The Armour Archive

Adriano

Congratulations, Vitus!

The book sounds great. It's $27.96 at Barnes and Noble: Here

Adriano

I guess it's because of the nice Fall weather, that there are so many events in October and November. The calendar does kind of fill up.

Adriano

My favorite tourney, Silver Hammer, is coming up this weekend, in the Barony of Thor's Mountain (Knoxville, Tennessee). Just wondering if anybody here is going to be there. If it's a possibility, I recommend it as a fun event. Silver Hammer was my first event, back in 1980, and I've fought in the to...

Adriano

Looks cool. If it were me, I'd show it to my local marshall and ask if I could use it. With the foil tape covered in clear tape, maybe it'd be okay.

Adriano

I guess people have different motivations for playing our game. I know when I've lost, but if I fought honestly and put my heart into it, I don't walk away feeling like a loser.

Adriano

Damnit, Graethorne -- thanks for making me laugh out loud when I'm supposed to be working. Maybe I shouldn't mention that, when I'm at a fall camping event and it gets cold at night, I take my rattan and, uh, I, I kinda sleep with it. Just to keep it warm, you understand. Strictly business.

Adriano

I usually take a shower with the piece of rattan, then let it soak some baby oil into the ends, then tape it up tight with strapping tape. Soaking for several days sounds like overkill.

Adriano

I was wondering about that 1/8" too! So if it's 3/8", you've got yer standard SCA butted mail. My gambeson doesn't have any rigid elements, just batting; I find that wearing a broad kidney belt over the hauberk provides good protection and also is good for taking some of the weight of the mail off t...

Adriano

43, myself. Lefties often get hit on the hand or forearm -- so please make sure you've got either good gauntlets or a good basket hilt, and vambraces (or at least one on the sword arm). Also, you'll probably get hit on the left shoulder, so I'd really recommend protection for the point of the should...

Adriano

Nice! They look a hell of a lot more "real" than the sticks of rattan we use in the SCA. Could he do polearm blades? Imagine the main Field Battle at Pennsic, with everybody using such realistic-looking weapons...

Adriano

I wear a cotton-batting gambeson under the mail, and a thick kidney belt over it (including a leather plastron). Extra padding on the shoulders of the gambeson.

Adriano

It's important to remember that a medieval map of the world served different purposes than a modern map of the world. Instead of a precise geographical representation of the physical arrangement and shape of the continents, it was more of a historical and religious comic book; Jerusalem might be in ...

Adriano

Thanks, Knoch! It was an honor teaming up with you; just sorry I crapped out before the large-scale melee stuff. I thought our two guys who authorized that day did very well.

So you're in Thor's Mountain? Guess I'll see you at Silver Hammer!

Adriano

Ulrich -- I'm on the left in this picture

and sitting my fat ass on the ground, with a very red face, in this picture.

Got to do something to spruce up my kit; felt shamed by all the really nice armour I saw on the field.

Adriano

Okay, now that I look at the pictures, I can see my face really does get red when I fight in the heat. No wonder people were asking me if I was okay!

Adriano

Fun! Joined together with a guy from California, a guy from Texas and two newbies. They got authorized just before the tourney, and then gave a very good account of themselves. (We were the team called "The Burgundians".)

Adriano

Very rarely (well, not as often) do you see a Hollywood hero who was high-born, unless they somehow renounced or were booted from their position. One exception I suppose is King Arthur. Good point -- and Arthur gets to have it both ways: he's the son of the King, but is raised in obscurity and has ...

Adriano

Just bumping this because the event is this weekend, and I'm leaving tomorrow. Just a two-hour drive. Hope the weather is okay.

If anybody else here is going, this may be your chance to tear me a new one!

Adriano

Great pictures! Gave me the feeling of being there much more than the daylight pictures. I always loved wandering around Pennsic at night, then going out on the field to see the kind of starry night sky you can never see here in Atlanta.

Adriano

Well, snakes are real, and people do in fact handle them. As for xi , there's no scientific evidence that it exists. Nice idea, believed by plenty of people, and a useful mental image -- doesn't mean it reflects a physical reality. Getting back a little closer to the OP -- I've met people who believ...

Adriano

Great! Last time I did this, half the fun was coming up with team names.

Adriano

Anybody else going to the Tourney of the Foxes? (Near Chattanooga, weekend of August 28. Here's the flyer.) Their tourney consists of six-man teams. I'm going by myself, and figured to try and land a spot on an incomplete team; otherwise I'll have made a trip for nothing. If anybody is planning on m...

Adriano

Nothing wrong with it. Unless you're hitting way too hard; I've occasionally had somebody hit my arm like they were really trying to break it. I've learned to wear good (although ugly) vambraces. I don't use a shield, and if I can get my opponent out from behind his, I've probably got the fight won....

Adriano

I love the greatsword, although I tend to exhaust myself using it. As for thrusting tips: if they didn't change the handling or striking characteristics of the weapon, I'd have one. However, I took mine off because A) I wanted that little extra smidgeon of speed, and B) a lot of my blows use the las...

Adriano

Has anybody tried using a sheepskin with the fleece on? I've used it for joint padding before, and it was very comfy.

Adriano

For those who still advise people to use foam: Why? A stuffed liner is fairly simple to make, historically accurate, cooler, wicks sweat away from the skin, looks great and is much more comfortable. Experiences vary. Obviously a liner stuffed with cotton is more authentic, but having made and used ...

Adriano

For about ten years, my helmet padding has consisted of a good deal of foam rubber (the ordinary open-cell kind you can get in any fabric or craft store) sewn into an old tee-shirt. One oblong piece of foam (which becomes hemicylindrical in the helmet and goes around the back and sides of my head) a...

Adriano

As it happens, I was discussing this very subject this evening at Owls Nest fighter practice. All of us there (five guys) agreed that we would rather be hit with a padded than an unpadded polearm. My own glaive, I think, strikes a nice balance -- it's got enough padding to delineate the "blade" and ...

Adriano

I'd like to reiterate Steve's warning that metal washers can cut through the fabric; that's what happened with my CoP. If I do another one, I'll make leather washers.

Adriano

Well, that's amazing. I'd guess about four times the number of rings I use for a given amount of area. Must feel like metallic silk.

Adriano

I'd love to have the input of Duke John the Mad Celt on this. I'm only slightly taller than average (5'11"), and my own experience is that, if skill levels are comparable, a taller man just offers more target.

Adriano

"The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer." is what I get. I'll try again later.

Adriano

I noticed that the page concerning fighter practice in Union Square includes directions for either driving or taking the subway. I can't help but wonder -- do the guys who take the subway carry all their stuff in a duffle bag or rolling luggage, or do they just wear it? Maybe New York is the place w...

Adriano

If there are really fighters regularly violating the rules of engagement, as well as common sense, by clobbering unsuspecting people from behind, then that's a real problem. I can't accept DKFB as a "solution" to this problem. The solution would be better training, and firm marshalling (e.g., suspen...

Adriano

Well, there's a generation of long-timers that are all aging. (I'm 43, been fighting since 1980.) But we keep getting new college students, and now that we've got Youth Combat, I break out in a sweat thinking that in a few years I'll be facing 18-year-olds who combine the energy of youth with years ...

Silver Hammer

Six-Man Teams at Tourney of the Foxes