The Armour Archive

Malek

From a fighter local to your area: The Three Mountains fighter practices are actually very newbie friendly. Many good fighters and instructors attend there. You would do well to go even if you can't get your armour to work right. The Stromgard fighter practices are also good. Again, many knights, du...

Malek

One that was shown to me is referred to as 3-1.
The attacker has 3 shots, the defender has one. The defender can only swing after the attacker throws one blow.
Repeat 5 times each.

It has actually helped our new fighters learn how to "put it all together".

Malek

I train for endurance in war. -- Last year at An-Tir/West war I was only in about 1/2 the scenarios because I had to sit out and catch my breath. I train for more stamina in tournaments - so if I make it past the first 2 rounds, I am not struggling to hold my shield up. -- I have issues in both shou...

Malek

For fighter practice I use some modified hockey knees. I put barrel plastic wings on the sides of the knees to extend the protection and replaced the elastic and velcro with buckles and straps. Tournament and grassy practices I have hardened leather greaves with steel knees and leather point wings. ...

Malek

I generally use the metal cutting blades for my leather cutting. If you keep the blade speed fast and move the blade slowly, it makes a fairly clean cut.

Malek

http://www.thescorre.org/literature/Mongol_Garb.htm That's where I found the pattern I use for my own Mongolian coat. I suppose you could make it really long to go down to the ankles. If you want good ideas, I would suggest these books: The Mongols - Osprey books by Stephen Turnbull - many good rep...

Malek

Likely you won't need it to be that long. Most Mongol coats / Deels I have seen don't generally come past the knees.

I have a decent pattern for a Mongol coat that I use as a gambeson under my armour.

Malek

Thanks again for the suggestions. @Derian le Breton - I'll check over that fabric again. If I remember it all correctly, it may be that noil you are talking about. @Robert of Canterbury - I have not talked to Bane about this - yet. I'll hit him up the next time I see him at fighter practice. @Gobae ...

Malek

Dan Howard wrote:You need to be careful what silk you use and how it is woven. Raw silk has a much higher tensile strength than processed silk.

Good info. I think my wife has some raw silk leftover from her embroidery projects. I'll add that to the list.

Malek

JT wrote:Please tell me that you intentionally misspelled "medieval."

Please.

Heh - my bad. I'll have to re-do the credits and fix that.

Malek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIk_5v2JL_I I did this video to start to see if there was any truth at all to the prevalent legend about a silk shirt as a base layer under armour. The legend says that if an arrow penetrated the armour that the silk shirt would wind around the arrow and follow it int...

Malek

http://www.mcmaster.com/#trim-molding/=b3ht16 Lots of choices and sizes that may work well for you, especially if it's canvassed first. For those trims, I would suggest putting them on either the bare shield or once it's been canvassed. Then stretch your rawhide over it and you should be good to go.

Malek

Here in An-Tir, Sir Rodrigo was knighted when he was 50. He started at 45.
His attitude and demeanor are an inspiration to this 40 year old trying to work off a few too many sedentary years.

Malek

A buddy made himself a kong mace. It works well, although I have to re-gauge my hits when he fights with it (I have to call the 'thud' not the 'clank'). He put it on unskinned rattan about 1 1/2". He dunked it in boiling water for about 30 seconds and was able to slide it on without any modific...

Malek

I'll put a third on MS security Essentials.

I started using it as an interim on the computers here at work, and suprisingly it catches a LOT of stuff, and even manages to intercept bad stuff well.

DONT use Windows Defender - that is the suxxor.

Malek

I use zip ties to hold the siloflex edging I put on my shields until the lacing can go on. Usually the ties wind up under the cord lacing, which is then covered with either canvas or rawhide. When I first started heavy fighting, I used zip ties to hold my shield edging on - I gave that up after goin...

Malek

It's entirely possible to make a good set of hidden, low profile armour from plastic or old signs.

Definitely hit up the locals - they are most willing to assist new people.

Malek

Your account info indicates you are in Beaverton. This means you are not far from the 3 Mountains practice on Monday Evenings. http://www.currentmiddleages.org/3m/meetings-mainmenu-27.html Ask around there, plenty of armourers handy. I have been known to host armouring workshops and even take the oc...

Malek

If you ever have the opportunity to fight Sven (SCA name) or Spyn (Amptgard), you need to. He has given Ansteorra a whole new respect for florentine. Spyn is definitely a fun fight in Amtgard. I have not crossed rattan with him, only foam. If he takes his enthusiasm with him to the SCA field, he wi...

Malek

My own persona is late-empire Mongolian (14thC or so.) My wife portrays a Timarid Persian also 14-15thc. From my research, I have seen that a sash is for clothing, but a belt was used to hang heavier things, like quivers, swords, etc. Also for steppe-archers, it was common to mount the quiver and bo...

Malek

Thanks for all the info. This project is for an A&S competition in 2 weeks. I don't think I'll have time to get all the materials ordered and assembled. One thing I did discover - I can hammer the bar stock into arrowhead-like shapes cold. Then file down the arrowhead shape. I can then go back w...

Malek

Check it out at Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/60-inch-x-80-inch-wool-blanket-92625.html
It's a blend, but might work for what you want.

Malek

I hope I am not being an idiot here. I got a propane torch from Harbor Freight: Electric start torch I also picked up some clay bricks from Home Depot. I basically tried to imitate the mini-kiln thing from another thread. I drilled a hole in one of the bricks that fits the nozzle of the propane torc...

Malek

Kodak Zi8 Is what I use currently. Good price when I got it at Target. (about $160 plus SD cards). If you film in the HDMI setting, you can get really good slo-mo playback for analysis or just plain nifty-ness. Lower settings for more lengthy recordings. (we use it to film our music gigs / belly da...

Malek

My time fighting is not nearly as extensive as others here, so please take my commentary as my own experience and opinion. I started with the plastic Baldar cuphilts and still use one on my spare stick. Light, durable and protective. The opening is large and this helps accomodate a large variety of ...

Malek

That's the stuff I want to see! Malek, on your wife's helm, which is awesomeness, by the way, it looks like a liner under the maille. How did you attach it and how far in from the edge does it come? The helm has a thick leather band riveted to the helm and has lacing holes punched in it for lacing ...

Malek

http://www.oregonleatherco.com/

They are local to Portland, OR but I have been able to find plenty of good, white belt-weight leather there. Try hitting them up if your other supplier comes up short.

Malek

New fighters get bombarded with formulas and suggestions when they start asking about lengths, weights and balance. My advice to them all is the same: "If it's comfortable for you and you can move it easily, then it's just right. Now finding that Goldilocks fit will be the hard part." I th...

Malek

Best shot so far of my (being rebuilt) camail (that's me in the middle) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5027199883_dec95b5548.jpg Helm was a gift from a friend, unknown maker. The plates were via a friend that does metal fab work, and I did the assembly. Here is my wife's helm: http://farm6.stat...

Malek

That's great to hear. We have some new fighters in the area and now I can safely steer them your direction.

Malek

Very nice work, indeed.
I do like seeing someone taking bar grills and making them look badass.

Malek

I had created a 'boob-panel' ( I really didn't know what else to call it) to increase the room under the upper part of a coat of plates I was makign for my wifes, um, even bustier sister. Technicallly it would work, but the project never was completed as she thought bellydancing was more fun that f...

Malek

If you are looking for protective, my wife's armour works well. Here is the armour without the nice cover: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5235902091_44f2c00c1d_m.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5122/5236494674_5a72c085b0_m.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5085/5236494800_fff315a5ed_m.jpg a...

Malek

My family is wonderful at supporting me (and now my wife's) armour habits. My birthday (in November) I got a HF Beverly shear knock-off (worked great out of the box!) and a couple of UHMW shaping hammers. For Christmas, my in-laws made a custom order to ringlord.com and got me some shiny aluminum ri...

Malek

Here is my thread from last year.

The full scope of pictures is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9998306@N06/sets/72157621804247351/

Re: Newbie questions

Re: Training Idea.

Re: What are you training for?

Medieval Mythbusting - Silk shirts

Propane torch and an attempt at a mini-kiln