The Armour Archive

Josh W

I'm not sure that some of these are arming doublets in the strict sense of the term, whether Stone & Ffoulkes label them so or not. Those books by both men are badly outdated nowadays, and their scholarship has been improved upon in the century or so since they wrote. And Bashford Dean's name ca...

Josh W

I don't think I've ever heard of anyone being dissatisfied with Patrick Thaden.

Josh W

InsaneIrish wrote:Calontir discussed the implementation of halfswording at Lilies this year. It was decided that for now Calontir would NOT allow halfswording of any weapon, single or 2 handed.

Why?

Josh W

Duke Icefalcon wrote:Here is what I am expecting with this order:
...
mild and 6mm voiders
...

You rock, Andre!

Josh W

Isn't there an account of some Spanish envoys to Timur-i-lenk that records the use of something like brigandine among them?

Josh W

Armours B2, B3, and B4 from Mantova.

Josh W

My suggestion is that you buy a nice, high-quality riveted mail shirt if you don't have one already. High-end finger gauntlets might be nice, too.

Josh W

Edwin wrote:For me, the order went:

Gorget
Arms
Legs
Helmet
Torso

For me, it was quite different:

Torso
Gauntlets
Legs
Arms
Helmet
"under-bits"--arming doublet, mail skirt, voyders, standard, etc.

Josh W

I'm not sure I've ever heard any remarks about Calontir wearing light armour. It seems to me that people here wear a lot more than, say, Meridians do. Heck, mine is the heaviest, most enveloping SCA kit I've ever seen or heard of, and I live in Calontir...

Josh W

By the time you arrive here, I will also have a lot more time to devote to the SCA, since I will be through with school. I live in nearby Manhattan, Kansas, and I look forward to seeing you.

Josh W

d'Antioche wrote: Being the sole representative of the much prettier 15th was okay, but there's always that nagging urge to blend in....

What am I?

John, I will pull out all the stops to make it to your event next year.

Josh W

Duke Icefalcon wrote:This still might not include voiders and chausses.

Alas...

Josh W

I agree with those who note that the foam-weapons LARPS are snapping up all the poor college kids who would have joined the SCA a generation ago. There is at least one boffer/fantasy alternative to the SCA in most major cities now. The kid who, 25 years ago, might have spied his local SCA chapter at...

Josh W

I want to do this so bad. I think my armour is more or less suitable, or could be made suitable with not too much work, but I haven't ridden a horse since I was a kid. The foot combat looks like piles of fun, though...

Josh W

Thanks guys. You all completely rock, btw.

Josh W

Woo-hoo! Voiders. I can't wait!

Josh W

I appreciate it, Wade.

If I recall correctly, at least one of the 15th century Italian cuirasses at Churburg has an upper back that's heavier than the upper breast. My copy of the Churburg catalogue is incomplete, so I can't check on which one it is.

Josh W

Any chance of getting some backplate thicknesses?

I'd also be interested to know any thickness figures anyone has for the backplates/rear plackarts/guards-de-rein on the Avant and Mantova suits...

Josh W

Josh W

Wade, thank you so much for this. You totally rock!

Josh W

For what it's worth, I always found it easier to shoot a bow in my full harness than a crossbow--the crossbow's butt kept slipping off of my pauldron. The event looks like it was fantastic fun. I dearly wish I could have attended. I spent the whole week trying to rearrange my monthly finances or hit...

Josh W

The same thing has been happening to me in my armet lately. I suspect it will pass when I get back on the field full-time and get in better cardiovascular shape.

Josh W

At age 14, my armouring skills were confined to making brigandines out of upholstery vinyl & truss plates, with paper fasteners for rivets.

Josh W

Weird!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoog/2533 ... 121749376/

These greaves lace up the inside!

Josh W

Is that the Hirschstein Coat of Plates I see amongst those?

Josh W

I can't wait to see pics of your kit with the new shirt. When can we expect those?

Josh W

Precisely. My very first suit of armour was horribly noisy. It's taken me years to acquire armour of high enough quality that it doesn't sound like a collection of pots and pans tumbling down a staircase as it articulates. I know the harness will never be totally silent; that isn't what I'm aiming f...

Josh W

Good suggestions all, gentlemen.

I might have to try Arne's mail skirt suggestion.

Keep 'em coming.

Josh W

Thanks, Klaus.

I'm really looking for something first millennium, though. Say, 400-700 AD.

Josh W

When does scale armour fall out of favor in the western portion of what was the Roman empire? One reads every now and then about this or that archaeological find that includes scale or lamellar armour bits from well into the first millennium. But it seems that, by the time of the Viking invasions, s...

Josh W

I hear again and again how quiet armours made by Robert MacPherson are. I want my harness to be quieter. m If I remove the tassets, my armour really is pretty darn quiet when I walk--it makes "snickety-snick-snick" noises as the joints move as opposed to the "clankety-clank-clank"...

Josh W

GregorMacBeathain wrote:I'm sorry, it looks like he's wearing a training bra on top of his breastplate. Was that a common 15th C design?

I'm not seeing it. I think it's just you, dude...

Josh W

The voiders came in?

How did I miss that?

Josh W

Something else cool that probably isn't allowed in my kingdom.

Josh W

For whatever reason, Kansas State University library, a couple of blocks from here, used to have a copy. I have checked it out and read through it many times. I had no idea it was so valuable.

Scale armour in late Antiquity/early Middle Ages

Robert MacPherson's quiet harnesses...