The Armour Archive

freiman the minstrel

Ashi, If you are Ashi Deva, then I have indeed heard your name. I would invite you to meet me at the Tourney of Lugh in Grey Niche on the eleventh of July. I am meeting Baron Brandr to celebrate his loss of an entire person. I have also invited some other folks as well. I will also be trying to regu...

freiman the minstrel

I talked to two people that were are practice last night, and we all agreed that practicing in twenty below weather means that we are hard core.

I mentioned that to my wife, and she said "No, it means that you are wieners".

Perhaps that means the same thing as Hard Core.

f

freiman the minstrel

It is twenty two below zero (centigrade) in my little corner of Bavaria. There are multiple feet of snow on the ground, and the cold seems to cut like a knife. We practice in an unheated barn. At these temperatures, foam doesn't compress, and duck tape doesn't stick. But nipples are hard as rocks, a...

freiman the minstrel

You really want to replace lost links as soon as they happen. If you haven't done it yet, find a dowel of the appropriate size. But, mail, even the riveted stuff, does wear out. If you fight two practices a week in your mail, it will eventually be toast, Don't worry too much. It takes years. Store i...

freiman the minstrel

Eirik, If you are buying it in the store, it ain't real whoopass. Instead of posting cool pics from the web, Eirik, how about committing to working out and training? Gulf Wars is only three months away. You will certainly have a chance to fight the majority of Knights of Meridies there. In twelve we...

freiman the minstrel

200 days til pennsic. Actually, at the time I write this, it's a hundred and ninety nine days, twenty two hours, and counting. That is twenty eight and a half weeks. The last month or so will be in Backwoods Mississippi for me. That means no gym, but I will have a bunch of big, corn fed good ole bo...

freiman the minstrel

Dreadlord,

Bring buddies to help your old ass home. I am bringing cans of whoopass by the case.

f

freiman the minstrel

Your Excellencies, that is the point. It's actually a little less than seven months. It's a hundred and ninety nine days. I want to commit unconditionally to this. I want to throw it all the way to the stops, and do it. No excuses, no qualifiers. And I want others to come with me on that. Nobody els...

freiman the minstrel

I have never checked to see if I bounced. You should try to make that happen. I have been talking to marshals from other groups around the world, and I am hearing that they are having their practices not happen. People are too busy, they are too tired, or it's too cold. Let's not be those guys. I ke...

freiman the minstrel

That is a nice looking piece of work there.

There is a product called "Leather luster" or something like that that works pretty well as a stripper, but it also tends to dry out the leather, so you might want to skip it, or perhaps neets foot it after applying.

f

freiman the minstrel

The thing to remember about the Tuchux is that they are about fighting. All the other stuff is frippery. It's important to them, but in the end, they are about fighting.

The place to interact with them is on the field.

f

freiman the minstrel

Currently I'm planning on Pennsic. My vacation (leave form) has already been put in since September 2008 after missing it last year due to a requirement to stay at work. In a perfect world, I'd fight every Tuesday. Currently Tuesday is available and my new arming coat is almost done. If work or fam...

freiman the minstrel

Bedlam has gone. Animal has decided that he wants to be elsewhere, and Batu has abandoned the clans, as far as I know. Mongrel is relatively new, though he seems to have the desire to uphold the name, regardless of the cost. He can't reply right now, as he seems to be posting from someplace just out...

freiman the minstrel

Well, Gentlemen,

I've got plenty, so come prepared. It ain't free.

Train hard, because I intend to not just beat, but to soundly trounce, all comers.

f

freiman the minstrel

I have spent a considerable portion of the last two days being very embarrassed about this thread. Hjlmr nailed it right on the head. I got all liquored up and posted. What I had intended to be a sort of motivational speech ended up being a horribly embarrassing stream of abuse heaped onto my friend...

freiman the minstrel

Listen to you, you lickspittle, toe fungus eating nobodies. "I will meet you" "I will pick up this gauntlet" "Come and find me" What are you, fighters, or a bunch of freaking librarians? I don't want to meet you! I am coming to kick your lily butt! You got cheated. The ...

freiman the minstrel

All right. There is a lot of talk on this archive about how to train with this, or how to use that, and a lot of talk about how to be a better fighter. Most armour archive folks are (as somebody put it to me a few years ago) "All hat and no castle." And if that is the case with you, now is...

freiman the minstrel

I appreciate the heads up about the target dummy. I have seen them in Army gyms and I have been absolutely convinced that they had a lifespan of three or four months. The rule that I was taught years ago was that dummies made to be hit with the hands and feet were never meant to be used with weapons...

freiman the minstrel

Hanging in a closet. I know. Your closet hanging rod is mighty. I am quite impressed by it. And Matt's stands are quite impressive. He had them in the front of his pavilion with a sign that said "If you know Mad Matt, come by and drink my beer with me." It was one of the best evenings I c...

freiman the minstrel

I would kill that pell in a couple of months, probably a couple of weeks.

I use a hanging tire pell named Rodney.

f

freiman the minstrel

To Freiman, One thing everyone has to remember is the "C" stands for "CREATIVE". - Vikings using heaters, - White people w/ Mongol or North African personas - Plastic armour - Norse using Gers/yurts I'm sure theres a lot more to add to this list; however if one wishes to stay wi...

freiman the minstrel

Guys, I have an unusual "I wanna be" thread. I don't know how to express this without being offensive. I want to find a decent, fun, and non-stupid persona that a black guy can portray at Pennsic. I know some black folks who come to Pennsic and they have expressed to me that they feel like...

freiman the minstrel

So what's worse? The Generi-SCA fighter in spuntop helm, sportsgear under tunic, baskethilt sword and plain aluminum shield .... Or the guy making a real attempt - and a good one, visually - at a non-mainstream persona, like Aztec? . Worse? In most cases, I think that both are great (there are exce...

freiman the minstrel

Dang,

I think that we may have successfully scared Shadow off again.

I would like to get everybody's permission to condense the information in the thread into a newbie leather essay, if you don't mind. We could all save a lot of typing that way.

f

freiman the minstrel

money is super tight right now, but I do actually have some plans. They are kind of up in the air in a lot of ways, but I DO have them. I would like to make new shoes and really get the winningas down. Sometimes leather comes my way, and I think that I have the skills to make some decent shoes to re...

freiman the minstrel

Funny. Freiman searches PA libraries for "leathercraft" and what should appear but the specific title I recommended to begin with. I recommend going ahead and spending the $15 or so to own a copy yourself. Actually, I did a search specifically for that title, because you had suggested it....

freiman the minstrel

There is an east African sword weapon, the SHOTEL, I believe, that has a long forward curve. Rather like a reverse sabre, shamshir or a large sickle. Perfect for reaching around and over shields. Thrusting tip naturally. One can only hold one's breath waiting for this to become the new fad weapon. ...

freiman the minstrel

Dopple Post.

f

freiman the minstrel

lol Baron Alejandro I volunteer at a library. Thus have gone through every medieval books they have. Thus also all the library's in PA. But the odd thing is they have no leather books. Now we're into something that I am actually good at. My search fu is strong. But my ILL Fu is weak. I live in Euro...

freiman the minstrel

I've snipped out a bunch of what freiman had to say so I can focus on the bits above. Thank you for the clarifications. You know, neither one of us covered rivets. I don't recall having anybody mention rivets on the entire thread, though I haven't gone back and looked again. One of the fastest (and...

freiman the minstrel

I have a few minutes. Before I start, let me be clear on one thing. I am a minstrel. I am not an armorer. I can and do make my own armor, and I can be of some basic help to newer folks. I will tell you what little I know, and hopefully somebody on this archive will be able to correct any mistakes I ...

freiman the minstrel

Have two friends interested in starting the sca. The problem is their personas require bizarre weapons. One gal wants to do an New World styled native (aztec/Mayan etc) she wants to make Macahuitl..the wide wooden club with obsidian blades set around the edges. Thought about just putting foam on th...

freiman the minstrel

We have this one in stock that might be in the ball park size-wise, or else we can make another one to fit you. We can make changes to it if we do it custom, although the price changes with the options, as always. You can cut the cost somewhat by going with mild. Would take us less than 3 months, a...

freiman the minstrel

Dimitrios,

These guys really know leather.

If they say water hardening is the way to go, I believe them.

f

freiman the minstrel

I am bumping this.

f

Twenty Below SUCKS

ALL RIGHT YOU NELLIES, GET SOME STICK! UPDATED!

Please direct the flak to me

Re: Weird and Exotic weapon questions (Macahuitl and Scythe)