mold off them...

Gwydion Caithnes

Yeah, well, baby steps, I suppose...

Gwydion Caithnes

I enjoyed the heck out of this. Wish he'd spent a little more time on armour...but on the whole it was very well done. I'm also glad that the History Channel has created H2, to respond to the interests of those of us who actually LIKE watching programs about history, rather than people being ripped ...

Gwydion Caithnes

:wink: After it was initialy unrecognised, I got to wondering how long I'd be able to draw it out. :cry: OK...I can admit to being good and royally "punked..." :-) That's right up there with the passage in Tolkien about how Gandalf's foreworks bore down on the hobbits "like a freight train" during ...

Gwydion Caithnes

I've been using a ratty old leather belt for decades. The point isn't necessarily to hold the legs UP - in my case, the points on my C-belt simply hold things in place, because I find the straps on my leg armour are tight enough to hold everything "up." I'm also wearing some half-greaves, so that he...

Gwydion Caithnes

Me, too - that's why I asked.

Gwydion Caithnes

So, that would put the pipe in England from the 5th or 6th century (Morgan dates his coming to the court at 528 but that does not square with Geoffrey of Monmoth, who says Arthur died in 465. But Geoffrey does have his issues - so maybe the 6th century is correct) Geoffrey of Monmouth has his issue...

Gwydion Caithnes

1604 The first anti tobacco campaign is launched by Jacob the 1th of England . WHO? :? Heh, yeah, I just copied that from the web site - I have no idea what they're talking about... As to breaking off clay pipes to give to other smokers, that is indeed a myth, although having smoked from one for a ...

Gwydion Caithnes

Interesting point - the idea that no depictions of smoking in the art of the period(s) in question suggests that it was not widespread.

I'd agree, though, that a text from 1914 is very suspect with regard to scholarship. Some armour depictions from that era are simply silly...

Gwydion Caithnes

I've had two surgeries on each elbow to correct the kind of problems Murdock is describing. Got wimpy tendons - that's all there is to it. Prolly going back for a third pass at the right (sword arm) elbow soon. But I'll third (and fourth) the sports doc recommendation. Find a good orthopod, and do w...

Gwydion Caithnes

So, from a web site called "a Brief History of the Pipe." Again, no sources, so I can't vouch for the reliability: 2000 BC Remains of tobacco leaves and pipes are found in Egyptian mummies. This is yet to be explained scientifically. 1500 BC Pipes are used by North American indians for ceremonial pu...

Gwydion Caithnes

"Reach," OK, but when was it popular enough to have been considered "common?" I'd also be interested in the class distinction - I'm guessing something relatively "new" in fashion like tobacco use might have been limited to the upper classes, outside of those (like sailors) who were likely responsibl...

Gwydion Caithnes

Well, doing a quick "search-fu" on http://www.tobacco.org yielded the following (my summary). I have no idea how reliable it is. 1492 - Columbus and his crew receive some tobacco leaf as part of a gift from the native Americans. They discard the leaves. 1591 - Roderigo de Perez is persecuted by the ...

Gwydion Caithnes

Cian, I just read your post. It's stories like this that keep me motivated to participate in the SCA. Well done, sir.

Gwydion Caithnes

I agree with upping the poundages, and I think I like the face-only idea, as well. If I don't see it or feel it, how the heck am I supposed to acknowledge it, short of the archer or a marshall yelling at me? Face-only has the added advantage of putting more of the burden on the archer's marksmanship...

Gwydion Caithnes

Congrats!

Gwydion Caithnes

Buy it. I have one with my 12x12 Regent tent, and love it. About the only drawback with such a watertight floor is that if you get any leakage inside the tent, (i.e. near the poles), the water will pool around the bottom of your poles). I can usually adjust for that by sitting my poles (except the c...

Gwydion Caithnes

William Freskyn Murray wrote:Gwydion

Thank you for NOT coming out, spending your wedding anniversary with your non-SCA wife was a MUCH better choice!

Yep...

Sounds like it was a successful event.

Gwydion Caithnes

Oh, crap, Will - didn't realize you're all coming down.

Maybe I can day-trip it...

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Re: 'Going Medieval' with Mike Loades