The Armour Archive

Russ Mitchell

Keep me posted on how it progresses. So far pretty spiffy. I would definitely want to be able to eat from them, though...

Russ Mitchell

Oh yeah. Pics would be nice, too.

Bronze safe to eat from? I always get my metals mixed up... and being Texan, spicy, acidic food is nigh-guaranteed...

Russ Mitchell

Winterfell, I'm home sick right now, so pardon me for not going out and linking the resources, but both I.33 and Talhoffer both show the weight being put on the balls of the feet and toe. That's not universally accepted -- I've gone round and round on it with a couple of guys who are good.. but it s...

Russ Mitchell

It being about a month before the seminar, it's time for me to start posting the "bump..." We still have space for seminar attendees wanting to get a deeper insight into how Fiore's posta are applied. As a system of medieval hand-to-hand combat, this is information appropriate to any making a chival...

Russ Mitchell

I know the name, but he's outside my specialty... Dmitriy might know, though.

Russ Mitchell

I'm inclined to think lamellar... Regarding the Mongols, what you say makes much sense... there's always the chance of artistic error, though that's the analysis of last recourse... but the cut coats, contrary to what I have read, and contrary to Carpini, etcetera, seem to be depicted with the "gap"...

Russ Mitchell

Put it this way, Christian... you are clearly our German-school specialist here. If somebody asked you, in a nutshell, to say how Dobringer's longsword work differed from Ringeck's, could you? Maybe you could. I like to think that I have a clue.. but I'd be very hard-pressed to make those distinctio...

Russ Mitchell

It seemed the Mongols depicted had their armour overlapping in a manner like scale. I am curious whether there is really a rhyme or reason: if you overlap like scale, you're vulnerable to thrusts from below, if the opposite, from ice-pick stabs from above... but I see nothing that indicates to me th...

Russ Mitchell

If you're willing to wait, the Anglo-Norman Text Society is about to publish a full translation of the major chronicle on his life. Why use a secondary source, when you can read the original in translation?

Russ Mitchell

My apologies, Bob, Gwen, I shall stay off these posts in the future, as I'm apparently not interested in the same things as you folks are.

Russ Mitchell

Bob is perhaps too humble. The primary difference between Fiore's manuscript, and the majority of what we have surviving from the German schools, is that Fiore's work is almost the only one we have that can be described as a "manual." I know that both Bob and my wife will have quivers when I call it...

Russ Mitchell

Hi everybody. I'm currently in the process of putting together a suit of banded lamellar in the Turcoman/Persian/Kipchak/not-Byzantine-but-still-banded style. My question is, when I look at the various images to which I have access, I see both "over" and "under" patterns (in terms of where the overl...

Russ Mitchell

#2: I sure hope so. If I ever get finalized kit together and get a small vacation from the salle, I'd like to come out to a war done up as a Cuman (archer and buckler/long-handled mace). A note on halfswording: the principle behind it is almost ubiquitous to historical swordplay with large weapons (...

Russ Mitchell

My wife and I are generally interested in this sort of thing, PoD, generally chests and stools and the like... I can't talk for now (especially because my budget's mostly blown until March -- but if he started producing, you could spam me on his wares on a regular basis, and I wouldn't mind at all, ...

Russ Mitchell

Broadway, just fyi -- the Pope did not ban the use of the crossbow. He banned the use of crossbow men against Christians, under pain of excommunication. Use of crossbowmen against pagans, etc, was just fine. This had nothing to do with the crossbow itself, but rather that Guiscard was screaming up t...

Russ Mitchell

Is it just me, or is your vest asymmetric?

Russ Mitchell

Note that while I strongly disagree with Marshal on the comparison between Avar/Magyar goals and those of the Mongols (which is addressed in one of the threads, can't remember which), he is absolutely 100%correct regarding the fortifications. It is those same fortifications, put into place by Otto, ...

Russ Mitchell

Hey, Chef, are you in touch with Steve Hick? I was having Collecteana translated, and my gal skeezed out on me somewhere in Moscow... he told me he was still trying to take it further forward, but it's way beyond me -- the bizarre mix of latin vs. spanish just confuses the heck out of me... Another ...

Russ Mitchell

(**trespassing**) just fwiw, I saw an explosion of this strapping style in Hungary and Central Europe about five years ago... all proponents willing to fight to the death with tweezers over whether or not it was the "true and authentic" way to strap. Possibly a no-head-shot convention, **definitely*...

Russ Mitchell

I strongly recommend that those interested check the Netsword conversation... much was gone over. In the end, the experiences of the Mongols in Hungary, Poland, Korea, and Japan bode well for the hypothesis that western europe would have done quite well: strong stone fortifications, when placed on d...

Russ Mitchell

Sarnac, actually, you can be optimistic about that one... Csaba did a set of bronze spaulders and a chest disk to put onto a mail shirt for a Cuman portrayal, and although bangings have happened, the tooling and etching on the bronze still looks SWEET. If I could get him to do a portfolio I'd try to...

Russ Mitchell

I will need to see pics in order to justify to Wife Unit (who is generally sympathetic), but am interested.

Russ Mitchell

Sounds pretty... got a pic? I don't hav access to that catalog... it definitely *sounds* nice, especially with the triple fuller...

Russ Mitchell

Does that help???? Yes, it does.
Does it make me feel like a bloody idiot???

Yes, it does... elegant, simple solution that was totally beyond my ability to visualize. Ought to allow for really nice etching or tooling of the brass, too.

Russ Mitchell

Hunh. What type? Grossesmesser? Swiss sabre? Come on, man, spill the beans...

Russ Mitchell

Um... I've certainly seen them, though only in catalogs and museums. Are you offering me hardware, or did you find pieces, or?

Urk? May I buy a vowel?

Russ Mitchell

I have had very good experiences with aluminum as a waster substitute, as well. It primarily comes to a money thing, I think. If you can afford it, use dulled steel blades. Otherwise, aluminum, **done correctly** will work.

Russ Mitchell

Christmas for me involves picking up a deceased friend's Dad's full leather shop, and my mentor in Budapest did designs in etched brass and leather, so I'd also be quite interested in seeing a pic, as I intend to start getting my hands dirty this spring.

Russ Mitchell

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Palymar: Over time and with research, I have found a universal truth: Your blocks are made ***before*** your opponent's shot starts toward you. </font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yep. Wh...

Russ Mitchell

Amigo, no idea what folks will come up with, and I'm not Society. But, the single most tried and true technique I've seen for two sticks, be it double cane (for la canne), or banging around with the heavy stuff, is simply block with one and hit with the other. I wouldn't even bother trying to switch...

Russ Mitchell

Amigo, go check out the Red Kaganate's page, and look under weapons. If you like axes with backspikes and hammers, the magyar stuff I gave Norm to post ought to be right up your alley... (believe it or not, I trained in a living lineage that still knows how to use these things for real... they're a ...

Russ Mitchell

Nails: once again Real Life(tm) got in the way, so I'm trying to make it up to you -- they went out via fedex last night. Robin+Nails: yeah, and I've got a date with ArmourGuy and that skank in Tennessee who offered the rivited mail, too. It's an industry problem, but not insurmountable. I cannot us...

Russ Mitchell

Interestingly enough, a Taborite persona, although such an individual would rather drop dead than participate in a knightly tournament, is one of the very few where a woman in the SCA could participate as a combatant with perfect historical legitimacy -- nor would she necessarily need to be confined...

Russ Mitchell

(I'm swamped and playing hooky for just a wee bit: yes, Anna, I can read this, though I'd need my dictionary. It's a beautiful work.) Egfroth, I don't have time yet to look... on which plate was the palash?

Russ Mitchell

Yes, the Taborites were done under by a combination of teh Catholic league and a large number of former Taborites who wanted the peace to go through. Also, some of the surviving Hussites/Taborites became bandits in northern Hungary (Slovakia today), and were recruited into the wagonburg armies used ...

Fiore de Liberi Seminar, Feb. 15-16 in No. Texas (bump, long

Banded lamellar overlap patterns