The Armour Archive

Mrs. W

The sad thing is, $2.17 per gallon for gas sounds CHEAP now. The cheapest that can be found in my town is $3.67 per gallon now. It is close to $4.00 in outlying areas. I am planning ONE road trip for my family this summer, and it won't be for an SCA event.

-Woolery

Mrs. W

Answering the original question, here. I've had two kids, and I wouldn't have fought while carrying. Not even boffer, but that's me. That said, with boffer, a woman can probably just pay attention to what her body's telling her: if it feels wrong, it is wrong, and she should stop. However, if her op...

Mrs. W

Grab a subscription to Mens Health. Workouts in there are great, as is their advice on food and ladies Workouts: check. Food: check. But since I already am a lady, I don't think that the other advice will profit me. I wish that we had more than one fighter practice per week, but our group is small ...

Mrs. W

Thank you for all of the information. To clarify a couple of things: I can't bring anything extra into the gym because it's in a juvenile detention facility. They aren't jerks about it, but anything that can possibly be employed as a weapon is not allowed. No sticks, free weights, etc. If they have ...

Mrs. W

Given the following constraints, what would you do for the most effective workout possible to further SCA fighting? Time: 35-40 minutes, five days a week Space: an empty gym (15 laps around the gym equals one mile) Equipment: basketball and hoops one stationary exercise bike several 20# medicine bal...

Mrs. W

You're a talented artist. Congrats. However... I read the subject and thought that I was going to see an actual PICTURE of an actual woman wearing actual armor. And I though, "A woman's Japanese kit? How cool is that! I've never seen one!" I still haven't. What a disappointment. -Woolery

Mrs. W

Two more pics to give a better idea of the total:

Mrs. W

It sounds as if you are wanting something that looks fairly flashy in addition to being lightweight and protective. My armor is not so flashy, is fairly heavy and is quite protective (aside from a few bruises here and there, but nothing I wouldn't expect). My husband made pretty much all of my armor...

Mrs. W

I'm so not worthy! Yet. Maybe when I manage get to the point of not collecting a new bruise each fighter practice... Thanks for all the good feedback: it is a great encouragement. Along with realizing that it didn't actually hurt when that mace landed on my faceplate, AGAIN. Just stung a bit. -Woole...

Mrs. W

First of all, Gregoire, I am truly sorry for all that you and others have suffered, and I hope that such tragedies are at an end for you and yours. I can't help but agree with those who suggest both knowledge of CPR and encouragement of fitness on and off the field. I realize that the SCA can't star...

Mrs. W

Then, too, the guys probably are not thinking about the fact that uterus and ovaries are right down there, and we don't care to have those bashed. I was pleased with how well a jill protects. I took two clean hits there, solid but not excessive, and it didn't hurt: just surprised me. "Oh, yeah! That...

Mrs. W

I don't think it's right that people think armored fighting is strange when sports like ice climbing and snowboarding are pretty much mainstream now. I had to fess up about my "hobby" at work because I got a stupid bruise on my chin. (Either the chip strap on my helmet is too tight, or else my gorge...

Mrs. W

Aw, shucks. Patrick is really the gorgeous one in the family. I was comparing my bruise to the one that D. Sebastian had from the Ironworks Tourney last summer: now THAT'S a bruise! No, the bruise isn't hot to the touch any more. It was for a couple of days, though. I ought to have put something co...

Mrs. W

Lookee my spiffy bruise! Only my second fighter practice, and Patrick got me a nice, clean wrap to the back of the thigh. He was trying to go easy on me, actually, but I had switched to a buckler, so there was no shield point to catch the blow. Not that I care. My only worry was that he would feel b...

Mrs. W

Guys, that is exactly what <A HREF="http://www.swordmaiden.com/armor/eichling.php">Eichling</A> does. (Scroll down for pics.) I think she's awesome.

-Woolery

Mrs. W

Mrs W., I hope you didn't think that I mean "disguise" when I wrote "pretend." I only wrote what I did as an idea to be more comfortable on the field, not as a way to look. Not at all. I wasn't referring to any specific post when I wrote that, only trying to point out that, if a woman dresses up as...

Mrs. W

The short version: Please don't hide who and what you are when out on the field. The women and girls who see you need to know that you are "a woman, and a fighter." The way I see it, you are caught between two noble and worthy roles: 1. Someone who tries to interpret and relate part of history to th...

Mrs. W

Thank you, both for the assistance and all of the information! I am good to go on the goat milk source: one of my mother-in-law's bagpipe students raises dairy goats. (Weird how my family networks: I can get fresh eggs from one of my father-in-law's drum students.) I will let you know if the goat bu...

Mrs. W

Good call, we did use glass marbles. I assume that it helped, otherwise I might still be churning... George: what, exactly, is the difference between sweet cream butter and cultured butter? Is it that sweet cream is made from fresh cream vs. milk/cream that has been allowed to ferment a bit? Does si...

Mrs. W

Alcyoneus: Ha! Yes, that happened, just once, to Patrick. He was beating the cream with a blender or something. George, (sorry, the "Rev." part reminds me of two-cycle engine noises ), I think that the main problem was that the cream was too cold. I just dumped it into the containers without thinkin...

Mrs. W

For butter to form? I thought, "Gee, what a fun project for the kids: let's put some cream in a couple of lidded containers and shake it up after dinner!" So now I am typing this one-handed while I continue to churn cream with the other hand because the kids are being bathed and put to bed by their ...

Mrs. W

Patrick made one out of a steer horn, but we haven't decided how to attach the strap. He figured to tie it around the horn up near the mouthpiece end, but what about the "bell" end? We have a smaller horn that we bought that just had a hole drilled in the bell part, but it looks tacky. Plus, will it...

Mrs. W

Tasha wrote: The problem I've always had with this literary example is the mention of stitching up sleeves in "zigzag lacing". I have to wonder if there's a subtlety of meaning in the original French (and in the actual contemporary culture) which simply meant that a lace (not thread) was strung thr...

Mrs. W

I am trying to find out WHY a particular myth continues to circulate in the general population: "In the Middle Ages, people were sewn into their clothing and only bathed once or twice a year, (whether they needed it or not)." I heard this from a well-published children's science writer at a conventi...

Mrs. W

Just a quick post to say that I finally got the <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/ak5/medieval_arts/inkle.html">manual</A> online, for the most part. (Just some color pics and the loom plan text to do...later!)

I hope that it is of use to you.

-Woolery

Mrs. W

Thanks, Leland! I am still working on it, but what I have so far can be found <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/ak5/medieval_arts/inkle.html">here.</A> Ogedei: yes and no. The tabletop looms that most people now use for inkle weaving are only about 100 years old or so. Inkle bands were made on large...

Mrs. W

Oh, boy. I forgot how long that manual is. I actually have worked for a few hours on it today, but it's going to take another two days to get it all done. So, it's a good thing that everyone else gave you all this great info since mine is taking forever. I'll second the Helene Bress book, too. It is...

Mrs. W

Thank you for asking this question! I have been meaning for ages to put the manual I wrote (to accompany a Collegium class I taught) on line. Argh! It is too late to do it tonight, but I will try to find time tomorrow to scan in the images and do the html markup for the text. Keep bugging me if I do...

Mrs. W

Is antler much diffrent? Happily, yes! Antler is clean, free of old flesh and its attendant smell. Antler is also harder and less likely to splinter than bone. You do have to avoid antler's spongy, brittle core, but that is no more of a problem than working around the marrow cavities of bones. -Woo...

Mrs. W

Regarding the "furbelow" question: Wow! It does sound a bit rude if you think about it that way, doesn't it? A "furbelow," according to Michael Quinion of <A HREF="http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-fur1.htm">World Wide Words</A>, is "A gathered strip or pleated border; showy ornament...

Mrs. W

When she says "fancy," does that mean that she wants frills and furbelows, or does it just mean that she wants to look good? Because, simple clothing can look very good. I don't know what Romano-British folks wore, but a couple I know have some nice late Roman outfits. Cathy wore a pla...

Mrs. W

Thank-you, Effingham and Brewer, for the input. The heraldry is for my friend Cathe, and she actually did pretty much what you both said: but she ended up putting just one feather in the fess. The herald she worked with had the fess fairly narrow, so the feather had to lay sideways across it to stay...

Mrs. W

Thanks, Effingham!

That makes sense: I had never heard it explained before.

(Edited because I answered my own question by carefully re-reading Effingham's description. Thanks again!)

-Woolery

Mrs. W

I have also been told about "no color on color, no metal on metal," etc. However, there are cases when color on color is allowed. One example is found <A HREF="http://khevron.tripod.com/heraldry/">here,</A> with Khevron's "Per pale vert and sable, a talbot passant and a bordure invected argent". Ano...

Mrs. W

The images are great! I do have a question or two about the female riding styles article. Under the "15th Century" heading, there's a much later picture shown (looks 1700s or so). Not only is the picture way later than the 1400s, but the person shown is dressed to ride astride, not sidesaddle. Is it...

Advice on SCA fighting workout?

I'm in the Bruise Club! :)

How freaking long does it take?!?

Hunting horn question

Sewn into their clothing: Sources?