The Armour Archive

I'm still waiting on some gear to arrive, and have to build out the rest once my current work crisis is finished (I have a make-or-break April project from hell that'll partially determine if I still have my job come fall). Mean time, I'm playing with my rubber party axe, and trying to figure out the best way of generating power in a mitten gauntlet.

I've noticed that merely gripping a haft strongly begins to damage rattan -- in fact, had a guy apologize for "hurting your mace" to me simply b/c he'd gripped it stoutly. So I'll probably do a wrap to protect it...but the other side of that, is that it seems that the two edges of the gauntlet (thumb-side, pinky-side) are where the leverage actually exists to generate cutting-force power with the weapon, rather than merely clubbing crudely from the shoulder without any appreciable acceleration in the weapon.

Does this sound like it's the right track to those of you who, unlike me, have worn mitten gaunts for years?

My first thought is that it sounds like your mittens are a bit too deep. I don't expect my gauntlets to be grounded out all the time and it is my hand against the hilt/haft that provides my grip and leverage.

I generally work with a thumb and forefinger grip, the rest of the hand relaxed until just prior to impact. there is, indeed, a leverage function between that grip of thumb and forefinger and the rest of the fingers as they clamp down, but even in my mitten gauntlets, I'm working this with my hand against the hilt, not my hand through the gauntlet against the hilt.

When I grip tightly, my gauntlets don't bite in. It takes someone hitting them to make that happen

I think it's pretty typical. With my full gaunts, even though they are not in full contact, with use (swinging) they will tear up hockey tape and duct tape handles as well as bare rattan.
I've had many people handle my leather grips with no serious damage, so I've changed almost all of my handles to either black or brown oil-tanned leather on my own weapons. If your gaunts are cutting through leather grips, then you you have some seriously sharp edges that need to be rounded off, or you need to stop basket blocking.
-Cian