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Drocan In reply to ??? [2014-01-31 05:54:31 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Riveted maille would be nice but in the meanwhile I can at least try to start tailoring the hauberk I have. I've shifted to the mid/late 14th c since this picture so that's a little pre-voiders still. Although the diamond idea sounds like a great way to drop the weight just a little. In the meanwhile though, just removing enough links to make it more form-fitting should improve the fit and the weight at the same time. So that's probably my main goal for now.
I appreciate the input.

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Drake-Wyvern In reply to Drocan [2014-01-31 18:42:22 +0000 UTC]

for the arms column contractions, 

for the waist triangular contractions work best for quick contracting, 

though they're not so tidy looking as normal contracting

for a nice gradual taper to the waist. 

all of which can be done with a pair of needle nose pliers

i learned about advanced tailoring of maille here (link ), 

it is very informative with reference articles for further reading

-----

as aside you can buy links ready to have the rivet set in bags

TRL does them and some reenactment suppliers, it works out 

cheaper to make your own mallie more or less

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Drocan In reply to Drake-Wyvern [2014-02-01 00:33:02 +0000 UTC]

That looks very in-depth. Exactly what I'm looking for! Thanks so much for speeding up the research process for me.

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Drake-Wyvern In reply to Drocan [2014-02-01 02:00:37 +0000 UTC]

your welcome i'm using it too atm for a 13th'c style haubergeon with integrated coife  

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-10 20:12:50 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. If you're looking into a really transitional period the fourteenth century is where you see the most blend between plate and mail. I am a little later than that, focusing on the first half of the fifteenth century, where plate was dominant but mail was still incorporated. After that mail becomes rare because plate became so advanced and efficient that it wasn't worth the extra weight.

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Rusten In reply to Drocan [2011-04-11 01:50:58 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the info! I'm always curious to learn more of medieval history. Especially little tidbits like that. Very interesting!

I've been trying to decide what pieces of armor I want to be plate, and what chain underneath. I want a good mix, and I don't just want solid plate everywhere.

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-11 03:47:56 +0000 UTC]

In that case I highly encourage you to look at historic examples. Even if you're trying to produce a kit for fantasy purposes, it is important to understand how armor worked historically. Humans have perfected and refined armor through thousands of years of trial and error, and the armor available in each time period represents the peak of efficiency in terms of weight distribution, overall mass, maneuverability, and protective quality. So if your stylistic choice is a mix of mail and plate, look into historic examples from the transitional period of the 14th and 15th centuries to try to get an idea of what combination of each armor type are the most practical. Unless you are only concerned about looks and not whether it will protect you or be maneuverable in a fight. In that case understanding history is less important (although even if you're only putting it together for aesthetic reasons, historic examples still provide an inspirational range of artistic styling, too).

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Rusten In reply to Drocan [2011-04-11 05:29:26 +0000 UTC]

I would be very interested in learning more about different historical examples of armor. While looks are fairly important to me, having a functional suit of armor is even more so. Maneuverability is extremely important to me, and one thing I know about history is the guy who couldn't move normally died.

So you say 14th to 15th centuries? I'll have to do some searching then. Do you have any sites that you would recommend for reading/research? In my early stages, I would probably buy most of my gear, but in the future I would love to learn how to actually make some of this stuff. I currently make both scale and chainmail, mostly just as a hobby. And I wouldn't mind adding plate to that list either. Waiting until I get my own house so I can have my own workshop though, and I hate waiting for that lol.

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-11 23:37:55 +0000 UTC]

I am a medieval history major at college, so most of my resources are pretty dense literature by most standards. However, one absolutely indispensable source of information I use with almost daily regularity is myarmoury.com. It features in-depth reviews of available equipment, extensive galleries of historic examples. It also features a forum with a very active number of extremely knowledgeable members who will be able to help with any questions you have, although I would be glad to help as well.
My favorite plate armor supplier is Allan of the Mercenary's Tailor (merctailor.com). His is probably the best bang for your buck of any distributor, in that his quality and authenticity is the best you'll find in the price range, and it's also semi-custom so you know it will fit well. That's the main problem I have found with most armor: since metal doesn't stretch or confrom to your body (duh), proper fit is *extremely* important in terms of maneuverability. I am slowly in the process of replacing my first kit with custom fitted pieces, and it makes a huge, huge difference. It will be a little more expensive, but trust me, if you get into this it will save you in the long run because you won't have to buy every piece twice after learning what a difference it makes. Even then, if you stick with people like Allan it should be affordable enough. (Of course, armor collecting will always be an expensive hobby, but I'm speaking in relative terms, here.)

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Rusten In reply to Drocan [2011-04-12 05:03:53 +0000 UTC]

Oh don't worry, I'm fully aware of the expense. Not only am I interested in history, but I create cosplay costumes based off of Halo. Not a very cheap hobby either lol. I guess armor of all kinds interests me. But medieval history has always ranked up at the very top. I have bookmarked both of those links so that I can check them out, thank you so much for the info! And as for the custom fitted gear, I can definitely understand that. With my old Halo suit, the thighs and biceps were too long. The torso was too wide and covered too much of my shoulders. And none of it was strapped properly. All of which resulting in TERRIBLE maneuverability. I couldn't even reach up to put on my own helmet lol. My second suit, which I am currently constructing, is much more custom fitted. I've learned a lot about scaling my armor pieces so that they fit much better. Again, thanks for the info and I would be very interested in learning more from you. Also, I'm no stranger to reading, in fact I love books. So if there are any specific books you think would be a good read, I'll take a look at them as well.

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-12 07:37:55 +0000 UTC]

"Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight" by David Edge and John Miles Paddock is the standard reading, with many pictures. I picked it up several years ago but it was too dense for me. It's mostly late period work, but that's about what you're looking for. I picked it up again after acquiring more knowledge on the subject and it's now my standard reference. "Knight: Noble Warrior of England" by Christopher Gravett is also dense reading, though less so. It's not focused specifically on armor but has a sizable portion devoted to the subject and helps teach about the lifestyle and social aspects as well. Additionally, it breaks it down by time period so you can find which era appeals to you most. I don't doubt your reading ability, but in this case when I say dense I mostly mean it involves extensive memorization of terminology in French, German, Italian and Latin. Every component has a name and neither author goes easy on you.
Sounds like you got a good learning experience out of your Halo kit as far as fit goes. It's hard to overstress that aspect, so while I'm sorry it didn't fit well, I'm glad you got to experience it the hard way already so you don't have to do it with armor, too.
By the way, I want to give Allan one more sales pitch and say that in addition to giving a great product at a great price, his customer service is also among the best in the industry. If you order from him, don't hesitate to ask for his advice and get recommendations from him.

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Rusten In reply to Drocan [2011-04-12 16:01:43 +0000 UTC]

I'll take a look at both of those books, see if they have them at my local library. If not I can always order them online if need be. I don't mind adding some more books to my collection anyways.

As for the Halo armor, it was mostly my inability to size the armor pieces correctly, and me rushing to get it finished. I completed the entire suit from start to finish in 3 weeks. There were quite a few things that I did wrong, and because of the rush job, a lot of details that I left out. On my current suit, I've been working on it steadily for about a month, and it is no where near complete. I have two thigh pieces almost ready and thats about it. Because I'm still deciding if I'm going to re-do my helmet or not.

I ended up staying up into the wee hours of the night last night checking out Allan's website. I think I looked at pretty much every piece of armor he has for sale on there, compared between items, deciding which pieces I liked the best, and then totalling it all up. If I got everything I wanted, it would total around $1600. And that's not including a helmet. No offense to his helmets at all, but I was unable to find one that really suited me. Unfortunately, my wife would kill me if I spent that kind of money right now haha. Though, for all intents and purposes, for a fitted suit of armor, that price is basically a steal. You were definitely right when you say he offers a great price. And the quality of work from the pictures looks great! I've seen sets from other armourers that don't look nearly as good but sell for 2-3 times that. You may have sold me to him already haha. Just gotta convince the wife... And I'll probably have to order my kit piece by piece instead of all at once. Though I imagine I would get a better fit if I did it all at once right?

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-13 06:00:49 +0000 UTC]

I wouldn't worry too much about fit. If you work through one distributor everything should match up nice and consistently. Not everything I own is from him, but all of my favorite pieces are. I particularly like the arms, which were a variant on his design but with a set of spaulders I shipped to him to attach to the rest.
I'm a college student, so I'm on an extremely tight budget. For that reason I actually am only able to purchase one new piece per year, on average. While $1600 is a fantastic deal, it's still more money than I'm ready to spend in one sitting, so I hear you.

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Rusten In reply to Drocan [2011-04-13 16:23:40 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, its definitely going to be a "build over time" kit for me haha. Guess I had better start saving!

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-13 21:26:55 +0000 UTC]

One more tip, I only recently learned butted mail was not used in history. It's too easy to split the rings and as such doesn't really offer protection against much save for glancing blows. My hauberk is butted, so I'm looking into a riveted replacement, but it is much more expensive to buy because it requires almost triple the labor. But I need to replace my full hauber with voiders anyway to reduce the weight and eliminate redundancies in my protection (no need to put mail over a spot already protected by plate). Another thing I learned is that if you get flattened links you can cover the same area with fewer rings, cutting the weight down even further. Historic examples very frequently consist of flattened rings, alternating solid, complete links (punched from sheet metal or else welded closed then hammered flat, I presume) and riveted ones. I guess that's one way to save on labor at least a little, should you want to make something yourself, but butted mail doesn't offer much more protective quality than a good solid cloth gambeson (speaking of which, that is also arguably the most important part of any kit). I know both of these things because my mail is butted and my gambeson is sub-par. They're next on my list, although I need a passable helm and a pair of gauntlets, too. And I need to upgrade my sword to an Albion. None of which I can afford to do right now... so I seem to be at a slow stage.

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Rusten In reply to Drocan [2011-04-14 17:26:15 +0000 UTC]

I had often wondered about butted mail. I have made chainmail by hand for a few years now, and butted European 4 in 1 has always been the standard pattern for me. Its the easiest pattern around that I'm aware of, and it looks pretty cool when its finished. I have a couple of pictures in my gallery of my chainmail, nothing close up though. Its all butted, but if I'm to upgrade to riveted or welded mail, I'll definitely be looking for an armourer haha. I'm no welder, and riveting all of those links... Oh my. I can definitely attest first hand why the cost of labor would be so high. I've never riveted mail at all, but even my butted mail takes quite a while to make. Granted, I'm no expert or anything. And I am probably relatively slow at weaving compared to anyone who sells mail. I only do it as a hobby and a cheap way to have my own armor at very low cost, other than time. Buying steel wire, building my own winch, winding all of my own rings by hand. Very time consuming, yet very cheap. I discovered The Ring Lord a couple years back, and they offer the exact same size and type of steel rings that I was making by hand, at a fairly affordable price. So I've mixed in some of theirs to save on time in the past. Maybe someday I could learn how to create riveted mail as well... Might be an interesting undertaking. And you say the flattened links are historically accurate as well? And that sometimes they were mixed? Alternating between the types? Interesting...

By the way, here is a picture of my wife and I at the KC Ren Faire. Showing off a bit of my chainmail- [link]

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-15 00:10:51 +0000 UTC]

Here is a picture of surviving mail (from a fairly early period, actually) that demonstrates alternating solid and riveted links. This would likely be the best compromise of protective quality and labor efficiency.
[link]
The image was taken from myarmoury, which I provided a link to earlier as my number one resource for this sort of thing.
This one (a reconstruction, but a historically correct one) also shows alternating riveted and solid rings (probably the most common style) except that in this example both riveted and solid rings are flattened, whereas the first picture featured flattened solid links and round riveted ones.
[link]

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Rusten In reply to Drocan [2011-04-19 05:47:04 +0000 UTC]

I signed up on myarmoury.com, excellent resource.

Both of those pictures are interesting. I wonder if I could find a supplier of those solid links and links that require rivets. It would definitely be an interesting undertaking to learn how to do that myself.

I was at a local Renaissance Faire over the weekend, and I found a shirt of mail there that was similar to the second picture you posted. All of the rings were flattened, and it had both solid and riveted links. It wasn't for sale, just a display piece. So now I'm actually curious to "upgrade" my current pieces of butted mail, and my knowledge of how to make it. I'll have to do some searching and see if I can find a supplier of these rings.

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Drocan In reply to Rusten [2011-04-20 00:23:13 +0000 UTC]

I haven't bought from them, but the people on MyArmoury seem to like Icefalcon armory as a stock ring supplier. The website isn't the most professional in the world but I have heard several positive reviews from people on that forum who I trust. I haven't checked to see if they supply the exact style from the example I showed you, but give it a look.

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Drocan In reply to GrayEyedGringo [2011-01-31 23:07:06 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. Mine is based around 1380-1420 and is primarily Italian in design but hopefully would not too out of place in France or England at the time.
The cape is a 3/4 hooded cloak made from a non-historic canvas material that I thought was close enough to the look of orignial materials that it was worth getting (versus pending three times more on a more authentic one). I can try to take a better picture of the interior for you (still partially under construction) but keep in mind that I did not use any direct manuscripts or survving examples, instead drawing on my overall knowledge to create a non-specific but still generally period appropriate piece. Mostly I wanted something that didn't look blatantly innaccurate but would allow me to go outside without screaming and running for cover whenever I saw signs of rain for fear of rust.
Thanks for your interest. I have a much higher quality breastplate now but have been unable to take a new ID with it because of the general wet and unpleasant weather.

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Drocan In reply to Evenings-Stars [2010-05-15 03:54:31 +0000 UTC]

Perhaps. Lord of the Rings is certainly the best fantasy depiction of arms and armor I've seen on the screen, and I appreciate the compliment. Unfortunately, on a whole, movies (even the ones "based on a true story" like Braveheart) tend to represent medieval body protection very poorly.

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Drocan In reply to ice-deathrunes [2010-05-14 03:08:22 +0000 UTC]

The breastplate is a new one, as are the greaves (not pictured, but one of my favorite pieces and an upgrade that has done wonders for my mobility), and, like I mentioned, the arms. Spaulders are old, but I had them reforged and riveted to the arms, so they are substantially modified.
Weight is now at about 85 lbs, which I'll need to do something about because it's at least 15 lbs above the historical average for the period. I'll need to start stitching a new maille-integrated gambeson since a lot of the chain is redundant given the distribution of the plate.
Range of motion, however, is not restricted to the degree where it interferes with anything I've had to do while in it. It's not 100%, but unless I'm doing yoga it's not a problem at all.

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ice-deathrunes In reply to Drocan [2010-05-14 06:55:46 +0000 UTC]

85 eh? that's heavier than last time as i recall. hahaha yoga in armor, i'd love to see that. no, i don't imagine you would have too many problems.

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Drocan In reply to ice-deathrunes [2010-05-14 23:29:38 +0000 UTC]

Like I said, it's getting in the range of being inaccurately heavy. True historical weights are more around the 65 lb range, but those were for proper, custom fitted harnesses, versus my piecemeal getup, so I'll settle for a little heavier. Still, even if I do settle it should still be no more than the 75 lb range or so. Fortunately I do think I probably have about 10 lbs or mail that isn't offering any additional protection right now, so it's just a matter of making a new hauberk custom to this kit so I can leave out mail in areas already covered by plate.

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ice-deathrunes In reply to Drocan [2010-05-15 00:17:16 +0000 UTC]

yea that's a decent plan. sounds like you've thought it out well. you're working roughly 1450 yes? hmmm yea that is getting heavy for the time. by then they were already slimming things down and phasing out the heavy stuff in favor of lighter quicker weapons.
but i'd imagine that it doesn't feel so heavy being distributed almost evenly across the body.

do you ever plan to get a custom fitted suit?

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Drocan In reply to ice-deathrunes [2010-05-15 03:51:55 +0000 UTC]

I don't believe they were "phasing out" of this style by the mid 15th century. Swords grew more thrust-oriented by this time to combat heavier armor, but the lighter, smallsword styles only really appeared as personal sidearms, to be worn and used outside of warfare. A professional soldier would be covered as well as he could afford to be at this point, until later in the century when gunpowder use became more commonplace. Firearms led to the abandonment of complete plate protection, and lighter swords were in turn a response to lighter armor, not vice-versa.
Distribution is absolutely key to mobility. Like I said, I am as mobile as I am without it for all practical purposes. If I weren't capable of moving fast enough to both defend myself and properly attack, such armor would be useless.
I will certainly get a custom fitted harness one day. I'm already enjoying the feel of my first custom piece, and I'm sure anything I order from here on out will be custom, as well. The added maneuverability proper fitting brings is well worth the cost.

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ice-deathrunes In reply to Drocan [2010-05-15 20:56:25 +0000 UTC]

absolutely. good luck with that. any armories/manufacturers you might reccamend to others looking to purchase proper armor? i'm certainly considering getting a set of spaulders to accompany my plate gorget, and when it comes to function and maneuverability verses price i'm definitly not going to cheap out.

alas, you have yet again showm me i am totally out to lunch on my knowledge of history and need to hit the books. good for you ya keener. lol just kidding. but still, any suggestions of good books to read?

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Drocan In reply to ice-deathrunes [2010-05-15 22:07:13 +0000 UTC]

The Mercenary's Tailor is where I got my arms. It's the first non-stock piece I've ever got, and the quality shows. His prices are better than a lot of custom armorers as well, but still more than your average stock piece.
If you're looking for something where custom fit isn't as critical (Spaulders and greaves, for example), Therion Arms is a stock dealer who stands out from the others in my opinion. He sells stock pieces, but only those he has tried out himself and wold trust to see him through the SCA tournaments he participates in. Basically it's like any average site you'll find online, but with the junk weeded out for you.
In terms of books, the absolute authority on the subject it Ewart Oakshott, without a question. "Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods and Techniques" by John Clements gave me most of my knowledge on fighting itself, but he also has several chapters on sword and armor evolution and design. Finally, "Knight" by Christopher Gravett has seen me through many college papers, and provides a wealth of information on armor development in England (Although for their variations, armor everywhere served similar purposes and worked in similar ways) throughout the middle ages, broken down by century. It's a little dense, but if you know the vocabulary it's an invaluable resource.

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Theophilia In reply to Drocan [2010-05-26 03:27:58 +0000 UTC]

I'll definetly have to lok into those books now. Thanks for all of the suggestions.

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ice-deathrunes In reply to Drocan [2010-05-16 23:30:25 +0000 UTC]

I think I would look at Therion Arms first, simply because he tests his works and builds them to conform to the rigerous armor requirements of the SCA. pretty useful that is, but i think i'm also going to check out The Mercinary's Tailor. you say they do quality work, i'll believe you. besides, I will eventually need custom pieces for the heavier combat as well as cut and thrust/sidesword.
I think I would probably get the most out of the illustrated methods and techniques. knight would be worth a read through just for the sake of learning more about the subject, and the century by century breakdown would be really useful to me. as we've clearly seen i know nothing about that. but if you say this Ewart Oakshott is the authority on the subject i'll probably have to persue his works first.
alas, i foresee a very large bill from amazon.com in my future lol

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Drocan In reply to ice-deathrunes [2010-05-17 01:37:50 +0000 UTC]

The work the Mercenary's Tailor will create for you is far superior in every sense to the sort of pieces the other site will stock (he doesn't build anything; he's just a middle man for bulk armorers, but somehow still manages to keep prices down, and he only ships in quality stuff), but it comes at the expense of a higher price tag and a bit of a wait, since he needs to make it. Merc Tailor doesn't do swords, though. Therion Arms does supply a few, and they're pretty respectable, although not top of the line. Good, though.
Therion Arms does work to meet the rigorous requirements of the SCA, but Merc Tailor works to meet the rigorous requirements of actual combat. Weigh that as you will. Although the the sites do not compete, as they both cater to two different groups.
If you're going to read all the books I recommended, I would go with Swordsmanship first, Knight second, and Oakshott third, simply because you're going to need the background if you hope to understand a thing he's talking about. Like I said, he is *the* expert on the subject of the sword. I've been doing research for years and I can still barely wrap my head around the details of his arguments.

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ice-deathrunes In reply to Drocan [2010-05-17 05:58:43 +0000 UTC]

very cool. thank you for the advice. why wouldn't i read all the books? you suggested those would be the best to learn from, so i will. granted it might take me a while to get through them all since i'm working on a long list already.
well, as far as blades go, darkwood armories is the best quality i've found for a relativly reasonable cost. i use mine from there on a weekly basis if not almost daily at some points, in bouts, and have for a full year almost and it's harly showing any signs of wear.
hard call on which to choose based on the armor standards they work to meet. i've seen a few examples that are plenty good enough for actual combat, but for one reason or another, don't meet the requirements for corporate SCA law. I suppose in that case one must consider 1)price, 2)shipping time 3)appearance 4)function... not persay in that order. i'll look into them and talk to some of our other local fighters, see what they have to say if they have heard of them.

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Drocan In reply to ice-deathrunes [2010-05-17 23:50:08 +0000 UTC]

No, read them all, for sure. I was just suggesting you read them in that order since you'll need to be fairly knowledgeable already before starting on Oakshott.
Arms of Valor also has a variety of solid mid-range swords available, and are high quality for the price. Here are some of my favorites (The Hundred Years' War sword tempted me for a good while, until I decided I'd rather save for an Albion). [link]
As for armor, I think it's important to do research because the rules of SCA combat don't truly mimic historic combat. I understand they do this for safety reasons and I think they made mostly good calls (I won't go into my criticisms of SCA combat policy here, but I have a few suggestions) but the difference in style has led to some people modifying both their armor and style of swordsmanship that is custom designed to be the most efficient in an SCA setting, but sacrifices a lot of the protection that would have been essential in historic warfare and even tournament combat. Point being, if you know what they actually wore for the period(s) you're interested in, then you can make the judgment call on what balance you want to strike between accuracy and SCA efficiency.

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ice-deathrunes In reply to Drocan [2010-05-18 00:14:08 +0000 UTC]

lol oh anybody who's ever partaken in the SCA has oppinions of their combat policies. you're right though. even the SCA strives for historical accuracy, which alot of them are good about, but then corporate law and cover your ass menuvers get involved and accuracy goes out the window in favor of staying opporational. a couple people i know of wear one set for SCA tournaments and a different set that is far superior in historical accuracy for show at events and demonstrations.
Never heard of Arms of Valor before.
thanks for your suggestion of the order to read them in. i appreciate your concern and i'll definitly listen to your advice. i just have to get through a couple other books first.

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Drocan In reply to Theophilia [2010-05-14 03:01:53 +0000 UTC]

Everything I'm wearing was purchased. My excuse is that armoring was peasant's work.
Actually, I am looking to start making my own, because the breastplate covers enough space to render much of the maille unnecessary. Were I to create arms, a back and a skirt that were all laced into a single gambeson rather than having a distinct hauberk, I might be able to shave off up to ten or fifteen pounds. This would actually be more accurate from a historical standpoint as well, since the transition to full plate in by the 15th century rendered full hauberks an unnecessary encumbrance.

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Theophilia In reply to Drocan [2010-05-14 21:03:23 +0000 UTC]

Do you mind if I ask you some shamelessly nerdy medieval buyer questions?

Where did you buy the sword? And how much was it? I know Kult of Athena has some great quality stuff for comparitively cheap prices. And the swrd belt... *green with envy* I have a sword but not a proper sword belt. How much was that? And where did you buy it? Because I need to get one... I mean, I have belts, LOTS of belts, but not a "sword holster"

I'm still working on my medieval get-up. My hauberk is coming along slowly but surely (I've been working on the sleeves) ut I'm going more for Early Crusader, 11th century type of armor. So your chain-mail, Spangenhelm and surcoat. Fairly simple compared to your 15th century armor.

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Drocan In reply to Theophilia [2010-05-14 23:42:28 +0000 UTC]

The sword is from KoA, although I'm not sure they still supply it. It's a War Sword from CAS Iberia (now Hanwei, I believe). It is based on a historical example and ran me around the $150 range. Due to its historical basis it suits my needs (I would highly advise against swords not based at least in part on surviving pieces, fyi. Even if fantasy is more your thing, a fantasy sword will almost certainly fall short in terms of balance and handling characteristics.) but I have discovered that it really is not a very high quality sword. It's about the best you'll get for the price, but don't expect to get anything functional on any practical level for under $400. (I'm saving for an Albion. One day...)
The belt is also a budget piece, a prop from the movie Kingdom of Heaven. The film has a lot of historical problems in terms of writing, but at least the costume designer knew his stuff, and it is a good representation of a period scabbard. Not perfect, but acceptable for my price range.
Your kit is comparatively much simpler, but you do get into a lot of specifics just in terms of scabbards, swords and helms, even if the rest is pretty straightforward. The best advice I can give is to do research. Lots of it. And try to stay historical if you can help it. Even fantasy re-enactors who don't care about history at all should still be familiar with it, because I promise you, an armorer or smith of the middle ages knew more about how to make armor that kept his clients alive than anyone ever could today. Trial-and-error quickly brings about the most practical designs possible. Odds are, if it wasn't used back then, there's a reason nobody was willing to trust their lives to it.

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Theophilia In reply to Drocan [2010-06-11 17:59:38 +0000 UTC]

This one, right? ([link] ) Yeah, it's very nice for the price range. Yeah, I'm not much of a fantasy sword fan. Most of them are pretty gaudy and ridiculous looking, and the only non-historical swords that I have a liking for (Glamdring and Strider's sword) are usually made of stainless steel, or are rather expensive. :-/ I like those swords mostly for their aesthetic appeal though. That's probably one of the biggest things for me, next to historical accuracy and NOT being made of stainless steel: It has to look good. For whatever reason, I have this obsessive-compulsive dislike for swords with hilts the same length as the guard. O.o I just can't stand it. (Even though those are the ONLY kind of medieval swords around in my chosen period *facesmack 2*) So I'm really a fan of hand-and-a-half swords, even if they aren't in my range of historical accuracy. Hand-and-a-half swords started coming in around the late 13th-centruty, right? Hmmmm....

Whew. An Albion? Good luck with that. They are very nice swords though. And they look good too. I like the look of this one: [link] Is there a particular one you are saving up for?

Sword shopping can be rather tricky I find. (Most fun kind of shopping though in my opinion. ) And frustrating, especially when you see a beautiful sword and then look at it and see those most unfortunate words, "Stainless steel." *facesmack* Maybe if I wanted a wall-hanger... :-/

Oh Gosh....yeah...don't even get me started on Kingdom of Heaven. I will start ranting and won't stop for three years. It's pretty to watch, but other than that.... Blergh. XP

Do you remember where you got the belt? I've looked around and I haven't seen it. :-/ Too bad, I would really like to add that to my arsenal.

Do you have a helmet piece yet? If not, what kind of helmet would you be looking for? Sallet? Basinet? Barbute? I must say, for that time period, I'm partial for the Gothic German sallet helms myself.

"Odds are, if it wasn't used back then, there's a reason nobody was willing to trust their lives to it."

What, like this? [link] Now THAT'S historical accuracy for you.

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Drocan In reply to Theophilia [2010-06-11 19:56:15 +0000 UTC]

That's the one I have, although mine is an older version. It has a pommel nut and a wood grip, and came with a leather sheath, although I've since replaced it with the Kingdom of Heaven one. Don't know where it came from. i got mine as a Christmas present, but I saw another at a fair in British Colombia about a year ago.
Shopping is tricky. Of course accuracy is important, but it's a lot of money, so you shouldn't feel like you have to spend it on something you don't really like the look of. My Albion dream is without a doubt the Steward. It's everything I look for in handling and aesthetics. I generally prefer swords meant for cutting over piercing, which I know is less common for the 14th and 15th centuries, which is where my armor is centered, but there are still many examples. Even though armor was developed enough by then that piercing weapons became more common, keep in mind that just because full plate existed didn't mean most people could afford it, so the slashing weapon still found use against the majority of adversaries. And it could still pierce if it needed to.
As for a helm, I have two, but neither is accurate enough for me to feel comfortable wearing around, so I'm in the market. I love the look of the sallet (with a bevor), but I don't have much else of German origin, so I'll keep looking for something a little more western, but I might do it anyway.

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Theophilia In reply to Drocan [2010-06-14 16:34:02 +0000 UTC]

Okay, well thank you. I'll keep my eyes peeled for it then. Unfortunetly British Columbia is about as far to the west of me as you can pretty much get in the U.S.

What kind of helmets are they?

Now, is there a certain type of armor you're going for? Like English, German, French, etc? How about a sergeant helm? Or are you looking for something a little more....eh...knightly?

Hahah, I really like German sallets. Don't know why exactly, but they look sweet. Definetly have my vote for aesthetics. [link]

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Drocan In reply to Theophilia [2010-06-17 23:52:53 +0000 UTC]

Well since British Colombia isn't actually in the US, that makes things even more difficult.
My current helms are both nonhistorical, so they don't fall neatly into a category, being the product of someone's imagination, but one at least resembles a barbute.
Anyhow, my armor is French and English in make, since the two were essentially identical in terms of technology and even style.

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Theophilia In reply to Drocan [2010-06-18 00:10:09 +0000 UTC]

Yeah...they are pretty similar. Honestly, I prefer English and French over Italian styles of armor (it's too...meh...round for me.... ) I think German is my favorite. It has a kind of spikey quality to it that I like.

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