The Armour Archive

mordreth

I'd seriously think about going to a 3/8 inch ring size in 14 gauge butted. If you spend time closing the rings properly it will be strong enough. A good rule of thumb for butted rings is that the internal diameter should be about 5-6 wire dimeters across Making the shirt in 5/16 will give you a ver...

mordreth

Klein diagonal cutters - they will cut anything
You'll have muscle cramps and tender skin for a few weeks, and a very serious grip afterwards

mordreth

I was taught, and teach a very technical style, that depends on solo drill (sword and shield) to the point of exhaustion. I think it is imperative to learn to attack and defend well when the body has run out of resources, and you are left with only with determination, and training. I have always bel...

mordreth

Watch the placement of your fake lacing holes on the fixed lames of the shikoro, vs placement of the fixed grill - it was a heartbreaker to deal with on some of the helms I did for the clan years ago (glad those things are finally seeing retirement) Alcyoneus - Could you elaborate more on your hear...

mordreth

How old is too old to start heavy fighting with any expectation of becoming proficient enought to come in 2nd or 3rd at a crown tourney? (Quick note: I didn't say 'win' out of humility. And, I'd assume anyone who could come in 3rd has the skills to actually win.) I'm 28 years old. I've fought heavy...

mordreth

I take my eboshi (cap) off and bow Mordreth - The grills for these will likely be fixed, though I have models that have removable/interchangable menpo (full face masks), hoate (half face masks) and kendo style (look only, still built for SCA) grills. Watch the placement of your fake lacing holes on...

mordreth

Very nice start, are you making the grill fixed, or removable?

mordreth

You're going for a "low level" look, as opposed to knightly, I'd almost recommend a simple vambrace/cop arrangement
If anyone in your local group has "best of the hammer" around there were a few articles on early arm harness' that might appeal to you
Best of luck

mordreth

Scale coat, bascinet (possibly with a scale aventail), hidden leg harness, and a heater would be very appropriate for an infantry man on the German border areas in the 14 th century
personal note - I didn't think transaxuals had periods

mordreth

I thought I had this around An Englishman named Richard Peeke was involved in an episode during the English, Spanish wars and is a tale of how effective the Quarterstaff can be in trained hands, as an excerpt from maister Terry Browns book English Martial Arts explains. "In the year 1625 England and...

mordreth

Silver is talking about fighting with a hard wood staff not rattan. It's not like you can just cut through a spear pole or polearm with a sword. Pike shafts, and halbard hafts were frequently reinforced to prevent just that. If I had to use rattan I wouldn't mind, but my personal preferance would r...

mordreth

Hi Charlotte - It is possible to harden rattan, and anumber of south asian martial arts consider batons to be usefull against short bladed weapons. As to a longer staff, I believe Master George Silver will disagree with a number of the postings on this subject (5.2.5) The Short Staff *26* Now for th...

mordreth

There is an excellent book on the excavation of Martins Hundred - a small Virginia settlement wiped out during an indian uprising. There are several chapters devoted to armor and weapons found at the site
It should be available at the library, or
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 02-5061416

mordreth

All of that hideous plate destroying what should be an early period organization. Once plate armor is banned and people settle back into gambesons and hauberks the aesthetics will improve, the calibration will level out, and we can stop arguing about what broadswords could actually do.

mordreth

Dalloch wrote:Of course its not REALLY his sword, but *shrug*.

I suppose we have to do our bit for 'Tartan day' *puke*

Tartan week in New York City is usually a pretty good time - There might be some puking after the Bellhaven party at Connellys after the Saturday parade

mordreth

The colors are likely to fade dramaticly if you wash it - that's a likely reason for the care card

mordreth

Next time you're in - the islamic wing doesn't have a lot of armor, but they have a few superb pieces on display, there is some classical armor in the greek wing along with a chariot, and some very nice japanese armor in the asian wing

mordreth

I guess the peter pan guy finally found the sca

http://www.pixyland.org/peterpan/

mordreth

We did a shield a few years back using marine birch (1/8 inch ply), I had found a reference to canvas/wood layers so what we wound up doing was wood/glue/wet canvas/glue/wood... until we had a sandwich built up of three layers of birch with two sheets of canvas in the press. when the shield dried in...

mordreth

Mordreth: I don't think a Templar would be so much considered as "dour" (particularly if you've read the Rule) as "stongly committed". One need look at the zeal of a modern evangelical to get the proper sense of how a Templar behaved. To be certain, Templar knights didn't dice or carouse like secul...

mordreth

Oddly enough my wife isn't overly interested in getting involved in the SCA again in anything but the most fleeting sort of way, I'm thinking seriously as resetting my main portrayal to either a confrere, of brother in the temple or hospital - for benefit of the others attending I'll hold off on doi...

mordreth

You never forget your first time

mordreth

Me personally - I wouldn't make anything tighter than 3/4 of an inch to an inch in 14 gauge, but people tend to hit a bit hard in my area.
If you're new to the hobby chat with a vew people at your local practice and ge ttheir opinion of how heavily padded your helm needs to be
Best of luck
Mordreth

mordreth

That depends on the style you're building, and the gauge you're willing to work in - my helm fits with a bit more than half an inch clearance through most of the bowl, but it's a very heavy gauge, rivited on one inch centers. Of the helms I've made to that pattern in that gauge there has only been o...

mordreth

Wellcome back to high school math 1. have someone measure your head at the eyebrow line. This is your circumference 2. Using the circumference determine the diameter of your head as though it were circular C=(PI)D 3. You now have the correct diameter of your head, add the amount of padding you want ...

mordreth

There were several commedians in the East who had a bad habit of wrapping the calf, or slamming into your gauntlet/basket hilt early in a fight leaving you with something of a real disadvantage for the duration.
It became something of a sore point with me

mordreth

Dagonet wrote:
mordreth wrote:1. if you have an inuit (spelling?) persona
2. After the third call of "light"
3. After the second time I'm hit in the hands, or shin, or the first time I'm hit in the ankle

WoW

Let me ammend that to targeting my hands or shin

mordreth

1. if you have an inuit (spelling?) persona
2. After the third call of "light"
3. After the second time I'm hit in the hands, or shin, or the first time I'm hit in the ankle

mordreth

No gambeson, no hauberk, no wooden shields - no interest

mordreth

He waddn't snearing. He was just sayin'. That's all. Point was, not EVERYONE starts in plastic. And the mantality in the SCA at that time, where we started out, was almost like, "Hey! How dare he show up in cool, shiney, period, sweet, kit? He looks better en us boy's! Get 'em". I caught the period...

mordreth

Silly question, but what makes stainless more medieval than plastic? Adding a little chromium and nickle to steel is comparitable to creating artificial molecules out of oil? The weight of stainless mail as compared to riveted mail is the same as plastic mail? Does such a thing actually exist? Or p...

mordreth

If you're looking at a DIY in sole leather cut the gorget so it is a sine wave rather than a straight line. To do the pattern piece out of kraft paper about two to three inches wide, do the cut outs to let teh gorget clear the uscles across your sholders, put it back in place look down, remove it an...

mordreth

Never heard it said better. I think we all started out in half a$$ed kit? Maybe we need an unwritten rule, "just do it right, and patiently wait for others to see and immulate"? Not me! I showed up in a highly polished jousting harness complete with close helm and stainless steel mail under it! Of ...

mordreth

Hi Folks Dietrich lived in Ostgardr going back a few years, he does a good job making a get started harness that will let someone get on the field and come back off safely during the first year or two that they're learning the trade. Any number of guys who started off in plastic have moved on to bet...

mordreth

I am currently watching Dark Secrets of Agincourt on the History channel. Go figure, they decided to test longbow penetration power. Problem #1- to determine quality of the armor of the French, they found an elaborate spur and figured, "Hey, this guy was rich, he had good armor! So the rest of 'em ...

Re: A Question of Age

Re: GAAAAH! I hate misinformed documentary makers!