REVIEW: HoW leather Bazubands
Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:17 pm
Review HoW water hardened Bazubands:
Ok, I have finally found the time to write up a review of Dan's from House of the Wolf Leather Bazubands. A while back I did some design work for Dan and in partial payment he made a pair of Ox Blood colored Bazubands for me. Now when I ordered them I was a bit skeptical, coming from the "only steel for my elbows, knees, hands" safety school. But I liked the look and if nothing else I could easily sell them and recoup my money.
When they showed up with my payment I was totally impressed. For one they fit like a glove, and I do mean glove. No bulkiness or "well I will just pad that part a little extra to make it fit" with these things. And that is saying something since my forearms are a bit odd shaped. Big and Short, most cased vambraces and elbows don't fit me well off the shelf. They are either to narrow around the forearm or to wide at the elbow. But, I gave my measurements to Dan and he hit a home run on fit.
I padded them with some 1/8" black foam from Mandrake, choosing to glue the foam into the elbow cup as opposed to wearing an elbow pad. I was a bit worried about how thin the padding on the elbow was but decided to pad them and try them out then make adjustments.
After padding them and adding a couple holes to the straps (these came pre-strapped) I armoured up and headed out. They made their daybeu(sp?) at Gulf Wars.
Performance:
100 out of 100! They performed perfectly. I normally am constantly pulling my vams and elbows up as they slide down my arms. I put these on and cinched them down and they did not move even after a full day of swinging a Greatsword. I even took a couple good solid hits to the elbows and the padding and construction held up great. Add to that that these things are light as air, it was like wearing plastic on my arms.
Construction:
98 out of 100. Over all they are excellent all edges are skived and rounded. The dye job is very saturated and even. All rivets are peened extremely close and smoothed (no sharp edges to cut you). In fact they are perfect, the straps are in perfect position, I had no need to change the placement. The only reason I deducted 2 points is the way the forearm straps are attached. On the forearm some of the rivets that hold the top casing together are the same rivets that hold the strap to the bazuband. In the long run if/when the strap breaks I will need to cut off that rivet to replace the strap. Personally I would have added another rivet for the strap so I wouldn't need to mess with the leather binding on the casing. But that is just me.
Over all these Bazubands went through an entire week of fighting at Gulf Wars and performed perfectly. AND they looked great to boot. I got many complements on how they looked. I HIGHLY recommend HoW Bazubands. They may not be the cheapest out there but for a perfect fit and outstanding protective performance you can't go wrong.
So, Dan need anymore design work done? I could usesome 1/2 Gauntlets...
Ok, I have finally found the time to write up a review of Dan's from House of the Wolf Leather Bazubands. A while back I did some design work for Dan and in partial payment he made a pair of Ox Blood colored Bazubands for me. Now when I ordered them I was a bit skeptical, coming from the "only steel for my elbows, knees, hands" safety school. But I liked the look and if nothing else I could easily sell them and recoup my money.
When they showed up with my payment I was totally impressed. For one they fit like a glove, and I do mean glove. No bulkiness or "well I will just pad that part a little extra to make it fit" with these things. And that is saying something since my forearms are a bit odd shaped. Big and Short, most cased vambraces and elbows don't fit me well off the shelf. They are either to narrow around the forearm or to wide at the elbow. But, I gave my measurements to Dan and he hit a home run on fit.
I padded them with some 1/8" black foam from Mandrake, choosing to glue the foam into the elbow cup as opposed to wearing an elbow pad. I was a bit worried about how thin the padding on the elbow was but decided to pad them and try them out then make adjustments.
After padding them and adding a couple holes to the straps (these came pre-strapped) I armoured up and headed out. They made their daybeu(sp?) at Gulf Wars.
Performance:
100 out of 100! They performed perfectly. I normally am constantly pulling my vams and elbows up as they slide down my arms. I put these on and cinched them down and they did not move even after a full day of swinging a Greatsword. I even took a couple good solid hits to the elbows and the padding and construction held up great. Add to that that these things are light as air, it was like wearing plastic on my arms.
Construction:
98 out of 100. Over all they are excellent all edges are skived and rounded. The dye job is very saturated and even. All rivets are peened extremely close and smoothed (no sharp edges to cut you). In fact they are perfect, the straps are in perfect position, I had no need to change the placement. The only reason I deducted 2 points is the way the forearm straps are attached. On the forearm some of the rivets that hold the top casing together are the same rivets that hold the strap to the bazuband. In the long run if/when the strap breaks I will need to cut off that rivet to replace the strap. Personally I would have added another rivet for the strap so I wouldn't need to mess with the leather binding on the casing. But that is just me.
Over all these Bazubands went through an entire week of fighting at Gulf Wars and performed perfectly. AND they looked great to boot. I got many complements on how they looked. I HIGHLY recommend HoW Bazubands. They may not be the cheapest out there but for a perfect fit and outstanding protective performance you can't go wrong.
So, Dan need anymore design work done? I could usesome 1/2 Gauntlets...