The Armour Archive

Blaine de Navarre

I don't think that'll work at all with your build, Leo.

Blaine de Navarre

The problem with almost all of the motocross/riot armor/rodeo/etc. body armour I have seen is there is no rib protection; it's great protection for the back and solar plexus, but nothing, nada, zip on the ribs. I did fight for a little while in a motocross chest & back rig and football rib prote...

Blaine de Navarre

Sword & shield was quite common up into the 14th C. During most of that time, "tournaments" were exclusively on horseback; sometimes tournament or joust did go to the ground, but that was never the point of it. Some time in the 14th century there start to be foot tournaments. Around th...

Blaine de Navarre

We once had about a 19-20ish girl who'd never been around horses come to take a beginning riding class. As I was trying to chat her up, one of the horses pokes his head out of his stall and gives her a little nuzzle, so she reaches up to scratch the horse behind the ear, and the horse continues nuzz...

Blaine de Navarre

The Iron Chicken, and all it's derivatives , have got to go. (Emphasis added) Viscount Rorik is using a modified version of it I tend to agree that iron chicken is silly, which is why I made a point of differentiating it from normal high guard, a distinction you seem to have missed if you used Rori...

Blaine de Navarre

Russ, I was being just a little facetious. The true "iron chicken" doesn't look anything like anything from the Bolognese school, even accounting for the different kinds of shields. The more common SCA high guard is similar, but not identical to, guardia di testa with the rotella . The guy...

Blaine de Navarre

Violen, it's what most people would simply call a "high guard". Technically, to make it a true "iron chicken," it needs to be a particularly tight high guard, with the shield right up under the eyes and the sword held so close that there is no more gap than necessary to see throu...

Blaine de Navarre

Fighting is fun.

Fighting well is more fun than fighting poorly.

Blaine de Navarre

What?!?!? Guardia di Testa is dishonorable and not historical?!?!? Someone better tell Achille Marozzo that.

Blaine de Navarre

Nice to know Maythen is still around to keep the young pups in line.

And, well, yeah, awfully damned impressive control of range.

Blaine de Navarre

Impressive control of range

Blaine de Navarre

Is that Maythen marshalling?

Blaine de Navarre

Ummm, why not just buy them from Windrose?

Blaine de Navarre

Dating effigies is always a problem - they just lie there.

Thank you folks, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

Blaine de Navarre

Welcome to the Archive, Jherek! Bummer it had to be under such unpleasant circumstances, but good to have you here anyway.

I've been perusing some of your translations online. Thanks for all tha hard work, and for making so much available online.

Blaine de Navarre

This is going to be a long-winded response, because it is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. Even if we talk about simple fundamentals, there is a multiplying effect that results in an unmanageable number of individual moves to practice. Here is what I mean: Letâ€™s say there are onl...

Blaine de Navarre

Anyone have any recommendations on where to order those types of batting? All I am finding locally is batting in a roll, not loose fibers. Is that ok to use or is it too flat? Be careful of the stuff you find at Jo-Anne; I've seen some of theirs that says "Cotton" in great big type, but t...

Blaine de Navarre

Diagram A puts the outside seam in line with the center of the elbow cop. Huh? It puts the seam in line with the edge of the elbow cop, same as your bazuband, and the period example I posted. We are still saying exactly the same thing , but you still seem very confused by which way we are talking a...

Blaine de Navarre

A is correct.

Blaine de Navarre

Sorry to have led this all off into a semantic argument.

Samuel, Kilkenny, and I are all describing and/or showing the same thing; Kilkenny simply misunderstood Samuel's original verbal description.

Blaine de Navarre

Samuel specified "at rest." Let your arm hang at your side and imagine yourself wearing either the period vambrace I posted or the leather bazuband - you have one plate wrapping the ulna and one wrapping the radius, with the hinge and closure running up the inside and outside of the arm.

Blaine de Navarre

you were suggesting that the seam run up from the center of the palm, and, correspondingly, opposite running along from the back of the hand. The pictured piece is absolutely made with the seams on either side of the forearm (90 degrees from the positions described above). Umm, no it's not - it's m...

Blaine de Navarre

it should run on the muscles with the arm at rest IE down the back of the hand I cannot think of a single historic example that follows what I understand you to be saying. I can't think of a single historical example that doesn't . Here is a randomly selected example (just the first one I could eas...

Blaine de Navarre

Schveeeet!

Blaine de Navarre

Hardened leather gauntlets, like Thorvaldr's, don't harsh most peoples' mellow with early period kits in the SCA.

Blaine de Navarre

Kind of depends on your pain threshold. I have done SCA fighting in kote; nothing got broken, but it sure did smart whenever I took a direct hit.

Blaine de Navarre

I have a detailed persona story, which I then blithely ignore when I'm having fun.

Blaine de Navarre

Foxman,

Those last helmets you posted are much earlier than the 1200s, more like 600s. If you want something with a somewhat similar look, but closer to the time period you're aiming for, consider something along these lines: Windrose Norman.

Blaine de Navarre

There would be almost no difference between helmets worn in Scotland and those worn in England or France during the Middle Ages. If you want a helmet style that is in any way distinctly "Celtic" you're talking maybe 3rd C AD at the latest.

Blaine de Navarre

People a lot younger than 16 participate in a lot more dangerous sports than SCA armoured combat. Both high school and collegiate sports have situations where someone is over 18 and someone else is under 18, and yet they aren't buried in lawsuits. There was a time in the SCA when kids as young as 13...

Blaine de Navarre

I have fought in garments of linen, cotton, and (blech) even poly-cotton, and I currently wear linen under mail, so it likely takes more abuse than it would as the outer layer, and I have found little difference in durability (in fact, if anything, I'd say linen is a little more durable). As for bre...

Blaine de Navarre

As a "cheat" that accomplishes somewhat the same thing as His Grace's tether, I generally wedge my hand into the bottom of my basket hilt. Many historical sabres from East-Central Europe and Turkey were made with precisely this in mind. Thanks, Russ, that's good to know. I call it "c...

Blaine de Navarre

As a "cheat" that accomplishes somewhat the same thing as His Grace's tether, I generally wedge my hand into the bottom of my basket hilt.

Blaine de Navarre

And we even speak our own dialect...Caidiom.

Blaine de Navarre

Latest facebook post says congratulations are due to TRHs Edward & Mora on their 3rd Caidan Crown Victory.

I'm not there myself, so I don't know who placed or showed...

Re: Looking for more info on this dress

Re: Riot Armour for SCA combat?

Re: fighting sword and board

Re: The Iron Chicken stance has got to go (SCA).

Re: The Iron Chicken stance has got to go (SCA).

Re: The Iron Chicken stance has got to go (SCA).

Re: The Iron Chicken stance has got to go (SCA).

Re: What are you training for?

Re: The Iron Chicken stance has got to go (SCA).

Re: West March Crown Results.

Re: West March Crown Results.

Re: West March Crown Results.