Little norse assistance...(long)

Sigurd Fjalarson · Post by **Sigurd Fjalarson** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:21 pm

Well I'm starting to put together a Norse persona and wanted to ask ya'll some questions... And I'm goin for 10th century, Scandinavia

1) For those of you who wear chainmail, what do you wear under it to meet SCA regs.?

2) What type of bows would you use for Combat Archery?

3) What do ya'll do for hand protection? I was thinking you could do a finger gauntlet with a bracer like lower arm protection... what do ya'll think, and is there an armourer who can do this?

4) Will weaving the rings for a hauberk driv me to the brink of insanity? And does anyone know anything about the Fourth Armoury rings? are the sturdy?

5) How do you go about canvasing your tent? ie, what did ya'll use, how did you water proof it?

6) Do ya'll know of any sites going into details about naming?

Thank you, any and all help is greatly appreciated...

Vladimir · Post by **Vladimir** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:34 pm

1 Most of the people I know who wear maille where leather under it. Some wear plastic, and some go with only a little padding and a kidney belt.

2 I don't do combat archery, but I would use a fiberglass bow so that I wouldn't freak out if it got stepped on and broken.

3 If you are an archer I cannot answer that question. If you are going to fight heavy then just buy some good gauntlets and paint them flat black. I cannot see risking hand surgery just to have that tiny little bit of extra coolness.

4 Making maille drives some crazy while others find it relaxing. It depends on your personality.

that is about as far as I can answer

NEXT!!!

Eyvandr · Post by **Eyvandr** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:42 pm

First thing... Go check the "So I want to be" forum for a bunch of info on the Norse culture / personnas in reguards to SCA fighting rigs.

As for your questions here are some High Level recomendations:

1. Most wear a kidney belt, and some sort of light thin gambeson, aka not much body armor. Chainmail looks awesome on the field, but doesn't do a whole lot in the way of protection against SCA blunk trauma damage.

2. Same as everyone else. Considering everyone is limited to 30# at 28"(Im pretty sure thats the stats), whatever works. Probably somthing not Fiberglass would look a bit more acurate.

3. Whaterver your comfortable with. Most guys I know still fight with sword baskets. I would personally love to get a set of those Stealth ones that (forgetting his name) makes. But go with what will keep your hands from getting broken. Hard to post on the archive with your hands all cast and splinted up. For the rest of your arm, a vambrace works well, and you can always do some sort of elbow cop under your tunic.

4. Having made 8 sets of butted mail hulburks and more coifs then I care to think about, I would rather buy mail these days then make it. The cost of the stuff being mass produced is far more reasonable. Forth if you can afford it is one of the best ways to go. If you have the cash go rivited or welded.

5. Sunforger Canvas. Get it pre-treated. Also there are a ton of aftermarket water proofing treatments available. I buy stuff from the local boating supply company and then put it into one of those pesticide pump sprayers and retreat my canvas every year. A-Frames are very simple to make if you have the right type of industrial machine, and alot of room and patience.

6. Do a search for SCA Norse Names of Viking Names, etc. Most college of heralds will be able to direct you to a ton of resources. There a bunch of information out there.

Sigurd Fjalarson · Post by **Sigurd Fjalarson** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:22 pm

Thanks for your help here guys, but I'm still curious about the helmet and gorget area...

What do you guys do for face protection? I was thinking a solid face, "hidden" behind a camail, on a spangenhelm with occulaira(sp?)... Would that still look period? Does anyone know an armorer who can do that?

And what about the neck? I was thinkin of just goin with the 3 piece gorget from Stonekeep, In this area I'd prefer to be protected as opposed to lookin right... Any other suggestions?

Vambraces? Are they a documentable thing to the Norsemen?

Once again much thanks to all who have helped, and those who will hopefully help some more...

Stonekeep · Post by **Stonekeep** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:27 pm

I would go with something leather or splinted leather for the gorget instead of one of my gothic 3 pc gorgets...
That would be blatantly out of era. Even my 2 pc would be better than an obviously gothic piece....

Sigurd Fjalarson · Post by **Sigurd Fjalarson** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:37 pm

Good call... I knew it was out of period...

Does your 2 piece protect the Back of the neck?

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:45 pm

I'm fighting with a leather gorget that I made right now. It's got about a 3 inch strap with a piece in the back modeled off of my old metal gorget to cover those knobbly bones. It's still lacking a strap, glue to hold the foam on instead of tape, and real rivets, but works fine as is and looks(and feels) better than any metal gorget I've worn.

As for vambraces, you can hide them inside your clothes if you like. Hidden armour, ho!

Blackoak · Post by **Blackoak** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:48 pm

Musashi, as for your arm protection, there is not period arm armour for you. Your best bet would be to do a long sleeve linen tunic, and hide some vambraces UNDER them. Dan with House of the Wolf makes a great low profile bauzuban that hides well and his stuff is top notch.

Finding a armourer to make you a spangen with oculars will not be hard, and you can get a riveted or welded aventail for it for about 200 bucks. 200 includes shipping at weldedchainmail.com. His stuff rocks. With the aventail draped on your helm, no one will see you gorget (neck protection) anyway, so that is covered.

Good luck,

Uric

Sigurd Fjalarson · Post by **Sigurd Fjalarson** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:54 pm

Thanks for the help guys...
Even with a welded aventail, I would still need a full face would I not? Yo meet SCA regs and protect my face?

Stonekeep · Post by **Stonekeep** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:08 pm

You can tell from this pic it covers the back of the neck and upper spine.
http://store.yahoo.com/spiers-saddlery/ ... orget.html

I wouldnt be afraid of using a leather or splinted leather gorget though...
In 11 years of fighting I have yet to receive a neck hit.

If it was me... and I was a little concerned about a neck thrust maybe... Id go with a splinted leather gorget.

But I have several of these 2 piecers in stock if you want one. Maybe the linen shirt to hide your arms would hide it anyways or that aventail.

Armourkris · Post by **Armourkris** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:59 pm

From My expierience, weaving maille will drive you to the brink of insanity, but then again, some people do find it relaxing, but i think that was said earlier.

as for the helm, http://www.whitemountainarmoury.com/wmahelms.htm
White Mountain Armoury makes some BEAUTIFUL helms, check out H19 though H21 specificall. no idea on the cost though

for the tent, I just finished making a maille shirt for a guy who does viking living history(never again) and he just finished making his tent, his source for canvas was painters drop sheets. got em at the hardware story for pretty cheap then waterproofed them at home. i dont remember exactly how much they cost, but he said it was cheaper than an equivalent amount of canvas from anywhere else that he looked

knuut · Post by **knuut** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:41 pm

Blackoak wrote: **********
Finding a armourer to make you a spangen with oculars will not be hard, and you can get a riveted or welded aventail for it for about 200 bucks. 200 includes shipping at weldedchainmail.com. ********

Good luck,

Uric

The price is now down to $175 for stainless and $275 for titanium (

WARNING!!

the price of titanium has been rising with the world price for energy. I will not be able to hold my prices much longer.)

A number of well established armouries ( http://www.windrosearmoury.com/ http://www.gkarmoury.com/index.php and http://www.whitemountainarmoury.com/ among others) maintain invantories of my aventails and will gladly attach one of them to one of their helmets.