The Armour Archive

raito

Murdock wrote:"20-somethings moping about in black spandex wearing "The Crow" makeup"

i saw a buncha them at pennsic

what the heck is that about????

Same thing as always. 'Hey, there's this week-long party where we can do anything we want.'

raito

Maybe not among those who've researched it, but the popular belief certainly does seem to be that the English won all the time because they had longbows (when we know they really won because they were fighting the French ). And Josh, don't worry about the beers. If they're necessary to get a turnout...

raito

Some many years ago, our local group also did a bit of jousting (if it could be called that), using plastic sleds pulled by a couple fighters. Yeah, not like being on a horse or anything, but better than nothing. Besides, at that time, there was no SCA equestrian stuff going on, and we were in a pub...

raito

If you look at the Pembridge, it appears as though the 'base loop' (as you call it) is worked to conform to the upper loop, rather than what you're trying to do. Regardless, there is absolutely no need to remove material. Metal is remarkable in its ability to be worked, whether stretched or compress...

raito

Hi, Very well written. I have one little quibble with what you wrote, however: How is hitting from behind unchivalrous? Nothing in the literature suggests medieval knights would have seen anything unchivalrous about it, and they have to be our guides to what is and isn't chivalrous. I believe that,...

raito

While I've seen the effect in the more traditional martial arts, I see it more in the SCA. And I've seen it go the wrong way in both. It somewhat comes down to respect. Have you ever tried to explain to a non-fighter the difference in relationship between someone you fight every week, someone you've...

raito

Next Large War â„¢ what about a battle that ONLY comprises of archers and siege? A 30 minute resurrection battle where no blow is thrown and kills are only by arrow or bold. There is one at Gulf Wars. I fought in it 2 years ago (without a bow, couldn't kill anyone) and was not allowed to fight in i...

raito

I'm amused. I have a box of plaster bandages and 2 sets of greaves to make for myself (one Japanese, one Mafia). And after the last TOC, I really shouldn't be bending over a whole lot (or quickly).

raito

I don't think i've actually fought any CA's in Northshield yet. I don't think you'll have too many problems here -- we don't put up with much of that sort of thing (but don't stop to ask a guy who has one nicked and ready to yield, you'll probably get shot). They know they can be hit, and wear armo...

raito

Mostly I agree. Here's where I dont: Honor and Sufficient force. With all other weapon forms it is the person struck who gets to deem a blow good or not. Archery violates that honorable choice as bolts and arrows are automatically good when they hit "properly oriented". Not quite correct, ...

raito

Rev. George wrote:Be safe: Tell him you box or do MMA.

-+G

That's what Count Lars did up this way when he had his eyes done. I think he was out for a couple months.

raito

Ignore the plastic troll. It's neither cheaper or easier. (Disclaimer: I wear plastic body armour, because I'm simulating plastic coated body armour). I would disagree with this statement. Not a blanket disagree, but plastic IS easier and cheaper to work than steel. When you take into account tools...

raito

All steel is carbon steel. Not necessarily. Look up the compositions of some of the maraging steels. They don't harden by the same mechanisms. Coming from a non-fencing kingdom, you probably wouldn't know about them . (The only uses for the stuff, as far as I've found, are solid-fuel rocket casings...

raito

Ignore the plastic troll. It's neither cheaper or easier. (Disclaimer: I wear plastic body armour, because I'm simulating plastic coated body armour). Here's what I'd do in your situation: 1. Since you already know how to make armour of a sort, use that to your advantage. Put everyone in simple coat...

raito

My rapier fighting has had no effect on my armoured fighting. This is to be expected, as I only do rapier one or two times a year. Therefore, it would seem that my armoured fighting affects my rapier fighting totally. Although I fenced epee throughout high school, it has had little effect on my rapi...

raito

How do I fit a punch to an arbor press? It it were me, I'd drill the ram to fit a punch, and add a setscrew to hold it in place. I'd remove the baseplate thing and replace that with my jig, probably out of 1" aluminum or something like that, drilled and tapped to take the die end of the punch,...

raito

I've never had good luck with drilling stacks. Either my jig for holding them wasn't precise enough, allowing the stacks to be just off vertical, or the drill press was junk, with the same result combined with a bit of wobble. These days, I don't worry about it so much, and use either my punch press...

raito

Not to knock'em, because I've bought a bunch of stuff from them, but email isn't the most timely method of communicating with them.

raito

Wulf, Sorry, but there shouldn't be practices on Saturdays. That's when there's tournaments (unless you want to go beck to the bad old days of Chicago being a black hole that no one ever leaves, even to go to De Kalb.) Duke Logan, "suer who and on what grounds?" The guy who owns the proper...

raito

As usual, I quote the Governing Documents, so let's go from there. My comments in parentheses. A. Patents of Arms 1. General Requirements: Candidates for any order conferring a Patent of Arms must meet the following minimum criteria. Additional requirements may be set by law and custom of the kingdo...

raito

Been there (at least, not SCa rules, but with rattan). That particular scenario seems to degenerate into who's better at the grapple. If grappling is allowed, then the two sword guy tends to block double until close enough to grab. The single handed weapon didn't seem to get in the way as much as th...

raito

(note that two weapon is what I usually use) In order to control a fight against a two weapon fighter, you must keep them busy. The better one's are much more than what's been characterized here. They use range, angles, tie-ups, timing, 'sticky'weapon', etc. to get an advantage. If you let them set ...

raito

Personally, I use polyethylene closed cell foam from MSC ( http://www.mscdirect.com ). The thickness depends on what I'm padding, 3/4" for helms, 1/4" in gauntlets, 1/2" most other places I use it. It's not self-adhesive -- I use a spray contact cement to stick it to things, but I only spray the foa...

raito

Dominic,

Is that really injection-molded, or the vacuum-formed ones? Just asking, as I've seen guys with the latter, but not the former.

raito

Real content: My point was that those who are higher would naturally provide a more costly ransom than those who aren't, especially in these circumstances. For example, I, a Count, should provide a more costly ransom than Josh, who isn't. Derailed content: It could be worse. We could translate that ...

raito

Horradrick wrote:Nice.

Just a suggestion: I realize you said that gifts and ransoms could be anything, but it may help to suggest a dollar amount just to get people in the mind set of what you are looking for.

That depends entirely on how much you're worth, nearly-blingless-one.

raito

Couldn't have been me. My best is always good enough.

raito

There was in Ansteorra when I lived there (but that was a while ago). 3 auths: fight, shoot, fiberglass. But rattan spear wasn't separate. Never figured out why.

raito

You could leech the Mid info off of Legio. That'd take care of quite a bit.

raito

I'm going to use alternate marking for mattmaus's quotes, because I'll be all day at it otherwise... *** Before I begin, understand that I'm not trying to single you out for nefarious reasons, but rather, because 1>I have your comments to work *** No problems. We're on the same side of the argument ...

raito

Ken,

Because the SCA gets the whole thing for the duration, and it's not in the owner's interest to sublet portions of it for that time.

raito

Mattmaus, You bring up an interesting point there (one that I've had to deal with before). And given my immediately previous rant, I'll explain how I deal with those cases, because I'd like to think that I'm not completely inflexible. In both the cases you show, the helmet would in fact, completely ...

raito

Zweihammer, "There shall be NO major internal projections; minor projections of necessary structural components shall be padded. All metal shall be free of sharp edges. Face guard bars or mesh should not attach to the interior of the helm, unless of structurally superior design and workmanship." Too...

raito

especially given that most kingdoms banning side/top/back of the head thrusts did it for safety, not to encourage having your head turned when you get whacked hard. I'm less certain than you that that is a given. The Mid was one of the Kingdoms that came to the head thrusting game pretty late. So t...

raito

Rev,

Except in the Mid, where the EM specifically said it wasn't.