The Armour Archive

Here is some of my first work. It started with a set of bracers I bought at Excaliber Fantasy Faire. I added the leather elbow cop held on with straps. It was too floppy, so I added the stainless splints and rivited them on losely (rivits have since been replaced with chicago screws) to the elbow cop to allow articulation. Finally I added a splinted rebrace. I wrapped the sections of stainless in leather to protect swords (I do boffer combat in a LARP game) as well as my own arms. What do you think of the design. It is mostly out of my own head through trial and error.


[img]http://shadowmist.hfsinchaos.com/armor/arms1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://shadowmist.hfsinchaos.com/armor/arms2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://shadowmist.hfsinchaos.com/armor/arms3.jpg[/img]

I think that elbow cop is not protecting your elbow. You may want to rethink your attachment to the vambrace, which looks a bit short as well.

My preferred method is to attach the vambrace to the cop at the bottom center of the cop. That way you get no gap as your last picture shows. Also, i like to attach the vambrace above the "inside" splint, meaning (as far as i can see in your pics) the one that is running down the inside of your arm toward your palm. It gives the vambrace an off balance look when it is not on your arm but when you wear it both sides and the back of your arm are protected. The "inside" part of your arm is least likely to get hit so leaving it open is okay if one part must be left open. The way yours is the top side of your arm is where the vam is laced and is very vulnerable to downward strikes.

I'll try to describe it a little clearer, 'cause what I just typed is even a little confusing for me...

for your left arm (as shown in picture) lay the vam down with the inside up. line up the center of the cop (inside up as well) with the right most splint. Secure the cop and vam at that point, just above the splint, either directly with rivets or with another small piece of leather between them. Put it on and the laces will be in line with your palm rather than your thumb and the whole thing will be more protective. Also, there will be no gap at the elbow when you bend your arm.

for the right arm do the same thing only line the cop up with the left most splint.

When you do this you might find that you have to curve the side splints a bit to make them fit more comfortably.

-edit-

i just noticed the actual shape of your vam. the part with the center splint seems longer than the sides. sort of bell shaped it seems. this may present a problem with what i described above. if you want to try my method see how it works without changing the pattern of the vam. if the longer part interferes with the movement you can trim it down and shorten the splint until it works properly. Or you can avoid that by adding another bit of leather between the cop and vam as i described above to make the connecting edge longer and keep the center length from being a problem.
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Angus of the White Mountain Shire

[This message has been edited by Angus Bjornssen (edited 10-01-2003).]

Angus:

Yes, you are correct about the shape of the vambrace. As I mentioned that was purchased before I had clue how easy they are to make. I would have to completely rebuild the vambrace to try that. However thanks for the tip. Several people have seen and liked my design (show how little about armour THEY know) so if I do a repeat, I'll keep that in mind.

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"Do or do not. There is no try."