The Armour Archive

Josh W

Gaston, I love you, man; those kits are inspiring...

...but you've gotta stop typing "where" when you mean "were". It's confusing!

Josh W

I'm not really complaining, Aidan. Lord knows *I* don't want to portray a post-1600 persona. I do but remark upon yet another of our hobby's endearing incongruities.

Josh W

Quoth Alfred of Carlyle:

"Are we fated to do no more than mimic our betters from the shadows of centuries past?"

And wherefore need we perceive this as a necessarily shameful thing?

Josh W

It does strike one as rather odd that we exclude 17th-century personae, who would have been familiar with the chivalric culture the SCA tries to re-create, but we permit Celts, Vikings, Monglos, Trojans, Romans, etc. who wouldn't have known the first thing about the sort of medieval tourney that are...

Josh W

I think Patrick Thaden made his own...

Josh W

I don't know if someone else has already pointed this out... m Look. A Blankenshield armour on e-bay. Behold its squatty unloveliness and hideous ahistorical lines. Gape in horror and disgust at its nasty finish and piss-poor craftsmanship. Marvel at the whole five minutes the maker must have spent ...

Josh W

I still utterly miss the reason why Stephen is angry with Chef. WTF is going on here?

Josh W

...in which case, Sarnac, I missed her point, too. In my experience, she's wrong. I have yet to see a duke in full plate. 90%+ of the dukes I see wear kidney belts, or maybe a short coat of leather lamellar. Every now and then, one wears a plastic corselet of some sort, often hockey gear. But never,...

Josh W

"corinthian era"???

Josh W

If there are no answers to questions like "what's wrong, what's right, what effect an edge or thrust has", then what is there to learn?

Josh W

This is what I have a problem with, right here: "...plastic is as period as anything else. There is no difference in authenticity." Not so. There *is* a difference in authenticity. If there weren't, then why even bother to try? You seem to be approaching this as a black/white issue from the standpoi...

Josh W

Calen, did you attend the SCA event held in your High School last weekend? I looked all over for you...

Josh W

How in the hell can you say that a plastic placard and a stainless one are "exactly the same" in authenticity? I'm no fan of stainless, but at least it has iron in it. I'm sick and tired of people falling back on the silly argument that *everything* really qualifies as modern materials because it's ...

Josh W

http://victorian.fortunecity.com/manet/394/page19d.htm

I found this interesting...

Josh W

Dangit! I missed it. I wish I hadn't had to leave early...

Congratulations Trevor!

Josh W

Perhaps, frederik, you're a larger man than my friend. I do but report what my scale said when I sat the vest with plates on it.

Josh W

Now that he explains himself more clearly, I find myself in agreement with much of what he says...

Josh W

Why do some people spell it "spagen"helm, and others write "spaNgen"helm? Which is correct?

Josh W

FWIW, my wrap-shot rant was intended in jest (and I had hoped the smilie at the end would have indicated that...), as a sarcastic jab at complaining about thrusts being used by unskilled fighters who can't score any other way. I don't really feel like having it out over wrap-shots just now. Park--I'...

Josh W

I don't disagree with you on the "touch-kill" thrust issue. I had always understood that they had to have some force behind them, and apparently missed or forgot the bit in the Rules of the List that says we only get to "touch' somebody if we thrust them in the face (apologies to anyone I've jabbed ...

Josh W

Was it the "boy" that set you off, Logan?

I've just been informed that "boy" is considered an insult in some places.

Josh W

While I'm at it, I think wrap-shots are for girly-men wussies who don't have the talent to find their way around a shield properly, or lack the reflexes and expertise to legitimately find a hole in their opponent's defense and stick him in the face with a good thrust. Thus, losers who use wrap-shots...

Josh W

I recall, Adam, that you thought my views on abortion (note, by the way, that I've restated them in the recent OT thread) were "stunningly brutal". Now, my words with Logan are "staggeringly uncouth", eh? I'm sorry you think I'm tactless. I think Logan is tactless, which is largely what brought me i...

Josh W

Yep, Logan. You have me completely figured out. "Little man", etc. People like you hold the SCA back. While you're whining about the lack of "realism" in the rule that says you have to take a "soft" thrust to the face, you also go on endlessly about SCA stick-tag not being intended to represent medi...

Josh W

I answered attitude with attitude, Adam. Why doesn't Logan's rudeness piss you off as much as mine does?

Josh W

Did I touch a nerve, there, Logan? FWIW, I'll agree with you. I'd rather see the rules require actual force behind the thrust. If all you're on about is the "touch-kills" to the face, then I have no issue with you. ...also, I don't thrust all that much. I only own one weapon with a thrusting tip, an...

Josh W

I hope so.

I tried fighting in mail at practice last week. It's different from fighting in a well-fitted plate harness. Cooler and somewhat more flexible, yes, but also more tiring. Maybe it would have been different if I had belted the mail.

Josh W

"Too easy" or not, anyone who looks down on thrusting in the SCA obviously doesn't want us to move toward a more historical representation of medieval combat. Are thrusts with spears too easy, too, Logan? Are spear-wielders ruining your fun? Keep on defending that status quo there, boy...

Josh W

If highly-skilled SCA fighters can "fight in whatever they want" and achieve the same results, then where are all the dukes in full plate? It seems to me that, at most, the misty-eyed Froissart-worshipers who play 14th century in high-polish stainless wear bargrilled bascinets with camail, simple "3...

Josh W

The modern Interceptor vests can indeed stop bullets. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but with the trauma plates in, they'll stop a 7.62. An Iraq-bound friend of mine brought his vest over the other day and let me try it on while he tried on my Milanese plate cuirass. At 17 pounds, the Interceptor...

Josh W

There are no stupid ideas, only stupid people.

Josh W

Patrick should be canonized.

Josh W

I'd rather people show up dressed as Crusaders than "gothed-up" pixies or 18th-century pirates...

Josh W

What's so wrong with a Coat of Plates?

Surely, amongst the variety of CoPs out there, you could find something you like...

Josh W

Sorry it took me so long, Thomas. I just this week learned how to upload photos. Hope to see you at Kris Kinder this weekend.

Because I just can't let a dead horse be...