The Armour Archive

Donal Mac Ruiseart

asteeley wrote:Duke Gavin, your story about getting your first gorget taken from you because it looked a bit like a cheese grater was a riot.

<~~hasn't heard that story.

<~~wonders if Gavin is holding out on him.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The text is the same for all of them, as if someone made a stab at a good description, gave up, and just copied the same for all of them. They're all fifteenth century, made of iron, etc. "Pigs in Space" reminds me of some of the headgear the guys were wearing in the African provincial are...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Isn't it a bit funny to complain that you don't like a-historical indestructible shields, then laud that people are using madus and fighting "christian style"? I don't know what it's like in Ansteorra, but madus are banned in Atlantia. What we refer to as "Christian" or "Cr...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Ah, I think I get it . .. the slabs at the ends are only a few inches wide, supported by the extended planks at the corners.

I like that, the problem of handles has always perplexed me

And the floor is sturdy enough to take your weight . . .

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Wonder why this book has the (censored) image of an ancient Cretan goddess on the cover?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

First thing I thought when I saw the pic with you sitting in it was "Coffer or coffin?"

What are those little compartments at the ends?

And where do you get such wide slabs of poplar?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

FWIW I saw some of the weapons themselves, in Portsmouth, Virginia, when they came here on display. That rectangular-bored "hailshot piece" swivel gun was rather frightening to contemplate. When found, it was still loaded with square shot . . . a couple of dozen lead cubes, about the size ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

My "Whew" was a reaction to the sheer scale. As you say, it's the sort of thing that could make for a lifetime of study, and even a simple read-though would take a significant amount of time and some dedication. But I can see that for a student of that area, such a reference would be of gr...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Long have I thought that one year Aethelmearc should appeal to the Knowne Worlde, saying that they are tired of being constantly trodden upon by their larger neighbors and this year intend to defend their borders against East and Middle alike. They would appeal to the other kingdoms to join their s...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Until both the East and Middle stop paying people to fight, we are all screwed. What kind of payments are we talking about, Sir Vitus? If they're the nominal or token payments of which I've mostly heard, such as beer or bacon or faux pearls, I've no problem with that (though I share, to a large deg...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

People moving really isn't much of an issue. You would simply have to register Donal Mac Ruiseart of Atlantia and difference your arms with a label or something. The chance that someone will choose the exact same name is really pretty low. Two points in response: ⋅ First, were I to move t...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The complete five-volume paperback set: ISBN 0-8122-1737-3 1744 pages $135.00

Whew, there's some serious scholarship there, for sure.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Although I understand the motivation for your wish to de-centralize SCA heraldry by making the heraldry in each kingdom independent (which would indeed be more historically accurate as well), there IS a problem with the idea. Modern people are a lot more mobile than our Mediaeval forbears were. Back...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Nuke it [SCA Heraldry] from orbit and start it again with good intentions away from weird power struggles and arcane rules. What structure would you want it to have? Under what sort of rules would you have it operate? If you want to disestablish an institution, you ought to have its replacement pre...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

[I]s there not also the possibility that one might be, I dunno, cast out of the Order of [X]? What do you do for a personal device then? If one ensigns one's arms with the insignia of an Order and is subsequently cast out of that Order, one must remove the specific charge (such as a knight's chain ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

BaronConal wrote:Pull out the hinge pins and the legs come off for packing...
I added the hinges so that you could pick them up and move them without the legs falling off...

Can you assemble them with the legs "folded" for packing?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Sir Cleges's story has long been one of my favourites.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

At King's Assessment in Atlantia (held every year as a war-practice event), Duke Michael of Bedford gathered all the armoured fighters at the end of the day and asked about our ages and experience levels. There were only three of us, including himself, (and Sir Tnek and myself) who were in the 30+ y...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

freiman the minstrel wrote:It looks like my war shield this year will be unpainted. Just plain white canvas.

Ach, Freiman; if you cannot emblazon it, at least paint it the ground colour of your Arms or some colour that connects with you.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I'm planning to go to that tourney. If I'm lucky we'll get there in time for me to fight in the Torchlight Tourney on Friday.

I'll also be standing my Deed of Arms.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Requests like this tend to shake us out of the Anglo-centric orientation many of us seem to have. You might find Americans who can read German, but I suspect that Dutch isn't a language around which very many of us could wrap our brains. Among English-speakers, Canadians are more likely to speak Fre...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

IronwoodPotter wrote:Actually, I think that in Atlantia, Kingdom law reserves that for the Order of the Flaming Assholes...

Get the name right!

It's the Ancient and Ignoble Order of Incendiary Anal Orifices.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

<~~ is amused by the screen namd "Pretaboire" = Ready to Drink.

<~~ is also very impressed with those rigs. Formidable!

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Last night's fighting practice was rained out, but later in the evening I took one of my steel blades into the back yard and in the darkness, I sliced the air in memory and in honour of friends I had never met, friends I had met, legends, heroes of history, and any other warriors who had gone before...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

DavidEvans wrote: Tghis would take up a large part of their time....dull but potentally amusing.

Was ist?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Oh, shoot. A new member and I hit him with the semantic paddle.

Sorry, my friend. I have a tendency to play word games like that. All in good humor.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

A Viking hunter?

Is that anything like a bounty hunter? [rim shot!]

A-hunting we will go,
A-hunting we will go,
For Vikings from the northern lands
A-hunting we will go!

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Saburou wrote:The version I know involves playing in the dark with a cigar sticking part way out of the helmet. The goal is to put out your opponent's stogie.

Lit or not?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I agree with Sven. I believe that the intent of the rule is to prevent someone from simply running some paracord or equivalent under their chin to form a "chinstrap." By that reckoning, methods such as that described by Andrew Young are acceptable, since the part over the chin is plenty wi...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

chris.goldBerg wrote:Spraypaint it all black..... that might work?

Not even. Paint flies off at the first hit. By the end of a fight, most of it's gone.

Paint isn't flexible like the rubber. And it doesn't adhere well to it.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

In the historical context, certain garments (such as an embellished blue garter) had significance. Do you deny that SCA kingdoms have the right to establish such sumptuaries? If an individual runs afoul of a sumptuary, he's not likely to suffer some awful punishment, but a callous disregard for the ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

So be it. Thank you, Gavin.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

What sort of closure is most appropriate for the strap holding the visor closed?

Seems that an ordinary buckle would be difficult to deal with.

Is there an alternative that's historical and practical?

Or one that is practical and will not be too jarringly ahistorical?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I've had nothing but trouble putting duct tape over rubber.

In no time at all the adhesive on the tape starts to soften and the tape backing goes funny.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Thank you. I guess the operative answer is to put them at one-inch intervals. The visor on mine pivots at the sides rather than being hinged at the top. So I must take into account the strap to hold it closed. I was not aware that the vervelles were riveted; I had thought they were held in place by ...

Concerning those benches with hinges . . .

Tghis ?

How to Secure the Visor Strap?

Thanks and another question.