The Armour Archive

Corby de la Flamme

Waaay back when I first wanted to bend rattan, no one I knew had really done much of anything along those lines. And this was before the archive. Hell, it was back when the internet was called ARPAnet. Anyway, being the book worm that I am, I realized that the real experts on bending rattan are thos...

Corby de la Flamme

I think the need for glue depends on the ratio of striking surface to blade "back"--the part that actually attaches to rattan. On an english bill, you'll be fine with just tape. On my norman axe, I glued it up like crazy. I think I used epoxy. The fact that I don't recall should tell you that it ha...

Corby de la Flamme

Are you coming to Pennsic? Every chance I get! This year will be my 20th. Haven't missed one since I started going. My camp is Vair and Ermine, on Battle Road N18, usually just past Dark Moon. I plan to enter both the polearm tourneys, and I get out to the pick up field pretty often. I'll be there ...

Corby de la Flamme

Excuse the quality of the scan and color job--this is a scan of the tooling pattern, which has seen some abuse. All the decoration you see here has already been tooled, but I wonder if it needs more? I'll probably stamp some decoration on the edges. The white octofoil voids are places where I'll riv...

Corby de la Flamme

Hey Cunian, I've offered before, so this is just a reminder to please find me at any event we both attend. In armor or not, I'll be happy to help. Several respected fighters I know (including Sir Andrew Grey) talk about having problems with power generation, but they're using super light swords (or ...

Corby de la Flamme

Angusm0628 wrote: Cause Aethelmearc says my 7.5 foot polearm must be unpadded...Therefore If I'm gonna fight in my kingdom of residence, guess I oughtta use the rules they give me....

What a shame.

Like I said, I call on all Earl marshals to ban the unpadded ones.

Corby de la Flamme

This is not for JUST the KMs Silly me, I just noticed this. Is it anyone's experience that the local Knight Marshal's "run" the practice? I mean, that they do so solely because they're the KM, not because they happen to be the KM and they are also good instructors. KM's need to be good with paperwo...

Corby de la Flamme

Well great, most all of that sounds good.

but that wasn't what you described (and by extension) or recommended in your first post.

Corby de la Flamme

One pic of my two main polearms. I'm using one, and loaned out the other. Half the crossguard came off the old one as the day went on. Mine are the two black headed poles. I'm using the one with the shorter head. It's new and I like it more than the older one. Yes, Vitus, I plan to stain the haft. ...

Corby de la Flamme

You know, it sounds hellish, but it makes sense. It's the ones who lose the most who need the most practice? If it's winner holds the field, the go up, get whacked in the head, then get back in line. They don't get to learn much, do they? If they stay until THEY win, yeah, they'll get worn out, but...

Corby de la Flamme

Well that describes every nagamaki ever made both real and SCA representation. Those Japanese fellows sure did make a lot of them. I suppose they found them useful. There are extant samples with 4 feet of blade. I am unclear why you think they are "dumb". 1. No european polearm of any length is bui...

Corby de la Flamme

Jean Paul de Sens wrote: Corby do you do your duty and mock those who make unrealistically light padded weapons?

I regularly tell people if I think their pole is made wrong. I usually start with the bit about those freaky poles that are 6'+ long with 3 feet of blade. Dumb dumb dumb.

Corby de la Flamme

To make a unpadded polearm that therefore mimics a "real weapons" handling characteristics only requires buying 1.5" rattan, shaving down the sides of the handle area (which also helps with flat/edge orientation), and then leaving the head unshaved. Whala! Balanced properly (i.e. head heavy), good ...

Corby de la Flamme

The frame of my unfinished japanese war fan:

Weird and delayed. I started this project in 1992.

Corby de la Flamme

Nice! What are you going to do with it? At the rate I'm going (I recall starting to make this for my friend Baron Naro Takenoshita in the first reign of Galmr, circa 1992) I'm not going to do anything with it. But it is intended to be a japanese war fan. m Note in the description that a fan "was ty...

Corby de la Flamme

I prefer greatweapons. My personal opinion is that a halbard or blackbill should be about your own height, have enough weight to be significant, and used as a close quarters terror weapon. I have to disagree here. Using this length will often be about the same as bringing a knife to a sword fight. ...

Corby de la Flamme

I took these pics on Sunday in preparation for a thread here I was going to call "Show us your weirdest project"

Corby de la Flamme

dukelogan wrote:what happened with the goob and his bendy pole balynar? i sure hope you punished him.

I think he got knighted. Somewhere else.

Or he became a professional fly fisherman. I forget which.

Corby de la Flamme

And ditto what others have said about padded poles that _SHOULD_ land like a bag of bricks being shrugged off with comments like 'It didn't SOUND right". Exactly my complaint. Back in the day, everyone had padded poles and everyone got at least a bit of experience being hit with them. Now, whole ar...

Corby de la Flamme

Is it "unpadded" poles you dislike, or "headless" poles? Do you dislike the split-head constructions, for example? Or poles with rattan "heads" in a medieval shape? These are not legal in Atlantia, and I don't think they're legal in the East. I have no experience with them. Same goes for "clacker" ...

Corby de la Flamme

I would suggest that this is at least equally unsafe with a padded polearm. Mass * velocity, and with that sort of technique the velocity is going to be pretty close to the same. In simply quoting mass x velocity, you are ignoring the ability of the foam to absorb some of the impact. Or to put it d...

Corby de la Flamme

Wow. Wacky. Can anyone else think of a weapon with the same name as an appetizer? I notice these were, even in period, quite rare according to wikipedia. I don't see any notes in that article explaining whether these were weapons designed for japanese war (= some armored opponents) as opposed to wal...

Corby de la Flamme

I think I'd rather take a shot from an unpadded pole than a six foot greatsword at full power to the forearm... To me, this seems nonsensical, since there's no rule preventing the very same blow with a 7.5' unpadded pole, held in the very same way. Or held with the hands further apart, allowing gre...

Corby de la Flamme

Wow, Alaric, have you been working out?

Corby de la Flamme

Hrogn wrote:We are generally the standard sink or swim type of group..

Many other things cut.

Horrifying. Really. I would never have gotten anywhere if that was the kind of practice I had walked in to as a beginner.

Corby de la Flamme

Ok, I've mentioned this opinion in several threads, but no one has risen to the bait. Tonight, the perfect storm of laptop in my lap and wine in me has come together at a time when I recall my contention: UNPADDED POLEARMS SUCK They do not behave in any way, aside from length, as actual polearms do ...

Corby de la Flamme

just take off the quillions and call it a nagamaki OK...I'm not sure what a nagamaki is. negimyak i is a beef and scallion roll Naga is a FRP serpent woman monster maki is hand rolled sushi naginata is a japanese slashing weapon very useful for killing the unarmored. Pole Axe or Hache would be the ...

Corby de la Flamme

kael wrote:that's fair enough, but perhaps an example of technique in this case?

Sorry, but I'm not sure to whom you're addressing the request for which technique.

Corby de la Flamme

Vitus von Atzinger wrote:Can those large Tuchux shields be documented? They look much bigger than even Hoplite shields.

AaaaaHaaaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaaaahaha! Vitus, you're so funny!

I should expect no less from the author of the KrotchPunt!

Brother, that makes my evening. I love subtlety.

Corby de la Flamme

ditto

Corby de la Flamme

Flexibility--I'm not talking about stretching. I have several luxuries at my Thursday practice: de facto, it really is 'my' practice, which means little chance of "too many cooks spoiling the broth." folks coming from other places are often/usually doing so specifically in order to get instruction f...

Corby de la Flamme

The most crucial thing about fight practice is that it should not ever include the phrase "Welcome to your first practice. Oh, so you want to fight? Let's get you in armor right now!" However, whatever you teach, do so before you let them loose. There's a Looooong thread about this here: m In summar...

Corby de la Flamme

That's very similar to what I use for my sword hand. With mine, the thumb protection and the back of the hand piece are one piece.

Of course, neither mine, nor the one in the picture above, are Easy. Also, neither provide finger protection like the Easy Hard Gauntlet.

Corby de la Flamme

I think the need for glue depends on the ratio of striking surface to blade "back"--the part that actually attaches to rattan. On an english bill, you'll be fine with just tape. On my norman axe, I glued it up like crazy. [img]http://mk23.image.pbase.com/o4/27/282227/1/53277617.IMG_8819_P34_720niy.j...

Corby de la Flamme

this site is slow to load, but full of fun stuff: m I recall from a class on Le Jue de Hache that the guard the authors considered superior to all others was: "good" hand back by your ear holding the pole with your good hand near the head pointing the butt spike at your opponent, often directly at h...

Read a book!

Re: type of head

always

New Leather Bauzband--Need More Decoration?

Find me

Re: How do you run YOUR practices?

OK then

For Reference and Vanity

not the problem

why long blades are dumb on polearms

Show us your weirdest project

Re: Funny you should ask

length

Funny you should ask

Re: Unpadded Polearms Suck

Exactly my point

No experience with clackers or split heads

mass x velocity - padding

Nagamaki

Huh?

42"?

Yikes

Unpadded Polearms Suck

Re: but that would make sense :roll:

???????

Funny!

exactly

Flexibility

What NOT to do

close

type of head

site ref, stance & grip