The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

I'm happy to fight whatever anyone wants to wield against my pole arm, and my stats are pretty good. Sword and shield is easier than pole and my win/loss ratio was higher with s&s despite not practicing it often any more.

Gaston de Clermont

Master Terafan Greydragon's tents are really pretty, solidly constructed and seem to weather quite well. Tentsmiths makes a fine product, though I camped in a Panther bell wedge for several years and was very happy with it.

Gaston de Clermont

Eh, cheap riveted stuff can be a bad deal just like anything cheap. I've had a riveted avantail for about a dozen years and had to replace maybe 8 links. Just get a quality product. Good riveted maile steps your kit up an extra notch in my mind over welded. A well wrought welded piece is better than...

Gaston de Clermont

"Principles of War" was his earlier work. That might be more accessible. I'm seeing more versions of "On War." I suppose if you want to know everything there is to know about his theory you'd have to read them both. But then I'm still stuck with the puzzle of which versions. At l...

Gaston de Clermont

Do you avoid fighting folks who bring out a pole arm? I've found that I have a little trouble getting folks to fight me when I bring out my pole, which is what I've been mostly fighting for the past few years. I brought out sword and shield and guys at the same practice were lining up to face me. Is...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm looking for a good edition of Carl von Clausewitz's book "On War". There are a number of translations with various quality of commentary, and it's not a super easy book to read. Is there a version of it you guys recommend?

Gaston de Clermont

Great work, Louis!

Gaston de Clermont

My dominant hand tends to be closer to the head, but it can be useful to switch. Most folks like to thrust with their dominant hand back, like they would with a pool queue. I just trained myself to thrust well with the dominant hand forward so I can chop and thrust effectively without changing. If y...

Gaston de Clermont

Yeah, Hal. You sent me a couple Y stakes. Good quality stuff, and they work well.

Gaston de Clermont

You've got a big long pry bar. You can use that leverage advantage up close to manipulate your opponent. Make sure they know you can do it and it will make their advance more cautious. Try not to back up straight. It's too predictable and doesn't gain you any interesting angles.

Gaston de Clermont

Well, if you've got last minute repairs to do before King's Champion, there's a shop to do it in.

Gaston de Clermont

I'll be having an open armour shop on Friday, May 13th from 7:30pm to 10. PM me for the address, and come by if you're interested.

Gaston de Clermont

They look great, Matt! What did you use to blue them?

Gaston de Clermont

I wear a jupon based on that St. George statue. You can see pictures of my tailor's rendition of it here:
http://burgundianhours.blogspot.com/201 ... y-rig.html
and some detailed shots of the statue here:
http://burgundianhours.blogspot.com/200 ... eorge.html

Gaston de Clermont

A single piece breastplate in spring steel is going to be lighter than pretty much any rendition of a coat of plates with a vaguely comparable ability to protect. It's fewer layers, and you're not paying the penalty for all the connective tissue- rivets, leather etc. As much as I like spring steels,...

Gaston de Clermont

It may be easier for you to try to raise the couter cold, then anneal it after a couple passes. That way you don't have to worry about burning yourself or working the vice grips constantly. You can focus on the hammer work.

Gaston de Clermont

Some effort was made in the first illumination to give the shafts of the spears an earthier color. I'm thinking they're mostly like spears as we think of spears. I'd be cautious about concluding much on their weight or use based on what we see. The distinction between a bascinet and a great bascinet...

Gaston de Clermont

Jargon and inside jokes are part of what bonds a group together. The o-crat thing seems to be dying, at least around here, but "eric" never seems to want to fade because so many people think it's the right term for the lysts.

Gaston de Clermont

Here's a great video of Eric Dube making a similar style of elbow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvOPxKR3 ... 91887F6294

Gaston de Clermont

The Churburg style arm will work fine to mimic a lot of earlier 15th century styles, but the cops and even the articulation grows in a different direction later in the century. You can still get a lot of mileage out of the vambrace design. Expect to do a fair amount of tailoring. I've found some suc...

Gaston de Clermont

I can spit out mad heat with my oxy-acetylene rig. I can weld mild and 4130 with no problem, but stainless gives me spongey crap welds. The guys at the welding shop politely convinced me it was a fool's errand to try it. I understand MIG or TIG would work far better. Do you guys have a different exp...

Gaston de Clermont

Without shopping too hard a decent rig should cost you less than $200. Your gas supplier may charge you tank rental, but mine is like $6 a month. Plus there's the cost of refilling tanks. It's one of the cheapest ways to weld, and it lets you do other hot work, but it won't let you do stainless work.

Gaston de Clermont

Your kit is better than average. It looks like you're making an attempt at a specific era, which I like, and it's a good choice of time period. If you can hide or cover the blue foam in your elbows, knees and spaulders it would help. Maybe replace it with black foam, or tape some thick felt in. Is t...

Gaston de Clermont

Just because it's hardened spring steel doesn't mean you can't work it. It's going to resist you a lot more, and it's more likely to crack, but you can still beat on it. If it's really think, like a jousting rig, you might be better off grinding rather than trying to cut. Bear in mind that this will...

Gaston de Clermont

There's certainly great wisdom in Zachos' words, but I'd like to temper it a touch. The 30-40 years of SCA experience is experience doing what we do. The 500 years of experience is doing something a bit different. Listen to them both. Knights probably didn't do as much diaper changing as you do. Zwe...

Gaston de Clermont

I find it's easier to control if you put the body of the piece on the anvil and tap the bit you want to roll when it's hanging off in space. That way there's no chance of pinching the metal between your hammer and anvil. That's no the end of the world, but it makes your edge uneven.

Gaston de Clermont

Even a touch out of focus those are some fantastic shots. And isn't that Dreadlord Nissan in the background, sporting his 14th century kit?

Gaston de Clermont

Alaric- who made the top pair of gauntlets you posted? They're amazing.

Gaston de Clermont

I suspect folks would be tempted to half sword so they could catch the pole arm's shots between their hands and counter in the same beat with a swing. With steel blades it's easier to thrust under opposition that way than it is with rattan, so we tend to use it differently than the fechtbuchs sugges...

Gaston de Clermont

Gavin's take on this is deeply insightful. If the great sword has a smashing pommel it balances things out a bit more. I feel it's a bit easier to block your legs with the haft of a pole than it is to catch or deflect the shot with a great sword. The great sword will be a touch faster, and not have ...

Gaston de Clermont

Out of Alaric's list, I think #1 and #4 have the strongest weight. #4 can be determined by the top dogs, particularly if they're charismatic. Ansteorra's look and fighting style is still strongly influenced by Inman, and I don't think he's been to an event in at least 8 years. Weather is a factor, i...

Gaston de Clermont

Do you guys see folks from other kingdoms wearing kits that have a look that's is particular to their area? I mean we all know if someone is from Calontir, they wear their heraldry, and that's cool (though it's weird that it seems like they're all also about 6ft and 250lbs). If a guy has a nice harn...

Gaston de Clermont

Ursus- your pictures rock! I loved the ones from The Deed, and I'm very glad you came out early to snap those. The bridge battle was epic, and it's great to be able to relive that hard push on the right bridge with the photos. Thanks!

Gaston de Clermont

LR is right- it's explicitly "all" of the foam disks that come with the kit. I feel you get a better grip if you tape the end cap down on its own and then tape the Mandrake head as well.

Gaston de Clermont

Yes, what Glafrid and Wade are saying can totally work. Just bear in mind that 95% of the elbow cops out there aren't deep enough for this to work. Take some care with volleyball pads- the _knee_ pads tend to be really thick so you can dive for a shot. If you use those it pushes your armour away fro...

Re: Preference in opponents's weapon style?

Re: Anyone have a spoked wheel pavilion from Tentsmith?

Re: Question about Aventails

Re: Good version of Clausewitz?

Preference in opponents's weapon style?

Good version of Clausewitz?

Re: Soupcan progress pic

Re: Let's talk AXES!!!

Re: Open shop May 13th, Austin Texas

Re: Let's talk AXES!!!

Re: Open shop May 13th, Austin Texas

Open shop May 13th, Austin Texas

Re: Blued hourglass finger gauntlets.

Re: Fighting 14th century houppelande....

Re: Of teeny women and brigandines...

Re: Raising: some questions

Re: Spear and shield in the 14th century

Re: List field="Eric"

Re: Late period elbow

Re: Talbot's Patterns

Re: Oxy/Acetylene Hose Diameter

Re: Oxy/Acetylene Hose Diameter

Re: Critique my kit

Re: Help fixing a spring steel breast plate?

Re: The poleaxe, armour and SCA. Looking for guidence.

Re: Nice rolled edge tutorial

Re: Gulf Wars XX Photos

Re: Modern regional appearance (SCA)

Re: 7 1/2 foot Polearm vs 6 foot Great Sword

Re: 7 1/2 foot Polearm vs 6 foot Great Sword

Re: Modern regional appearance (SCA)

Modern regional appearance (SCA)

Re: Gulf Wars XX Photos

Re: Attaching Mandrake 2" heads to spears

Re: Blue foam in articulated elbows?