The Armour Archive

raito

No pictures exist of the first kit I owned. It was entirely carpet, with on of the old Polidor pattern spangen helms. The cuisses were held to the body with some telephone wire. I suspect some roommates of tossing it out. Second suit was leather Japanese that I wore the dou from for 20 years or so u...

raito

Jess wrote:If you stick with SCA combat long enough, you will sustain crippling chronic injuries.

And how long would that be?

raito

Yup, this precisely. The questions I get are always 'why is that guy over there wearing nikes if you are suppose to be knights?' or 'why is that guy fighting from his knees?' My answer to the Nikes is usually something like, "Unlike some groups, we don't make anyone be perfect when they get th...

raito

LOGOS wrote:
Ron Broberg wrote:Some day the Battle of Thirty will be fought with steel.

Probably not in our lifetime...

Possibly in our lifetime. Probably not in the SCA.

raito

[quote="JvRCant a little metal colored spray paint cover up the blue? Hell if half the plastic was spray painted to look like steel, it would help tons. Is it really that hard? Whats a can of no name paint? $2.95?[/quote] No, it's not that hard. But it still looks like silver-painted blue plast...

raito

It's true that there are better alternatives to basket hilts but I don't see them going away any time soon. It's a lot cheaper to buy or make a basket hilt than a good pair of gauntlets. There is plastic in my kit too but it's all covered and you can't tell that it's not metal underneath. So if it'...

raito

"What actual reasons do potential recruits give for not doing SCA heavy combat?" Besides the 'I'm crazy and you guys don't want me" kind of reasons that some have pointed out, the usual reasons are 3: 1. Not into it. (which may disqualify them as a potential recruit) 2. Costs too much...

raito

Well, since basket hilts are a necessary safety device I would imagine they'd be exempt from those rules anyway. It's interesting that I've never used one of thse 'necessary' devices. It's not so much that there's always alternatives, it's more like which alternatives we find acceptable. Then again...

raito

Aced11 wrote:but i don't think i'll even have a sellable one by the third attempt.

Some hard advice:

If you think your third piece will be sellable, think again.

raito

How about the fact that most helms are not circular, but ovoid?

raito

Part of the problem is that nothing looks more like gold than gold. And gold prices are inflated. That said, plating is not that expensive to do. Caswell has some good kits, or you can roll your own if you have a power supply and aren't an idiot. Then all you need are the plating solutions. The cost...

raito

The middle name would be Palomides. And he was Knighted by the West, though at Pennsic.

raito

Wouldn't it be better to put these in the "I Wanna Be A..." threads. More work, but it'd tie things together.

raito

Part of the problem with using Musashi as any sort of SCA reference is that he was born prior to 1600, but lived mostly after 1600. Aside from the question of when exactly is the cutoff for SCA period (I use pretty much 11:59 pm, Dec. 31, 1600, but it's not teh only way), there's the question of wha...

raito

Musashi used them in a duel with a school that claimed they were better than him/could beat him/whatever... There were about 67 or so of them that showed up, but since they surrounded him, he only had to beat 6-10 to get through them. Eiji Yoshikawa wrote the book Mushashi, and I read it c1982. He ...

raito

You should probably have Beverly resharpen the blades. They know the exact right geometry to use. I've never heard of someone sharpening their own as well as the factory.

raito

...because the other topic really isn't about that. I agree with Leo that the Japanese didn't do it, but for different reasons. Even if Go Rin No Sho said Musashi did it, he did it after 1600. There's sure nothing about him doing it before, and nothing really concrete about his doing it after. I can...

raito

MariaAgrissa wrote:Yup. SEM was pretty rude to Mord in his response. One of the most unchivalrous things I've seen in a long time. And that's saying something!

One pissed off wife,
Maria A.S.

At least he got an answer. I never got that when I was King trying to ask him stuff. Stuff about KEMs.

raito

Don't diss the clown hammers. Ladt time I was at GW, I had to pick one up, and I managed to bonk a few guys on the noggin before they finally got me.

raito

What do I think? Well... While I understand the helm changes, I can't say as I like'em. Unless the KEM's are materials specialists or have access to such. And the ridiculous spun top rule is still there. It needs to die. Finished thickness is all that counts, not starting thickness. VII B 3 is contr...

raito

I recommend punch sizes that work well with the rivet sizes you use.

raito

Sean Powell wrote:They share a number of similar properties but UHMWPE is higher tensile properties.

Not to mention chemistry.

raito

What I have used to pien rivets on the inside of deep things is nothing more than a biggish piece of round stock domed on the end, about a foot long. Nothing fancy, just a bunch of weight and a handle (in this case, the handle is the weight).

raito

Twill weave with white warp and indigo-dyed weft is certainly period.

raito

At the moment, we don't have a children and vegetables problem. Maren loves veggies of any sort. Our current usual treatment is to put the pieces in a bowl with a very small amount of water, covered with plastic wrap, and microwaved for a couple minutes. The added water is only there to keep them fr...

raito

Over the years, darned near everything except pastry chef. That was when I was young and needed work. Still worked in restaurants when I got financially stable enough to go to college, but at that time I wasn't working places that were culinarily interesting, because I was more concerned with hours ...

raito

Pray tell more ... this is very interesting... Alrighty... There's nothing wrong with steel. It has its characteristics, and they can be used. Copper bottoms are not put on pans because the pans are too thin. Copper is put on bottoms because copper conducts heat very, very well. This means that whe...

raito

I've found that getting my feet up off of cold concrete does wonders. I can get by just fine with a small infared heater aimed at my legs. If I do heat my shop, it'll have to stay the same temp all the time, ebcause I don't want to deal with condensation issues with rapid heating/cooling cycles.

raito

Stainless is used for convenience not for cooking quality. Same with Aluminum. This is not correct. Aluminum has higher heat conductivity than steel. Aluminum is used because it will heat more evenly on an uneven heat than steel. In my experience, it's nearly all aluminum and stainless in restuaran...

raito

My words marshal proof, meant just that... Somewhere out there at any given point in time your going to have some well meaning marshal that is so concerned for your safety; that he is going to fail your kabuto without wrapper because if you bend you head forward like so, and a specific shape of pik...

raito

I disagree that a wrapper plate is the only way to pass inspection. I've been doing it for close to 30 years without a wrapper. And that's with going to foreign wars and everything. I also disagree that steel shikoro get beat to hell in no time. My current kabuto and so-men have been in active servi...

raito

Hey,look! It's my breastplate and mail! (On the far left, modelled by Count Stephen)

[img]http://ursus.smugmug.com/SCA-photographs/Pennsic-Wars/Pennsic-XXXIX-Sunday/IMG9389/991318132_dtUo2-XL.jpg[/img]

raito

There's a couple ways to do it. The simple way is to make the shikoro decorative, and have a wrapper plate underneath. It works, but really has some aesthetic problems. The second is to wear the bachi tipped back, so that it covers the back of the head. The maezashi may require some modification to ...

raito

I wouldn't worry too much about the exact material used if these are for leather. The best source for any steel bar stock is a local supplier, but some don't want to sell less than a truckload. Then again, some will let you pick through the drops for nearly scrap price. And if you're plan falls thro...

raito

I use 5' antenna masts. They're metal, and they connect together. You can paint them any way you desire. 20' is not a problem with these.

Re: Newbs' reasons for not doing combat?

Re: Man, am I having trouble.. help please!

Two Swords for Tristen...