The Armour Archive

Kilkenny

The nice fabric torse on the helm - great idea and totally out of place on an armet, a valgard, a burgonet, a sallet... I'll give you the Valsgarde and Armet (although feathers are quite fetching on an armet) But, not the Burg or Sallet. Have you got a source for torses on armets or burgonets in pe...

Kilkenny

The problem is finding non-combatants with legal armour and the willingness to walk around a battlefield holding a flag on a stick all day. Bannerers should not be non-combatants. I don't know if it was ever the practice for a bannerer or colour-bearer to be a noncombatant. The problem is in fact t...

Kilkenny

Diglach mac Cein wrote:Vladimir -

Number of people seems to be equated with success, prestige and power with some folks.

.

Bingo. Especially if your geographic unit likes making an effort to be "democratic", so your household becomes a powerful voting block on the local scene.

Kilkenny

...if we opened up the SCA to 1700 AD and let musketeers run around in their regalia for fencing. This would bring "firearms" into fencing possibly, but I think it would be fun and good for recruiting. From pics of many SCA fencers it looks to be that way already. It's only "on the s...

Kilkenny

But let's get something straight. blue camp foam has never been a reasonable choice for helm padding. Being better than an inadequate option that really shouldn't be used wouldn't be saying much.

Gavin

Kilkenny

Does anyone know whose arms they are? That might go a very long way toward explaining things...or not

Kilkenny

I'm not in favor of choosing the small tent. I'm pretty sure it leads to the end of the road, quite possibly within my lifetime. I don't like that prospect. The SCA has been the group that got an awful lot of this whole medieval interest kicked off. Many of our people have become significant figures...

Kilkenny

Victor Hanson Davis did a nice analysis of the alleged mile run (or it was a kilometer) at the Battle of Marathon by having fit college students run in classical Hoplite armour, and apparently they were very shortly so exhausted as to be unfit to fight at all.... thus disproving the interpretation ...

Kilkenny

When I was at my prime, I "practiced" in Sean's terms once a week. I "evaluated" almost every week (and probably could count many of those "evaluations" as also having a "practice" element, since I hardly ever fought where I didn't get pick-ups in with somebod...

Kilkenny

Not every camping event has Pennsic's restrictions on space. Depending on where a tent will be used, excess footprint may not be an issue. I still think a nice wedge is the optimal combination for what the lady is talking about

Kilkenny

I can't fill the gap between the clunky piece of unpainted leather and the smoothly shaped form of the painted guard. How did you get from A to B ? Carve the leather... when I make hilts for my swords I use several layers of thick leather guled together then carve the shape. mmm.. I can see where t...

Kilkenny

I'm looking at the construction pics and the final and trying, unsuccessfully, to grok how the leather wrap was made into the very nice looking guard on the finished weapon I can't fill the gap between the clunky piece of unpainted leather and the smoothly shaped form of the painted guard. How did y...

Kilkenny

Gavin how would one know what might cause offense? As it goes with the discussion because the OP seemed offended by the shield banging. Maybe not offended rather questioning it. What if I placed my hilt to my heart and bowed my head? That way I'm not pointing or making a possible mistake in my salu...

Kilkenny

On the infrequent occasions when I have a shield, I may do a big, attention getting slap. It's a show for the crowd, an attention getter that says "hey folks, we're ready to go here, you might want to watch this" and it says to my opponent that I'm ready to go. Gavin, my memory tells me t...

Kilkenny

Not having strongly sloped walls kills my first two thoughts, both of which are good period solutions The first is an A-frame (geteld or whatever name one chooses ) They're efficient in terms of canvas, poles and stakes, easily convert to a shade fly configuration. But, the walls drop straight down ...

Kilkenny

One has to remember not to fall into the "Julia Child/Platonic" concept of recipes. People in period used what they had, and if they lacked this or that spice, then they improvised. Interesting point. I tend to think of recipes coming in three varieties: -Documented: Where you use primary...

Kilkenny

So... twenty to the dollar, and you'd need how many for the sleeves and legs? (If it's 40k scales... that's $2k. Can't swing that puppy, not even close) I'm sorry, I couldn't resist this. At that price it would be just like gluing nickels on it! Friends of mine went to Prague recently and brought m...

Kilkenny

Baron Alejandro wrote:Your Grace,

And it's not as if the Society suffers from any sort of institutional inertia, the 'That's The Way We've Always Done It'. It's not like anything ever changed in the Society.

Sarcasm check. Just exactly what are you getting at here?

Kilkenny

Forgive me; I know tastes vary, but does it seem a little silly to any of the rest of us to spend time making a steel knive look like knapped flint? Yes and no. I think this execution is artistically beautiful in its own right, without any outside reference. I think intentionally making steel look ...

Kilkenny

Mmm.. I used to run a 48 and a 75 marine. I've got a Vortex xl diatom filter that's homeless now, and someplace around the house (but hiding from me, dammit!) there should be a foam factionator. Small Penguin powerhead, some filter materials I'll never use again, Instant Ocean and so forth. The majo...

Kilkenny

Never seen steel napping before?

It is very handsome.

Kilkenny

Wow, I've learned a lot in this thread. How as a Roman I should salute and to make sure I let my opponent know that I do or do not have a thrusting tip. I would put your hand, grasping the hilt of your sword over your heat, then point it out straight toward them. chuckle.. Be careful where your thu...

Kilkenny

On the infrequent occasions when I have a shield, I may do a big, attention getting slap. It's a show for the crowd, an attention getter that says "hey folks, we're ready to go here, you might want to watch this" and it says to my opponent that I'm ready to go. See, in my mind, that right...

Kilkenny

Blackoak wrote:
Gorm wrote:Somebody promise to get video.

No kidding! So about how many total years of fighting are represented here? 150+ years?

Uric

Thereabouts. Vis and I are senior with about 38 and 36 years respectively, so you're almost halfway there just with us.

Kilkenny

Has anyone told any of you that they are intentionally being rude by giving a shield slap or smacking their own helm? If they have not, then it is entirely in your interpretation of their actions and not at all in their actions that the rudeness of the gesture lies. There is no universal understandi...

Kilkenny

More seriously, I am deeply honored and somewhat at a loss for words.

Kilkenny

Nissan Maxima wrote:Holy shit. Afternoon of the living dead.

And the horse you rode in on, Tengu Boy! ROFL!

Kilkenny

Had a fellow approach my unit on the Pennsic field once, all dressed in red (Middle Kingdom tape color) - we asked him which side he was on, no answer but he kept approaching, asked again, no answer but he kept coming, asked again, no answer, he came in weapon range and we gacked him - - - then he ...

Kilkenny

An observation regarding the use of tape on helms. This thread is not the first place anyone has expressed a dislike for it. This thread is not the first place anyone has suggested an alternative to it. Tape is not universally used and to the extent that it is used it is not universally a cop-out be...

Kilkenny

One of the reasons that arm bands have not been adopted is the wonderful capacity some people have for being twits about things. Wear that armband behind a war shield and it's pretty much invisible to the people who most need to see it - those you are facing in combat. Stand in the second or third r...

Kilkenny

Hitting someone from behind is allowed depending on how the line engagement has struck. This happens all the time and is totally legal. g- Clarification- There are a limited set of circumstances in which it is legal to strike an opponent from behind, completely outside any conventions related to &q...

Kilkenny

Liviatasia, during large melees some things will happen that are not entirely within the rules. Usually they're minor violations and usually no one is intentionally doing anything they aren't supposed to do. Occasional incidents of shield punching would be a good example - one fighter is reaching fo...

Kilkenny

Friendly fire is period. Not only that, but even tape does not provide a 100% garuntee against friendly fire: I was killed once at Estrella War, by fighters from my own kingdom, while wearing a kingdom tabard and of course the stupid marking tape. Having that tape on there did a lot for me that day...

Kilkenny

I have heard they have this new invention that should totally remove the need for marking tape. I think they call it Heraldry.... And you are familiar with the heraldry of several thousand individuals upon the field of battle? Perhaps you have noticed that it has not yet been possible to reach a co...

Kilkenny

The duke of Berry served the king of France with the confit-box, and the duke of Burgundy with the cup of wine. Glaukos This sentence makes it very clear to me that we are not reading accounts of spiced wine, but of wine to drink with some kind of spice "treat" accompanying the wine. Comb...

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Re: Etiquette on the war field

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Re: SCA at an evolutionary cross-roads (A discussion)

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Re: Treadmill shows medieval armour influenced battles

Re: Training, Practice and Evaluation

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Re: SCA gladius

Re: Rude Salutes

Re: Rude Salutes

Re: Have to replace a tent...

Re: "Wine and spices" in Froissart

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Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: How do you think they got this effect?

Re: Rapiers and equipment

Re: How do you think they got this effect?

Re: Rude Salutes

Re: Rude Salutes

Re: Pennsic War Champions

Re: Rude Salutes

Re: Pennsic War Champions

Re: Pennsic War Champions

Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: Etiquette on the war field

Re: "Wine and spices" in Froissart