The Armour Archive

Richard Blackmoore

Wow Vermin. That was pretty good.

The only problem is, Jerry Lewis is doing a telethon for what he calls Jerry's Archers. So they should be able to afford to lobby for their special interest group more effectively from now on...

Richard Blackmoore

14th century plate, stainless or spring steel, with a decent sleeve arming coat underneath.

Richard Blackmoore

This is one good thing about the SCA. Everytime I look at my harness and think about how much I hate it, I see a picture like this and realize it could be far, far worse. It is also why I point out that knights, princes, kings & former royalty do so much damage in the SCA. "Hey, the king wears it. I...

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "Richard: Not to drag up the CA argument again, but how are bandguns, archery, and (possibly) cannon any less authentic? Most of our fencing events are designed around historical war scenarios, all well within the age of gunpowder. We just had a series of 4 events based around the Condotierri...

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "As to use, this is part of my work on designing a cannon for use in MSR's fencing scenarios (yes, fencing - like the SCA we use bandguns, and we have fencing combat archery, too). Our plan is to power the cannon with a cut-up inner tube from a bicycle. It will be projectile-independent, and ...

Richard Blackmoore

Rhys quote: "For example, a few years ago I was roundly (and rather viciously) denounced on another list for claiming that it only made sense to block with the edges of a sword (a fact that I learned by doing it full speed) and only my stupid fixation on the SCA kept me from admitting I was wrong, a...

Richard Blackmoore

I had a case of rapiers once. It was horrible. As the disease ran its course I grew weak, thin, emaciated even. I lost all my strength. I feared being struck with a firm blow. And I developed a fancy for lace, velvet and theatrical productions. I started humming show tunes. Reading Sir Nigel and Kee...

Richard Blackmoore

Some of the negativity has nothing to do with the actual fighting, some of it has to do with the SCA's reputation for; not being a serious living history/re-enactment/educational/re-creationist/scholarly group, for being more of a costume party/fantasy organization, for not having any real standards...

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "Message icon for SCA specific posts." Cool. How about a roll of duct tape in a red circle, with a red diagonal line crossing from 10:30 to 4:30 for Non-SCA topics? How about a blue plastic barrel for SCA topics? How about a hot dog for the fencing weenies? http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/sm...

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "The question that burns in my heart is "Where do these guys get their freaking armour?!"" After World War II, the Soviets and Americans fought over the German Rocket Scientists and armourers. America got more of the good rocket scientists, so we went to the moon and eventually became the sol...

Richard Blackmoore

The nets were brought up because of conversation I had years ago with Sir Edward Zifran of Gendy, he was talking about the old days in AnTir. The idea was to use Siene nets, I think in a "war" with another kingdom, possibly the West. I don't remember if they actually did it or if the other side just...

Richard Blackmoore

I was too distracted by the blatantly modern footgear and the plastic gauntlets to want to look for the 5 pieces of plastic armour. The maille looks nice though, as does the helm. But could I suggest you try smiling? It makes for better photos. Unless you are just depressed about the gauntlets and f...

Richard Blackmoore

Owen quote: "Having had the dubious honor of fighting in a Queen's Guard, where said Queen (HRM Sedalia) managed to get out from behind us and BE THE FIRST ONE KILLED, I'll pass on that honor again. We pretty much decided to all die right there, 'cause none of us wanted to go tell HRM Sir Gavin what...

Richard Blackmoore

Your kidding, people still use hockey gloves with a broadsword?

Richard Blackmoore

Helms in period (even really early stuff from the 14th century) varied widely in terms of the thickness of the metal. Not enough of it survived to make anything other than very broad guesses. The earlier you go, the worse it gets due to a dearth of extant pieces. The other problem is that unlike mod...

Richard Blackmoore

I would not discount these outright. My understanding is that if you sandwich them between two layers of steel, they are safe, protective and don't look all that bad.

Richard Blackmoore

Rhys. Just a side question, is there any documentation to suggest how common grappling was in singles tournament and in tournament melee after being unhorsed? I was under the impression that it was definitely allowed at times, especially in early tournament melee. But I have no real concrete idea as...

Richard Blackmoore

"Has the Armour Archive lost its focus?" I don't think so. The first things I look at when I go on line are Order of the Archive (usually little there, but it has been that way since I joined), the armour and research & authenticity second and third (I don't post much on these as people with more kn...

Richard Blackmoore

Congratulations Giles!

Wait a minute, you are not a Roman or a Mongol, are you sure you are allowed to fight in Crown?

Seriously, I wish you a long and productive reign.

-Richard

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "The problem with grappling is you have the same problem that boxers have. Namely, a mediocre 265-pound boxer could easily best a very skilled 110-pound boxer. In order to start grappling in the SCA, you would have to have weight classes." I am pleased to beat Rhys to this one... NO! The whol...

Richard Blackmoore

LOL. Hi guys, I was being flippant. I just found out about the rest of these posts, I never looked at it until today when Morgan communicated that I was calling him an idiot. My reaction was "Huh?". So he pointed me to this thread. Based on the context of the thread and Morgan's comment on the photo...

Richard Blackmoore

Oh, that is too funny. I never went back to that thread, that is why I did not respond to it. Wow, not the reaction I was expecting. I guess I should have bracketed my quotation bracketed parody with smilies. I managed to offend a bunch of people there too. So much for teasing. To respond to the oth...

Richard Blackmoore

Yes.

I don't remember the shield contact thread though. I called you an idiot?

-Richard

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "But Sir, then you're calling me a idiot...again, so I should be used to it." Whoa! No, I am not. And if you thought I was, I apologize, it was not my intent. I have actually enjoyed this topic, though perhaps I am treating with too much humor if I am managing to offend you. I do not think yo...

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "Until all the Knights and Laurels in my kingdom stop sporting so much plastic, I doubt they will ever really start to value those who choose not to."

From God's mouth to your lips.

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "You seem to be a great fighter. So why bother letting go of your weapon at any time at all?" Thank you for the complement. I am however, merely an adequate knight of advancing years. Great fighters are folk like Inman, Jade, Brion of Tarragon, etc. I usually don't let go of my polearm, unles...

Richard Blackmoore

Shooting at grapes? Hmmm. Doesn't sound very knightly. Are you a combat archer? My point is similar to the combat archery argument. How do I know you are not trying to disarm me? Right before I hit a combat archer after closing, they might be thinking about yielding, they might try to get off a last...

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "If your opponent takes 1 hand off his pole and puts it on yours, you still have two on it, right?" Maybe, hopefully mine is being held by my opponent due to his clear attempt to disarm me and by now I have grabbed his with both hands and whacked him in the head already. Quote: "You should ha...

Richard Blackmoore

For what it is worth, the MSR model has a lot to recommend it. The main problems we saw over the years were caused by people that, quite frankly, would have caused problems in almost any tournament format. The negatives to the MSR format, if you assume that people will generally behave, are the bad ...

Richard Blackmoore

It depends on your size, reach, strength, style and whether you want it for general SCA use or only for a specific kingdom or tourney. Some people use quite different weapons for single vs. melee (my bastard sword is kind of useless if I am behind a large shield wall in melee). Some kingdoms have th...

Richard Blackmoore

OK. Since some people are concerned that I should not be letting go of my polearm when someone else grabs it as that is in your opinion intentionally disarming myself, from now on I will always let go of my polearm in order to grab theirs so that I will not be disarmed (or at least not for long). Th...

Richard Blackmoore

Quote: "Richard's technique is in essence a protest move against the weapon grapple." Huh? What? It's a pro.. Huh? I mean, I just like to, um... Yeah! It is a protest move. An act of civil disobedience calculated to overthrow the tyrannical marshalate that tries to oppress us peasants! Rise up yee u...

Richard Blackmoore

MSR did that to stop dual members (MSR and SCA) from being able to influence MSR crown significantly. MSR's fighting level (with notable exceptions such as Sir Balin and Sir Stephen Von Dresdan - both dual members) was typically far enough below the SCA's, that it only took a few SCA members to show...

Richard Blackmoore

AND, if I let it go after you grab it, then clearly you have suceeded in unintentionally disarming me. I had no way of knowing that you were serious about not trying to disarm me. What, I was supposed to trust you? "OK. When I throw a viscious flat snap at your head, don't block. I will purposely mi...

Richard Blackmoore

If you tell me beforehand, I will simply hit you with it before you can grab it.