The Armour Archive

Tibbie Croser

I apologize to those I have offended. I don't do heavy fighting at all, so I don't have a stake in this. I just formed the mistaken impression that knights and combat archers did not get along. How representative are the views of Balin, Sir Richard Blackmoore, and other anti-CA fighters? Are the pro...

Tibbie Croser

If you want to ban it, don't ban it entirely, just ban it from the rattan field. People fighting rapier or C&T will already have good face protection, so it should be safe there, as long as spectators are kept at a sufficient distance. What's the size of a CA arrowhead? In Dagorhir, the foam-hea...

Tibbie Croser

What's a "clicker," where does one get one, what does it cost? How much physical strength does it take to use?

Tibbie Croser

http://www.hemptraders.com

Excellent prices and variety and prompt service. They give the weights on the page. They sell a book of large swatches, too.

Tibbie Croser

Irish, as far as I know, combat archery is allowed in Atlantian rapier. There were two combat archers at Night on the Town (an all-rapier event) last spring. For rattan wars, what about having separate battles or scenarios for archers/siege crews and rattan fighters? "Siege" scenarios for...

Tibbie Croser

Irish, as far as I know, combat archery is allowed in Atlantian rapier. There were two combat archers at Night on the Town (an all-rapier event) last spring. For rattan wars, what about having separate battles or scenarios for archers/siege crews and rattan fighters? "Siege" scenarios for ...

Tibbie Croser

Yes, I figured that museums would have experts examine an object before purchasing. Regarding archaeological finds, do they actually come up for sale? I thought that finds usually became the property of a government or nonprofit body. I recall that the UK has something called the Portable Antiquitie...

Tibbie Croser

Would it be possible to encourage combat archers to move to the rapier field? Rapier fighters already have good face protection, so arrows in the eye shouldn't be a problem. Those combat archers who can't fight effectively with rattan might be able to wield a rapier. The archers wouldn't need all th...

Tibbie Croser

At least for some things, Tandy has "club" prices and occasional substantial sales. I wonder also, if a group of people did an order for a few thousand scales, whether they could get a further discount per scale. Some people might be willing to pay the higher price to Tandy for scales that...

Tibbie Croser

How do collectors and museum staff identify genuine pieces that come up for auction?

Tibbie Croser

Cian, what local leather store would that be? Is there something closer to DC than the Tandy in the Baltimore area?

Tibbie Croser

I registered for the other forum, and I think I found the thread in question. However, it was disappointingly vague. I'd be interested in the opinion of a textile expert. I must admit I didn't realize that misidentification and misrepresentation were such pervasive problems among auction houses, eve...

Tibbie Croser

Matt Amt has a page about the linothorax he made. Do a search on the AA and you should be able to find the link.

Tibbie Croser

There's more demand for such plates than poor Torvaldr can keep up with. If anyone orders the Tandy plates, I'd like to know more about them as far as leather type and thickness. I might recommend them to people in Dagorhir, who don't have to harden the leather for armor.

Tibbie Croser

I'm fascinated by this puzzle. Does the Czerny's printed catalog have more information on this piece than the online catalog does? Have any collectors contacted Czerny's to ask for more details on the provenance or to ask if authentication tests have been carried out? There are surely ways to date t...

Tibbie Croser

James, where do I find the thread you're referencing? Is it on the AA or on another site? Edited to add: I found the Arms and Armour Forum. However, I'm not a member, so I can't read anything there, and I'm not sure I want to register for yet another forum so I can read one thread. Could you summari...

Tibbie Croser

James, what makes you doubt that the arming cap is "real"? I don't read Italian myself, so I can only guess at the translation of the text on the page, but does the text do anything to support or dispel your doubts?

Any textile gurus want to chime in?

Tibbie Croser

http://www.czernys.com/auctions_lot.php?oggetto=32726&asta=23

The Czerny auction site has these pictures of a ca.-1500 surviving arming cap for use with a close helmet. As surviving arming garments and period textiles are so rare, I thought I'd post it.

Tibbie Croser

Serious question: do any Tuchux do archery? Do any of them do mounted combat? Both would be in keeping with the Mongol theme. Is there a Mongol equivalent of buz kashi (from what I remember, a very rough Afghan mounted game)?

Tibbie Croser

Norman, I don't know if you're still reading, but your site is being...discussed...on the Armour Design and Construction forum. See the Banded Armour thread.

Tibbie Croser

As far as I know, and the link I posted has some good explanations of helmet and crash physics, a bicycle or motorcycle helmet is designed to absorb the energy of a single very hard impact, like the crumple zone on a car. Would steel really do this as well as plastic or fiberglass does? Also, would ...

Tibbie Croser

The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute http://www.helmets.org/index.htm#helmets has fascinating information on how bike helmets are designed and how they work. They also have some information on other kinds of sports helmets, on foams, and on single-impact vs multi-impact helmets.

Tibbie Croser

The site was authored by Norman Finkelshteyn (I'm probably misspelling that). He used to be on the AA. His site is very extensive. It would be very useful to have someone here who is knowledgeable about Central Asian armor and its reconstruction to give an opinion on the armor. Is there historical e...

Tibbie Croser

What culture is the lamellar for? Hardened leather is correct for some lamellar; metal is correct for others. This is assuming that lamellar is correct for the person's portrayal in the first place.

Tibbie Croser

Irish's picture looks closest to the reproduction. Here's a somewhat similar period example from myarmoury.com: http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_spot_burgonet.html. Look at the burgonet at top right.

Tibbie Croser

Brewer, would there be some instances of gentlemen visiting a tavern, such as young rakes roistering out on the town, or gentry hiring a private room for a meeting or assignation? In other words, occasions when gentry did not wish to drink at home. Also, gentry and aristocracy sometimes went to brot...

Tibbie Croser

A continuation of the Museum of London series, post-1450. There's a book including some finds of the 16th and 17th centuries, but it's very limited and omits textiles and ceramics. I don't think it includes items that are on display in the museum. Also, a book collecting all reproductions of the 16t...

Tibbie Croser

It might be considered an early burgonet, but it's not a "straight-up burgonet." It's too short for a standard burg; the skull doesn't come down to the nape of the neck. Also, it lacks cheekplates. I've seen pictures of somewhat similar early burgonets on the Hermann-Historica site and pos...

Tibbie Croser

Some things I was surprised to learn from the AA and other fora:

Mail can actually resist arrows and other pointy sharp things, even though it's not solid.

Multiple layers of strong fabric, like a 30-layer linen jack, can resist weapons.

Tibbie Croser

Animal: Whatever your opinion of Dag-style fighting, I hope it doesn't extend to Dag players. You may have known some Dag fighters when you lived in Maryland, as there's some crossover among Dag, SCA, Markland, Darkon, and Tuchux here. I think Dagorhir as a group may be more welcoming toward Tuchux ...

Tibbie Croser

Reconstructing History has 16th-century German patterns.

Tibbie Croser

Okay, now I see what you mean, Irish. We're using different standards of comparison. I wasn't thinking of masks as equivalent to rattan starter helms because there are different levels of price and quality in masks. Fencers sometimes upgrade from entry-level masks to higher-quality commercial masks ...

Tibbie Croser

Flittie. How many armourers have you asked to make a rapier helm? Mad Matt? James River? Armourer Eric? Windrose? Knotwolf? White Mountain? Stonekeep? Golden Boar? Those are just to name a few. I think this you posted earlier is very telling. I agree that the armorers won't mass-produce fencing hel...

Tibbie Croser

It sounds like An Tir's advantage is that they collectively, systematically train their new and mid-level fencers to a high standard. In some other places it sounds like training is very much up to the individual.

Tibbie Croser

Thanks for the suggestions. Personally, I've been talking to a local armorer about a custom helm because I don't like the current limited choices. Those choices have also decreased recently. Patrick Thaden isn't taking commissions, Clang isn't taking custom orders, Illusion takes many years for his ...

Period arming cap on auction site