The Armour Archive

brookswift

moving pad and a sewing machine is generally the cheap gambeson method of choice. add a friend who knows how to sew if you're like me and can't work a needle.

brookswift

yes, it IS possible to get metal cutting circular saw blades and they might even cut through that after using about 100 of them over the course of a month. I mean, just cutting sheet metal i can go through one or two of those things in a day. the way that circular saw blades for metal work is that t...

brookswift

the real question is where did you get the mouse hat and how much? just think of a whole unit of mouse hatted fighters showing up to a war. no one would be able to land a blow because they'd already be downed from laughter.

brookswift

as i recall, most long bows are pretty symmetrical, so you can just turn it upside down to shoot lefty.

brookswift

well, with the wrist, you disable someone's main form of offense, the hand carrying the sword. if you do it right, you'll sever the tendons to the hand, destroying his grip completely. if he can't swing a sword at you, waiting 4 minutes for him to bleed out won't be so hard. it'll also give you time...

brookswift

yeah, i remember my musculata looked GREAT with a russet finish. it is true though, that a mirror finish is much more rust resistant than a satin finish. it's just a question of less surface area. a satin finish has a ragged surface, which scatters light instead of just reflecting it. one thing that...

brookswift

kudos to you for rolling the edges.

brookswift

i'd say with a spear you'd have better luck with the liver. the heart's well protected inside of the ribcage, which means you'd have to have a pretty good thrust and/or good enough aim to hit between the ribs. severing the spinal column though, that'd be pretty effective. just a good impact to the v...

brookswift

16 guage is heavier if you want to go with a more rhinohide approach. i've heard of that being used as well, but only if you want to have more of a rhinohide.

brookswift

thanks scott, i'll have to figure out a good time to go down to union city. You see, i would just get a shield blank and strap it, etc, but i don't have any tools (or workspace) in my new place. I have a little bag of scrap leather leftover from making my ex a bouquet of leather flowers which should...

brookswift

woo, just two more flakes and i'm all set

brookswift

well, you see, with a polearm in the SCA, you're just not allowed to use up close defenses. i've heard the rule being called "no quarterstaffing", but basically, if you have a spear or other long weapon, at close range you have to either butt spike your opponent or swing the butt at them. i've done ...

brookswift

well, i'd imagine it'd be hard to put a full suit over a fireplace, wouldn't you? unless maybe you split it in half, which just doesn't make any sense. or maybe he'd position the suit lounging over the fireplace :-p

brookswift

no no, didn't you read the rest of it? originally he was going to put it over the fireplace, but then he saw it, and demanded that the rest of the armor be completed because it's so beautiful. that means it's going to be proudly displayed on a stand somewhere methinks.

brookswift

so, i know that there are tons of places to buy shield blanks. hell, i even have a shield blank i made this summer (but it's only 1/2 inch plywood. i just used it as an art project to paint some heraldry). where does one go to get a shield that's already built? i don't have any tools or workspace to...

brookswift

so, i actually learned a little bit about assasinations this summer, as we played assasin with boffer daggers. (for those of you who don't know, assasin is a game where everyone draws a name out of a hat and has to kill them. if sucessful, they take the target of the guy who died and the last one al...

brookswift

i've seen a guy who uses sheepskin as padding material (with the fur on it). i don't remember if it was in his knees, but he says it's rather comfortable and protective in his gauntlets and on his shield. gives a more "period" look too. none of that blue foam or roller skating knee pads.

brookswift

do you have a website or something i can bookmark? i can't buy a shield now, but i would definately like to later.

brookswift

query sent via ebay

brookswift

heh, i'll take a number too

brookswift

i noticed

, i thought i'd actually managed to nab it. apparently, i tried to buy it only a few seconds after you did. i hope you enjoy it.

brookswift

well, i just bought the red one through the website

mine mine all mine

so i guess that means they're all gone now

brookswift

with the no grappling, fighting with a dagger turns into a funny dance. it's great to watch. This summer I had some boffer dagger fights that were bunches of fun (with no grappling). The best was trying to deal with a spear without ever grappling it.

brookswift

the crossbows are made out of hickory, says so on the site.

brookswift

well, actually, they've got em as low as 10GPB. at that price, i'd be happy to invest.

brookswift

well, maybe it is that expensive to ship from the middle of rural india, who knows? i could see shipping like that going from, say guam to the galapagos islands. though, getting full arms/legs from eastern europe only seems to cost $70

brookswift

yeah, but those are actually reasonably priced.

brookswift

this is a much better deal http://cgi.ebay.com/Chain-Mail-Midieval ... dZViewItem

in case anyone wants cheap butted maille

brookswift

and 170 in shipping

http://cgi.ebay.com/Chainmail-Chain-Mai ... dZViewItem

brookswift

well, late 15th to early 16th century austria (i think that was prussia back than) is of particular interest, but i'm just asking because i really have no clue. my pipe dream is to come up with a cap a pied harness (not going to happen any time soon).

brookswift

so, I haven't been around the block yet, but I have noticed some things from my small vantage point. First, lamellar armor seems to be all the rage. Second, sword and board doesn't look too popular. So I want to ask, what's the most common armour style out there on the fields? What period/people doe...

brookswift

i think they changed a lot by the 25th century. for one thing, they started coming in standardized colors mixed with black (red, blue, and yellow), not to mention their square shoulders and small communicator pins.

he he he

brookswift

i love my tivo

brookswift

awesome, thanks

brookswift

well, the first number worked, but the second one gives me uh... an 80s comic book about a female hairband hehehe. somehow i don't think hair band comics are good shoulder protection . for some reason ebay doesn't have any items in your store yet... oh, and i'll be sure to post pictures once i get t...

WTB ready to go shield

hauberk, just $17...

most common weapons/armor?