The Armour Archive

raito

Baron Alcyoneus wrote:Would you use a real sword like a crowbar?

Comedy gold, that's it right there.

raito

There is a difference between being a jerk and acting like a jerk. Indeed, we are what we do . But I would temper this statement with " we are what we do regularly " I disagree. We are everything we do. Every action pulls us this way and that. If we regularly are good, then the pulls move...

raito

I don't worry so much about borrowed stuff at a practice, or did you mean the guy who made it?

raito

Morejello wrote:Or, block.
I find the easiest way not to get stabbed in the junk is to not lead with it.

Some of us are built such that we'd have to walk backwards to not lead with it.

I see you are built otherwise.

raito

My solution may not be for you, but I'll put it out there anyway. My black plastic is not covered, because I chose a style of armour that would have been finished in a way that black plastic looks like. I do Japanese, whose lacquer, being a polymer, looks a lot like black plastic. And all Japanese a...

raito

A long, long time ago, I led the fighting unit from my Barony. Most of them were college kids, and pretty much really fine people. One Pennsic, I was also on the Unbelts. That Pennsic, the Crown was pretty unreasonable about mustering times, and I was inexperienced enough to ignore the Crown (really...

raito

1. In Crown, the Consort always has the Magic Bullet. All the consort has to do is withdraw him/herself from the tournament, and the fighter is done. I have never seen or heard of a woman doing this at a Crown, even when it would take a moron to not understand what was going on. It's not just the c...

raito

Bunch of replies to a bunch of posts (I've been working while you've been posting, but I'm compliling now). 1. In Crown, the Consort always has the Magic Bullet. All the consort has to do is withdraw him/herself from the tournament, and the fighter is done. 2. Yes, I've handled actual period pieces,...

raito

Sigifrith Hauknefr wrote:and mempos/face plate have a tendency to cut your head if they are not very sturdy (like Nissans...).

Please explain. I've never seen a head cut by a mempo.

raito

Leo and Logan, This all fits with what I used to like about how the double-elim tournament ran. You could fight with all your ability against all your opponents in the tournament, and not worry about how they were going to take it. When you got knocked out of the tree, you went and fought pickups. T...

raito

InsaneIrish wrote:Honor vs. Renown, forever at odds.

Sure, if you look at it that way (and all too many times, guys do).

But there's a way out of that trap. It's called prowess. Enough prowess, and you can have both honor and renown.

raito

Justice, It is quite probable that the reason you weren't allowed to continue is that there are places, like here, that believe that if you have to coach the fighter through the authorization, they aren't ready. In your case, having seen that you weren't wtriking well, they may have decided that tel...

raito

I disagree that authorization is only about safety, and fortunately, people around here agree with me. See, in an SCA bout, the bout ends when someone gets struck on their person. This means that the person who is completely unable to defend himself against blows loses under exactly the same circums...

raito

Any form of joint lock is a victory condition. Not sure if they used them in later period armored combat, but as we both have lots of training in hand to hand/submission, can't fight the nature on that one. An elbow will still break if twisted correctly. They did use them. It appears that they did ...

raito

This means if you call shots in what appears to be an uneven, inconsistent way, you will cause much talk and therefore gain more dishonor than any honor you could have gained by yet another victory in single combat. Heck, you can gain dishonor if you call shots in a consistent way -- if you call th...

raito

So there we were, Baron Rodrigo and I, facing down the faceless horde from the other side. I figure I might be able to get away (to devestate said horde from another quarter) if I were to use a clever strategem. Namely, to get the horde (not not THAT Horde) to concentrate on the good Baron. So I say...

raito

By the written rule, my helm should not pass. The face armour does not extend 1" below my chin. It follows the contour of my chin all the way down to where it meets my neck protection. It extends approximately 1/2" plus metal thickness below my chin. But it would be really stupid to bounce...

raito

James Anderson III wrote:"Jewelry concepts and technology, By Oppi Untracht"

Unlikely. I have a copy, and I don't recall that being in there. But it's in a box (with all the other books), so my answer is not definitive.

raito

I usually use window cleaner. Similar to the ammonia solution given previously (har har). I'm just too lazy to mix any up myself, so I grab the bottle.

raito

Likely to be in Pierre, Huron, or Bismarck (ND). Or nothing, depending on your definition of near. None of those is within a hundred miles.

That far west in Northshield, things tends to cluster on I90, I94, or I29, with the notable exception of Minot, ND.

raito

Yes, 5160 isn't particularly durable compared to other steels, but it's dirt cheap and easily available. I'm not sure what you're saying about it, though. It's used here to make heavy-duty springs more than weaponry. And I don't think I've ever had a piece fail in the quench (from new material, I av...

raito

I'd use 5160 because it's cheap and easily hardenable. Put a spring temper on it so that it won't break, because it doesn't need to be sharp and therefore doesn't need to be very hard. If I didn't care about cost, I'd use one of the maraging steels, because they'll flex umpteen million times without...

raito

I have personally done experiments, but they are woefully out of date, and don't quite apply. Those were done with substandard weapons against substandard armour. Hanging moving blanket gembeson covered with 14 ga, 5/16" ID ring butted mail made from galvanized fence wire, with an 18 ga mild st...

raito

If I were to have to fight with a sword, yes, I'd fight with one that closely matches my batons. 28" blade, 8" hilt, double edged, round guard. Rather Chinese looking, though I'm not finding the pictures I seek. The changes I'd make would be that I'd have a thinner steel guard rather than ...

raito

I made one 12ga stainless helm for myself. Holy crap it is heavy. I fought in it once and it's just to much. On the plus side I couldn't imagine anyone in the SCA strong enough to dent it with rattan. Rattan just isn't strong enough to put a dent in it. The rattan would fail well before it could ca...

raito

The drive time to events is not too bad in general. If the event isn't in Madison, which has the highest density of SCA population in the kingdom from what I understand, then there is at least a 1-3 hr drive. On the other hand you could also drive 18 hrs to an event and not even leave the kingdom. ...

raito

I must be learning something, I would've made the same comments.

raito

Well, the welding process is slightly more difficult, but the equipment is more expensive.

raito

When I was young, I won a lot of tournaments fighting with swords that were maybe 18" long. I was poor, and I used a lot of people's broken cast-offs. But I was pretty fast, and those short wepoans moved pretty well for me. Like thye rest of you old guys, I'm not quite as fast anymore. Any my s...

raito

Uh, tubing is made in many sizes and materials. And I don't know your design, but most school stands just have 2 tubes that slide one inside the other, with a levered cam to lock it into position. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. 20 gauge may be too light for the base, though. Probably good...

raito

1) No more moving into range and inviting my opponent's attack. Instead, attack attack attack myself. When I did this my opponent always retreated, so this will place me in the position of pursuing. Usually, I prefer to be pursued (and control the range). The problem is, my buttoned up opponent is ...

raito

None, if you fight two weapon.

raito

I'll second the bit on footwork. Without that muckin' great board to hide behind, you have to find different ways to close off lines and angles. And movement is the best way to do that. It's probably why you're getting better technically with the smaller shield. You have to really see what's going o...

raito

It somewhat depends on how you use it. For the beginner I teach, the arm is on the centerline. Left/right postioning is to close the hand, and measure from the knuckles to the back of the elbow, basically the longest length you can measure. Divide that in half, and that's where the center of the shi...

raito

Well, more and more people are re-discovering that a weapon that weighs and (within legal limits) behaves like their historical counterpart can outperform these sport weapons - especially with proper technique. It is happening - I predict that we start seeing fewer and fewer unpadded polearms soon....

Re: Full steel - would really like opinions

Re: Sorry, but I have to say it.

Re: Advanced SCA Tactics: LH Round Shield vs. RH Body Shield