The Armour Archive

Adriano

Thanks, guys! Sometimes I just get an odd idea and want to bounce it off somebody. I'll probably just make a trip to the fabric store. Sadly, one cannot solve every problem with a can of spray paint and a roll of duct tape.

Adriano

Have you thought about putting a lighter weight fabric the color you want on the outside & using this canvas for the core & backing? Magnus, we don't have time for rational solutions. Actually that's a good idea, and probably a lot more practical (also authentic). But I'm still curious about the no...

Adriano

I highly recommend some kind of padding on your shoulders, under the mail; that'll help spread the load a bit. . . . I know I'll have to wear at least 50-60 more lbs of armour that is supported by my back . . . Draco, what kind of armour do you have in mind for your final kit? 50-60 pounds -- in add...

Adriano

I'm making a new coat of plates. I'm using two layers of sturdy canvas from an Army/Navy store; it's an unbleached light beige color. I'd like it to be dark red, and got some Rit dye for this purpose. I need to get the color right before I can start riveting in the metal plates. However, I'm hesitan...

Adriano

Nice work! How did you harden the leather?

Adriano

If you could get him to do a sketch of what he has in his mind's eye, maybe you could see if it's close to anything historical. If so, maybe you could guide him toward the real deal. (Though apparently that doesn't work with a lot of big-shot movie directors.)

Adriano

I could seriously have used a stick on some Venetians today.... the crowds around the Doge's Palace were pretty bad, but in the Piazza San Marco were even worse. If they were actually Venetians, natives of La Serennisima, then it's their town, their Palace and their Piazza. But there are all those ...

Adriano

Willing Pell:

I just turned 47 today, my back hurts,I work with kids half my age...SH*T!!

A belated Happy Birthday! Goddamn, that's old!

Adriano

So the next time I'm fighting with a stick, and pretending I'm a medieval Venetian, I can instead pretend I'm a medieval Venetian . . . fighting with a stick!

Adriano

Hey, Karl, glad to hear it. Hope I see you at the next Castle Wars! As it happens, I've recently been experimenting with designs for a war shield. No go; I am just not a shield guy. I can (re-)learn to use one, but the bursitis in my shoulder is killing me an hour later. So instead I got a long stic...

Adriano

I keep an inhaler in my pouch at events, even in armour on the field. I'm hoping a good deal of the asthma will go away as I lose weight and get in better shape. It seemed to help a bit when I stopped drinking milk. Has your friend had an official diagnosis? Her doctor should be able to give her muc...

Adriano

I'm fighting kids who weren't born when I got authorized. I've had a novel on the back burner since 1998. Movies that I think of as recent turn out to be fifteen years old. Remember how, when you were little and got out for summer vacation, the three months ahead of you would seem like an endless ti...

Adriano

Torvaldr: Not that this meets West Kingdom standards. I'm guessing that's a typo for "Note". Sounds like a nice mace; I've been thinking of making one like that, but I'm a little confused about the "clacker" standards in Meridies (and what would apply at Pennsic). I loved my "Kong" dog toy mace, bu...

Adriano

LWCM: That's why I'm going to get rid of my galvy shirt and make one in 12g dull aluminum. I'll probably use that until I find enough time to start working on a rivetted shirt. I saw a shirt like that last year (12 gauge aluminum, 3/8" ID). It actually looked pretty good; the thickness of the wire ...

Adriano

Having made a shirt of butted screen door springs( 16ga, nice temper), I can easily say that I could have gotten a part time job, and paid for a mailshirt in far less time than I took to make the shirt myself. Sing it, Brother. I'm reviving this thread because I've reached the tipping point on butt...

Adriano

I've worn a similar item (similar in size and function, but nowhere near as nice to look at) both ways -- under or over the hauberk, and even under the gambeson. Seems to work either way.

Adriano

Just a follow-up. The Friday night Holmgang went well; I helped marshall, but wished I had armoured up. All the fighters had fun; it was a bit complicated, but Sir Theatyn (aka Shair Fiachna) kept things rolling and achieved, I think, a nice combination of theatricality and hard fighting. For added ...

Adriano

Well, Oswyn, many years ago Fool's War was a much bigger event. It was often described as a three-way war with Atlantia, Meridies and Trimaris. However, Gulf Wars caught on and became the big Meridian war event (though now it's Gleann Abhann) Fool's War, only a month later, shrank in size and signif...

Adriano

Anybody else going to Fool's War this weekend (near Macon, Georgia)? I'm excited, because it's my first event since getting injured last year. In the ambulance I started wondering if I'd ever be able to fight again. Back now, and looking forward to all the fighting I can handle. Shair Fiachna (AKA S...

Adriano

Steve definitely makes great stuff, is a good guy, and presents a great appearance on the field. (Does that get me a discount?) I've already got a hauberk of butted 14-gauge, but would love riveted. Here's my plan: buy a bunch of ready-to-rivet rings, and every time I lose a butted ring, replace it ...

Adriano

As for water resistance, some folks have had good results treating fabric with Thompson's Water Seal. It needs to be a close enough weave, however, or you can forget about waterproofing it. I learned this from experience in a cold, hard rain.

Adriano

Congratulations! Well-earned, from what I hear.

Adriano

Congratulations! I hope we meet at Gulf Wars some day.

(You have "Centurians" in Ansteorra? I don't know what that means, but it sounds cool!)

Adriano

The more I read about what happens at Gulf Wars, the more I think I should give it another shot. Maybe it doesn't rain all the time.

Adriano

It's never occurred to me to use a different set of equipment for an important tourney, but I wouldn't think there was anything wrong with it, as long as the fighter still looks proper. However, it strikes me as a gimmick that shouldn't be relied upon. I wear thirty pounds of mail, but if I'm mental...

Adriano

If you dont fall down in a tounament from a killing blow then you are just a poor showman, a poor sport, or poorly trained ... to the spectator, all three at one time. Not necessarily. It's just that I don't accept the convention (in tournaments) that it's a "killing blow" because I don't like the ...

Adriano

Interesting topic, and very relevant to my current situation, as it happens. When I was younger, I'd not only fall down (when taken out in an SCA tourney); I'd do a backroll and end up on my face. Won a "Best Death" award in two different kingdoms. But in the past few years, I've come to hate our ri...

Adriano

Okay, I can see that one. Looks very nice! So, that's all hand work? It can be hard to machine-sew padded stuff anyway. Definitely looks better than the stuff I just made.

(I think the problem with the other pictures has to do with the particular PC I'm using.)

Adriano

I just took out a single vertical line of rings -- or rather, left those rings out as I was adding rows. Think I'll take Blackoak's advice and make the back slit shorter.

Adriano

I like the second pennon, with just two stars (whatever those seven-pointed stars are called in heraldry). The other two designs look too cluttered.

Adriano

I can't seem to see the pics, but it certainly sounds nice. I just finished redoing my own cuisses last night (preparing to get back on the field after leg surgery; wanted more protection). I'm also using separate padded pieces that the knee cops are attached too; those pieces are padded with severa...

Adriano

I've got mine front and back, starting a few inches below crotch level (with the shirt hanging unbelted). But I thought I'd fill it up with an expansion section (say two extra rings per row). If we're both at fighter practice Sunday, could I take a look at it? (Incidentally, Where does the slit go? ...

Adriano

Oswyn -- what is it with you and pitchforks? This I gotta see. I'll be coming back to fighter practice starting next Sunday; I want to see that pitchfork, and then you can clean my boots, peasant.

(Just kidding; trying out some aristocratic arrogance. Nope, doesn't really suit me.)

Adriano

Even when it doesn't work, it's entertaining for the spectators.

Adriano

I think about this sometimes when I arrive at a camping event. If I were a real nobleman, maybe I'd have some servants and could say, "Get me my chair, get me a cup of wine, set up my tent, then I'll decide on dinner. . ." But nope, I'm pounding stakes, getting sweaty, and carrying all my lordly stu...

Coat of Plates -- dying/painting fabric.

Fool's War XVII Combat Scenarios