The Armour Archive

carlyle

Saint-Sever wrote:I got an extraordinarily promising prototype under-hauberk arming garment from Gmandragora. We ougghtta touch base, sir.

Can't talk if you don't answer your phone. Call me... AoC

carlyle

Dagonet wrote:I hit my self with an excessive shot once...but I was drunk...and didn't have a helm on...

Scary -- Dagonet channelling Broadway

... AoC

carlyle

I don't know if it helps clarify or just confuse the issue further, but when I was in high school I came off a flip over a vaulting horse prematurely and slammed the back of my head into the horse on my way down. I had brown-out spells for several weeks after. The Dr. explained that I had effectivel...

carlyle

easily a lot cheaper on ebay. I thought that, too, until I tried bidding. These things (like so many other old hand tools) have fallen into the realm of "collectibles". Apparently, collectors are keen to complete their particular array of bits, and they will drive up the price much higher...

carlyle

James, did you run a groove for those stitches ? ... If one does lay the stitches in a groove and then taps them down with a hammer, it helps get them down out of harm's way. The technique I was taught was not to cut a groove (which removes stock), but to cut a shallow angle slit. Done right, the s...

carlyle

carlyle

Out of curiosity have any of you order(and received) a set of the aluminum clam shells he was working on? Yes. Mine were out of the first batch advertised here. They were shipped on time, even with design modifications. When there was confusion about the shipping address, Brand ate the cost of the ...

carlyle

Rod Walker wrote:Is this SCA excessive?

I don't care -- sign me up!!

carlyle

Zombie della Luna wrote:... you know what the first thing Jesus said when he rose from the dead?

"Here, pull my finger."

carlyle

Duke Andreas Eisfalke wrote:Mail made with 6mm rings, four riveted rings in one solid ring.

Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious (or more likely, completely off-base), but isn't this the same as alternating rows of solid and riveted?

Interested if it is... AoC

carlyle

I actually am curious about what y'all think about this. Am I saying stuff that everyone knows already? Am I just nuts? You're on the right track, you just need to go a little further. The time to throw the counter is in the time of the attack, not after it lands. The analysis needs to be in the co...

carlyle

This is the sword I would be choosing to use- It is period for my persona, the proper weight and balance, and a good balance between a cutting and thrusting weapon. This blade is typical of mid- to late-14th C. sword profiles. Swords from the age of mail (7th to 13th centuries) have a far shallower...

carlyle

To lose the opportunity though for both of us to fully portray our persona's though would damn near be tragic. It's not clear that the portrayals to which you refer are complementary. My guess is that she is acting out of the romantic role of an Arthurian-inspired SCA queen. Hers is a role that has...

carlyle

This thread has become quite the polarized dogpile, so I suspect my comments will get lost in all the static, but... Has anyone considered that the importance of deciding if the blow was actually good is not really germaine to what we say we are really doing? Technique and judgement is something you...

carlyle

I just received the following message from Amazon. I've had this book on order since it was first announced. Does anyone know if it is really not going to be published, or is this just an Amazon problem? Thanks in advance... Alfred / Jay Amazon notice: ========================= We are sorry to repor...

carlyle

I guess this was direct enough! Thanks for the update!!

AoC

carlyle

There was a mixup on a recent order, and I'm trying to reach him to sort it out. He hasn't picked up my IM, and he hasn't replied to my emails. Does anyone have a more direct way to reach him?

Thanks in advance... Alfred / Jay

carlyle

It doesn't tell you where to get plans, but at a Blackpool Medieval Market some years ago, there was a merchant renting portable timberframe inns and houses for reenactment events. I don't know if he's still in business, but it's possible one of the Archive Brits might have more information. Hope th...

carlyle

toads that would say something like that need to me removed from the field. i mean how self-centered, ignorant, and insulting. anyone who actually thinks they know the force of a blow that didnt hit them is a fool. What about something along the lines of, "I have never had an opponent ask me to hit...

carlyle

I am confused- there is a special calibration for Crown or Coronet tournaments? Gethin does not say this anywhere in his post. He does say that the organizers recognize and attempt to address two elements -- Crown has a high concentration of upper-level fighters, and it includes a level of "pressur...

carlyle

Cliff Rogers latest contribution sums up the historical argument for me. We already know that single sword blows, unless extraordinarily lucky or powerful, are not of themselves sufficient to defeat a noble warrior in hauberk (note that I use the term "noble" to identify a social class, not a sentim...

carlyle

Yet in the SCA, despite the scotsman wearing 16th century plate, he is assumed to be wearing maille, correct? Yes. But to maintain play balance, we must then assume that all archery is as used in the age of mail. Further, we should look to a representative selection, and not to either extreme (intr...

carlyle

The SCA period ends at 1600. Then again, very few SCA members wear full plate circa 1450 to 1600, most are portraying earlier armour or lighter harnesses. All that does is illustrate how our own petty conceits can muddy a discussion such as this. Mr. Rogers offers an explanation on why the results ...

carlyle

Morgan wrote:I think squires wearing chains adorned by their knights badges are cool as hell, btw.

Philistine.

carlyle

Yes, but my understanding, based on reading here, is that scenario-specific rules are not an SCA dealbreaker... The simple fact is that most of the suggested changes are already permissable as scenario elements -- face-only count, fixed-position firing, inviolate or banner-defeated positions, etc. ...

carlyle

... there is a middle ground. go to limited arrows per archer... I never saw this as a problem with either playability or context. What does frustrate me is the 3rd row sniping. I would suggest replacing ammo limits with restricting mobility (only allow firing from designated, fixed positions). Jus...

carlyle

So which would be better, to wear a harness following an actual period armor (albeit not period materials), or get modern sport gear? The former is more period in fit and function, but means I need looser garb over it. The latter would allow for a better look, but is not really armor. I believe the...

carlyle

*Sigh*. Still no Trumpington. And here I've got this credit with Johannes just burning a hole in my Christmas budget. *Sigh*.

Oh yeah, great work!

AoC

carlyle

It does indeed seem that, except in one or two cases, the sources are more vague in cases where arrows are alleged to have driven through plate. Plate or mail, Josh. I would not describe my own research as either scholarly or comprehensive, but the number of accounts where the armor explicitly turn...

carlyle

What a great resource, Ernst! Thanks!! 'Course, the image you reference probably raises more questions than it answers. The majority of depictions are traditional mail aventails or coifs (even the central figure is wearing one). It is difficult to tell just what the enclosed helms to the right of th...

carlyle

Would Gawaine have done something like this? Would Galahad try and murder a drunk in a tavern over a prostitute? OK, I'm confused. Which is it, Gawain or Galahad? Some versions of Gawain might very well have mixed it up with one of the locals over a tart. Or are you one of those new-revisionists wh...

carlyle

...what we are doing at war is making a pale imitation of a medieval battlefield... For a medieval noble, tournament is playing at war. And like the historic model, we limit participation to members of the Second Estate. So no matter your mode of rationalization, you still have to figure out who is...

carlyle

A sincere thank you to everyone who responded, and especially to Cet who took the time to forward several images depicting the mail standard (bloody English effigies are almost always shown with the bascinet on!). Clearly, I need to brush up on my 14th C. more, but absent that, I am very glad of thi...

carlyle

Ask me a specific and I'll give you a specific answer in return. This sounds a lot like, "I can't tell you what it is, but I'll know it when I see it." If this is true, it's a very arbitrary standard, to say the least â€“ more so than Rhys, since even his own arguments must pass a consistent, if na...

carlyle

WHAT I ALSO SAID is that even if a miracle occurs and CA is banned, the SCA will eventually schism into at least two groups, one of which will be as inclusive as the SCA is now, the other one of which will be MUCH smaller and more restrictive, similar to the Routiers. This is a reductio, Jonathan. ...

Re: 6 mm riveted mail with a solid ring- interest?

Re: 6 mm riveted mail with a solid ring- interest?

Book cancelled: "Italian Medieval Swordsmanship"?

Looking for Brand Lancaster