The Armour Archive

I'm a new fighter and want to purchase my first pair of gauntlets for x mas.

These are the 4 armorers that i'm looking at

Ice Falcons look amazing but are out of my price range
Bokalo are out of stock and not taking orders until 2012

So i'm down to these two different styles/armorers
Ashcraftbaker (http://ashcraftbaker.com)
vs
Egg Armor (http://eggarmor.net/html/01.html)

I have had a few people tell me about finger/thumb injuries with the egg armor guantlets. Kydex is great stuff--super light, but if you go that direction you better pad them well.
Bokalo guants are worth waiting for if you can.

I do not like the floating thumb attachment found in the Egg gauntlets. I have no first hand experience with them however.

The AB gauntlets look like the thumb is held on with 1 rivet to allow movement and is similar to the construction of the mandrake gauntlets I've had for almost 15 years. Construction qaulity looks low, and the flare of the cuff give me worries about range of motion.

If I had to buy replacement clamshells, right now I would buy from Windrose armory. The thumb is fully articulated and overall construction qaulity looks higher.

Gauntlets are one of those things I'd rather not buy without trying them on first.

I learned the hard way over many (many, many, many) years of fighting that your helm and your hand protection are two areas you don't want skimp on. I have the broken fingers and arthritis in my hands as reminders of substandard hand protection. You also want the hand protection to fit YOUR hands. If they don't fit you, a good pair of gauntlets can cause you injuries just like a poorly made pair can. If you don't know what to look for, ask questions here from the very knowledgable armourers (I am not one, not do I play one on TV) and let them guide you on what makes good gauntlets and how to fit them.

Gauntlets are also something worth saving for. You tend to get what you pay for in regards to function, safety and appearance. I like my hands and use them all the time, so I invested in a set of gauntlets that will protect them.

I'd look at other options, Egg stuff is ridiculously ugly and imo uncovered plastic doesn't belong on the field. AB will take forever to get you your stuff, has horrible customer service and I've been less than impressed with the quality of the stuff of his i've seen. Theres a couple threads on here about issues with AB.

If you hurry and have $175.oo these look great!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCA-Gauntlets-H ... 4aaff2df22

I keep hearing good things about the gauntlets from 3 turrets armory.

The EGG armoury gaunts had a design mod a few years back putting the rivet head inside and the washer/burr on the outside. This realy was a decent improvement. I use them with street hockey gloves.

If your looking for quaity gauntlets on a budget I would aslo add Andy Ward's and Torvaldr... sometimes armstreat has some up for auction that sell at a low price.

Anyone have experience with these two? I was hoping to stay under the $200 cost for my first pair.

Armstreet (http://armstreet.com/store/armor/armor- ... eenactment)
Torvaldr's (http://skaldic.com/index.htm)

No clue on armstreet. torvaldr's are leather tanks. I know guys who have Eggs as well and they love em.. they were however modified. One guy painted his to look like a bare hand. the second covered his with mail..

Get a set of Bokolos "cats ass" gauntlets, one of the guys in my group has a pair and they rock!

Bokolo's "Cat's ass" Guantlets are very nice but check out Sir Andy Ward's

16 guage stainless & bombproof, $135 for a PAIR and the turn around has been FAST.

http://wardmetal.com/gauntlets.html

Didn't Andy post not that long ago he's out of the armouring business? I thought for sure I read that here on the archive.

Pure rumor. check recent posts of the happy folks, including myself who have recently gotten new Guantlets.

Being new, I would suggest the plastic. Because it is easier to mess with, adjust, and probably won't be your 'forever' keepsake pair. Not that any are. I'm all for authentic, but metal is difficult to work with, at a new level. Unless you are comfortable with leather work, strapping, padding, & drilling metal, have strong vices & anvil or mini anvil.

Plastic is just easier to "experiment" with, but also get with your local fighters, cuz they'll be the ones you'll get immediate and useable knowledge from.

Plastic or metal, one can easily go wrong, in the area of safety and injury reduction. I've been fighting a year now with sword & shield, basket hilt and half gauntlet, I am just now considering full gauntlets but only because of fighter skill and experience at this point.

PatternWeld wrote:Bokolo's "Cat's ass" Guantlets are very nice but check out Sir Andy Ward's

16 guage stainless & bombproof, $135 for a PAIR and the turn around has been FAST.

http://wardmetal.com/gauntlets.html

whats your thoughts on only 3 pieces vs teh 5+ others are making on Sir Andy's style???

Michael Deth wrote:Get a set of Bokolos "cats ass" gauntlets, one of the guys in my group has a pair and they rock!

Anyone know if he will take an order for a pair of gauntlets or is he really done until 2012???

let him know i'm interested eskil.lundberg.midrealm@gmail.com

I love my Andy Ward gauntlets. Quick turn around, amazing protection and they do great no matter what weapon style you fight.

I got to check out those armstreet gauntlets at their booth at pennsic, and I thought they were really nice for the price. One of the great things about them, I thought, was that you can adjust the fit by changing the tension of the leather thongs holding them together. Or you could swap the leather with paracord. Im not so much a fan of most mittens because the fit is never right for my hands, I wouldn't buy mittens or clams from bokolo or most any other armor website, I'd wait to see them at an event. I did fight it egg haunts for a year, with NO padding, and only got a stinger or two, but that's really flirting with disaster. They were ok, but too bulky and I couldn't open my hand very far in them.

I would buy EGG gauntlets over the Ashcraft-Baker ones. AB is renowned for terrible customer service, and while I have found some of their products decent, their gauntlets really suck, both in terms of protection and mobility.
In the price range you are talking about, Andy Ward's gaunts are the most protective, and they certainly have better mobility than AB's product.
I think the EGG gauntlets have slightly better weapon feel than Andy's, but they are not as bomb proof.

I have had egg and AB gauntlets. The egg are lightweight but I was never comfortable having the open wrist. The AB are to short for my long hands. I have a pair of cat's ass gauntlets and they are the best I have had. However, I still have my AB gauntlets yours for $50 +shipping. I also have a pair of old Von Sussen stainless one has a leather cuff the other has no cuff, enclosed thumbs very protective but heavy $75 + shipping. PM me if interested.

The hand portion of the armstreet gauntlets are nice, but even with padding the thumbs just weren't something I would trust to keep me safe. They are too short and not dished deep enough. I'm going to try to rebuild the thumb portion. Also, I haven't looked into it but was told that full cuffs are required for sca, which these are not. The cuff us just laced on, so I will probably remake the cuff too. I like the look of them, which is why I bought them, but straight out of the box I wouldn't quite trust them to keep my thumbs pretty.

I own a pair o f Illusion armoring gaunts and they seem pretty bomb proof. A bit heavy but very sturdy and well made. I haven't had a chance to get them in the field yet so I can't give you a battle tested tried and true testimony but somebody else might have some field experience with them. They also usually have them in their ready made category and could have them to you in around a week.

I have fought in EGG's for a decade. They are solid and I have never had an issue with the thumb protection ( I fight two weapon {sword and spear}, spear and polearm mainly).

I would suggest whonew (here) and Andy Ward or EGG. I {personally} would stay away from AB.

ymmv

I've used EGG gauntlets for 4 years now, they are solid. As for padding I use street hockey gloves with them and no issues so far.

Brien McShane wrote:I've used EGG gauntlets for 4 years now, they are solid. As for padding I use street hockey gloves with them and no issues so far.

This is what i'm thinking

Icefalcon "Rock but too expensive"
Bakalo's Armoury "what i wanted but they are moving and wont even take orders until 2012"

Final Choices
Egg Armor (Use street hockey has padding)
Illusion Armory (need review still)
3TurretsArmoury (not so sure about the 3 clams vs having 4+)

I'm using standard hockey gloves right now and feel anyone would be a step up

Andy Wards if he's not out of business (could have sworn I saw him at Pennsic). Mine are bombproof and have been so for about 10 years. Egg's otherwise.

What's up with that spiffy website you have?
Did you make it yourself?
With what software?
Nifty!

Grimbah wrote:What's up with that spiffy website you have?
Did you make it yourself?
With what software?
Nifty!

Its base is a wordpress theme that I have customized and enhanced. I'm hoping to tweak it and share the template once completed with others in sca once done. I'm glad you like it

Gurahl wrote:I love my Andy Ward gauntlets. Quick turn around, amazing protection and they do great no matter what weapon style you fight.

Thank you everyone for your input. So many armories out there with so many choices. I know there is a right fit for everyone fighting style and also budget. For me i'm going to go with Andy Ward armory for my first pair. I spoke to him on the phone today and what an amazing guy. He was honest and forthcoming of the positives and negatives of different styles of armor.

I'll be sure to post a review once I've battle tested these.

I'll second Andy Ward Metals. My stainless gaunts are bomb proof. Shoot him an email!

http://wardmetal.com/gauntlets.html

i made the mistake of wearing egg gauntlets many years ago. ive had both of my thumbs broken (my right one crippled) wearing them. i share blame but their poor design was the failure point. ive also broken many pairs of them when folks have blocked with their hands but i was told the plate that was the one that always broke was replced with a thicker piece. ive heard of a dozen or so other injuries similar to mine but to be fair ive not heard of one in the last five years or more.

if you want gauntlets spend money.

regards
logan

Logan the Red wrote:I have had a few people tell me about finger/thumb injuries with the egg armor guantlets. Kydex is great stuff--super light, but if you go that direction you better pad them well.
Bokalo guants are worth waiting for if you can.

Gotta say go with Sir Andy Wards Gauntlets - great price, perfect for SCA (he has been building the things for 20+ years and refining and updating the whole time) and he will usually get them to you faster than most folks bother to respond to your email with a quote. He is an institution in Calontir, and his gauntlets are bomb proof and business practices are of sterling integrity.

Brucer

What material are you looking for the gaunts to be? I make hard leather gauntlets. PM if you want pics or have questions about them
~Draven