The Armour Archive

Josh W

Very cool!

Do you guys plan to increase your selection of armour components?

Josh W

I had been asked to provide a few photos of my harness for someone's project the other day. I liked a few of the pics, so I thought I'd share them. There are a few more in the "Silly things in armour" thread on the OT board, too... m m m m Yeah, yeah...I know the pauldron reinforce looks k...

Josh W

I usually take some of the burgundy-colored 3M pads, some olive oil and a few friends who need some cash, and put them together in a room with my armour that needs polished. I am usually satisfied with the results.

Josh W

Hey Greyson! Long time, no see.

Thank you for the comments on the strapping. Yes, I am dyeing the new straps the same dark red that the rest of them are.

I'll post some more photos of the whole harness once my "spring cleaning" restoration project is done.

Josh W

Something like this?

http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/helmlineage.jpg

There are similar ones for cuirasses and gauntlets as well...

Josh W

I'll echo the others in saying that I like 16ga on my knees and elbows, but I am content with 18ga (which is, I believe, the minimum permissible for required pieces of armour) for my vambraces, rerebraces, cuisses, and greaves. You can probably even get away with lighter steel for the greaves, since...

Josh W

danfrombham wrote:underneath do you have troble fighting on your knees? do the sabs allow
enough movement for your feet to curl up underneath your legs?

Yes.

Josh W

Patrick Thaden made most of it.

Josh W

I've been polishing and repairing my entire harness on and off all winter as time permits. Today, I re-strapped a lot of the cuirass and restored the side tassets, which have been off since the fire two-and-a-half years ago. I also repaired some warpage in the left side of one of the upper backplate...

Josh W

chef de chambre wrote:Pssst - most people date that to the first decade of the 15th century (say 1400-1405.

Whoo-hoo! Murdock's joining us in the 15th century!

Josh W

Badass, Murdock. I can't wait to see it done.

Josh W

Congrats.

Josh W

Tom Justus is also in North Carolina.

Josh W

The only time I ever have trouble with the heel plate is when the bottom part of the greave works its way underneath it (instead of the other way around, with the heelplate tucked neatly up under the back of the greave). This usually happens only if I don't have the greave or sabaton buckled tightly...

Josh W

Jeffrey Hedgecock wrote:Hope you like it!

I do indeed!

Very badass, Jeff. I can't wait to see it finished.

Can you tell us the gauges on some of the rest of the components?

Josh W

I fight in these...

http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/sabbie1.bmp

http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/DSC03225.JPG

...worn over these...

http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/DCP_0908.jpg

20ga sabatons and 18ga greaves; I don't know what weight of leather the turnshoes are, I'm afraid...

Josh W

You need a brigandine, Kansuke.

Josh W

Badass.

How much to case harden my entire harness?

Josh W

Now I want a hauberk of "can't get through it" double mail...

Josh W

I don't think Nicaea addressed the scriptural canon. We had to wait until after the death of Constantine for that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Canon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synod_of_Hippo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Councils_of_Carthage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Rome

Josh W

There are the remains of two such cloth-covered cuirasses at the Stibbert Museum in Florence, both sadly lacking their cloth covers. There are line drawings of both cuirasses (figs 39 & 41) in The Compleat Anachronist #69: The Development of the Coat of Plates--the Evolution of Cloth-Covered Arm...

Josh W

The Sportsman's Guide was selling Swiss Army Surplus ones a while back...

Josh W

Mad Matt makes a nice pair for little money, and his reputation is excellent.

Josh W

Back on the original topic, I wish there were more people doing early Italian Wars (or indeed, later Italian Wars/Tercio) reenactment for the Spaniards or indeed anyone that isn't a Landsknecht. I mean, I like the poofy-pantsed buggers as much as the next guy, having been introduced to them when I ...

Josh W

Check your PMs, Matt.

Josh W

Doing a WMA demo at a local convention skinny goth guy walks up to our table and wants to know where the manuscript that describes the ultimate fighting style, fighting with a sword in two hands, is. Being the jerk I am, I quickly toss in a Musashi reference and pass him over to the guy with experi...

Josh W

I usually wind up doing a lot of demos for schools and churches during the course of an average year. The question I get most often is, by far: "Is that armour heavy?" I've always handled hecklers who are convinced that armour or swords are egregiously heavy and our replicas aren't accurat...

Josh W

Spiffy! Thanks for sharing.

Josh W

World of difference between a 16th or 17th century parade halberd, or halberd with a crescent concave blade and a working halberd of the 15th century with a proper axe blade. Both in weight, and capability. As I recollect from pictures of his collection, most of his halberds, if not all, are searge...

Josh W

I've handled a few real halberds at Wade Allen's. They're not that heavy. I don't think they have the torque necessary to totally cut off a leg covered in ~1mm of steel. Crush, maim, deeply cut, certainly--but not completely amputate.

Josh W

Exactly. I am perfectly willing to believe that his armour failed. I can see it having been crumpled in sufficiently to mangle his legs, even hacked into a bit. But I don't think it means his plate-armoured legs were completely and totally amputated.

Josh W

I wanna see the actual wording of the original chronicle. I am not ready to concede that anybody's legs were totally shorn off through steel plate, especially not with a single stroke.

Josh W

I waited two years for a cuirass once, and it's the best piece of armour I own. You've waited only a couple of months?

How old are you?

Josh W

I've got a few pictures of this statue in books. They aren't as clear as I could wish they were. It's clear that he has some sort of coat of plates on. Given the date, I posit that it would be some variant of the Wisby type I. I'm sure you could easily assemble such a CoP using canvas and sheet-steel.

Josh W

You totally rock, Joe.

Are you interested in turning a riveted mail skirt into a pair of mail "boxer shorts" (brais d'acier) for me?

A few armour photos...

Re: question for you guys fighting in sabatons

New Cuirass Pics

Re: Current project- 15thC Italian Export for RA jouster