The Armour Archive

St. George

Are the sides of your fingers able to touch? I find that is what usually makes finger gauntlets not feel "as good" for me. My fingers not touching side by side robs me of some "hand strength" and makes me feel like I have less control, ability to hold onto the sword, etc. It impa...

St. George

I cut the handle small and then make a grip out of duct tape rope. The tackiness allows for a great grip, and a serious amount of extra power transfer for those of us with small weak hands.

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St. George

Personally, I consider the artificial kingdoms and rule by right of combat to be silly leftover crap like the elf ears and tolkeinisms, which have no real place in a medieval recreation group, as they are formed out of victorian fancy and whole cloth, but I respect the _people_ in the offices and t...

St. George

I can see that - heck, I play a lot of those tactics myself. But the vibe I got off this guy was "I want them to feel pain - enough that they don't want to face me, knowing I'll do it again." Big difference in "I gotta make sure I don't screw up or I'll lose" and "I gotta m...

St. George

http://www.rplastics.com/plac.html?gcli ... PAodny5ddw

Try one of these solvent cements. I think there is even one for HDPE. They are all two part, and will effectively bond the two pieces together.

Good luck!

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St. George

I bought the set that Clang mentioned originally and am still super happy with it. Thinking this one would be similar, I bought it.

I don't like it. The hammer's faces were soft, and got all messed up.

Get the nicer set.

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St. George

I am not sure if Zweihammer made that one, but he makes many like it. You should take a look at them.

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St. George

Thrusting crosses that same realm that CA does into questioning the balance of how we play the game. Other shots have to have a certain amount of control, strength, and power to be good, but thrusts seem for many people to be out of line with what they perceive those levels to be.

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St. George

Apparently this: "In rapier combat, blows will be counted as though they were struck with a real blade, extremely sharp on point and edge. Any blow that would have penetrated the skin shall be counted a good blow. In judging blows, all fighters are presumed to be wearing common civil attire of ...

St. George

I wouldn't expect anything less. If you feel it is personal you can send a pm.

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St. George

Sorry, I should have used the period terminology. I meant "fight" and "sport" in the same way you described. At home I have been trying to get away from using the word "fight", because my fiancee just doesn't get it. She doesn't know why people would want to "fight...

St. George

I didn't think the SCA was about killing blows only disabling blows. if the sword goes in a sticks that is bad news, if it hits bone and starts traveling around that is worst news. There was a guy in the Towton grave who took an axe to the face and lived for a while to die at towton; my guess is th...

St. George

There are certain instances where a Marshal should call a blow: such as flat or location. In these cases they are making corrections to what a fighter cannot see, or did not see, and not making the power/force call for the fighter. I really wish that Marshals would call some of those things more oft...

St. George

Chello! however, what the claim was that started this was the notion that one can place a heavy weapons styled sword against someones face and push, killing them as though their head was made of marshmellow. Not my point, your majesty. Just that the rule set we have permits it. A directed touch is ...

St. George

Aaron, It seems this armor/calibration issue has been going on for some time. I was wondering: Do you have problems with fighters of all experience levels? Do fighters of a higher experience level just not say anything, because they feel they can hit you again? Both of these might shed a little ligh...

St. George

I agree with Vitus 100%

St. George

I would guess that the Marshal inadequately stated what happened, and a lack of communication is what is causing this issue. It is more than likely that the thrust missed the intended target, and hit the brow of the helm or something similar. IIRC, in Atlantia, thrusts don't count. to the helmet top...

St. George

1. A rigid basket or cup hilt with enough bars or plates to prevent a blow from striking the fingers or the back of the hand. If a basket or cup hilt, shield basket, or center-grip shield is used, a vambrace and or partial gauntlet shall cover the remaining exposed portions of the hand and wrist. Fr...

St. George

To tie in with my previous comment, right now I'm waiting for the wife to finish showering so that we can take off to the nearest event. There's going to be 10 tournaments today -- and none with the same weapons (unless you count 'any weapon' as the same weapon). Performing well in all the day's ev...

St. George

Regarding winning: Remember that in the first movie, Rocky was not the victor, but he was clearly the winner. He is successful in the goal he wants to achieve: to go all 12 rounds with the Champ. Because the Champ should have beat him to a pulp, but did not, he is the loser. Like Rocky, we all have ...

St. George

Pretty much everyone mentioned does top quality work. If you find an armourer who you like but does not work in spring, see if you can provide them with the metal, and at least have them make the piece for you. Spring does not work that differently from mild steel, and is certainly no harder to work...

St. George

Tips for Kite Shield users: With a kite, you will find that you move your body around it, as much (or more) than you move it around. You should never really be moving it "up" so high either. Try working your head down towards it instead. Lean your head INTO your shield (center point of hel...

St. George

I have always wondered how different SCA fighting would be if people paid for fighting lessons. I have found that people take their training a little more seriously when they have to pay for it, or if their is something a little more official involved (like being on a high school team) than simply s...

St. George

you could also try a punch block across your body rather than a drop block. Both work equally well and lead into different shots.

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St. George

back in the day Cuan hit me so hard in a combo to my left hip that I briefly blacked out.

I had drainage run all the way down my leg from that for weeks afterwards.

I assure you all the pics would have been yellow, black and nasty.

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St. George

I use a set of gamboissed cuisses and stainless soupcan knees. They look good enough that they can be worn over pants, or I can hide them under.

If you sew a pocket into the cuisse, you could fit a nice plastic piece in there for added protection.

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St. George

HI,

It looks like you put a lot of time into working on these, but they don't quite look finished yet.

If you planish and smooth the wing on the elbow, I think you would have a much better chance of selling them. The work raising the elbow itself looks really good though.

Good Luck!

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St. George

What if when you got your armor checked for each battle, you were given a coupon book, with a coupon for each battle. As you went to go fight in it, all the tickets were taken up.

That would give pretty accurate numbers (probably +-20) I would bet.

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St. George

To dovetail with HG Lucan's comments, what I see is that because many of those 'top tier' fighters are leaving the field early (for any reason), many of their household members and admirers are seeing it OK to leave early as well. When those guys used to hang out all day, it was a place to 'be seen'...

St. George

What kind of kit do you have? That would be the best place to start!

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St. George

Politics, tactics, and logistics aside, my take on Pennsic is: You can go out and fight all day, there's plenty enough fighting for ANYONE to get their fill. Pennsic is as close as you can get to Valhalla without dying. I have to disagree with thet getting your fighting fill in. Once War week start...

St. George

mordreth wrote:"By any means necessary" - the objective is more important that the process.

On the field of gentlemanly combat, this ideal in its ultimate form has no place.

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St. George

This terminology is something that I hear used a lot in the SCA, and I have to say I am disgusted with the way that it is thrown around and considerably mis-used. Winning at all costs means more than cheating. It means that not only is someone willing to work hard as hard as they can training, learn...

St. George

My Knight, Sir Alaric. I don't have a single shot that can get past his defense. I would be willing to bet that all of your shots can get through his defense with the proper set up. I think that set up, range, and footwork are almost more important than having a thousand different shots to throw. W...

St. George

Do you have a version with no music? And with a little more context to some of the fights? It would be nice to see how some of those shots were set up.

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Re: Hey Mercs

Winning at all costs...