First Backyard Practice
 On this fine day, I took up my own armor for the first time (although I had to duct-tape the elbow cops to my sweatshirt). It was probably the fourth or fifth time I've been in armor; other times involved borrowing bits and parts of other people's gear.
Lesson #1 - building a set of armor is an art, a science, and requires constant revision and improvement.
A litany of armor flaws that I discovered in maybe half an hour of single combat against my good friend Tomas:
- Helmet binds on gorget, limiting ability to turn head freely
- Helmet sits too low, so that when I'm squared off against an opponent, I'm staring straight at the crossbar, rather than through the gaps.
- Helmet chin strap seems tight enough, but the plastic snaps holding it in are liable to fail at precisely the wrong moment. (Thanks to Heoh Jinn for pointing this out - a lesson he learned personally that I hope to learn vicariously.)
- Helmet needs a camail - the gorget's got to go. I really don't care for the way it fits, I have the leather (really nice piece of oiled 8oz leather), and a leather drape would have been in period (I think - need to document this - that's a whole other aspect to the fighting.)
- Elbow cops need to be strapped (that's duct tape holding them on in the picture - obviously not a long-term solution).
- Elbow cops need padding permanently attached - for today I used some duct tape rope to hold the padding in, but will need to glue them. (Might try to point them to slip-on elbow pads - a recommendation from Heoh Jinn). Of course, then they can't show at all, and they're such nice steel elbow cops. Probably not period for a 1050-ish Danish vikingr, but that's another story.
- Body armor belt slips down over time, and eventually hooks at the bottom, pulling the armor away from my body - definitely needs work. Yngvildr (my lovely lady) suggested something like a belt loop or two to hold the belt up; might work.
- Body armor hangs a little low, making it rather difficult to bend over and pick anything off the ground.
- Need to point plastic spaulders to the body armor, and restrap them around biceps, as there are a couple of buckles missing.
- Leg armor needs the knee cops replaced with the steel ones I purchased from Vogt Handcrafts at the Ides of March event.
- Sword thrusting tip needs some tweaking, based on conversation with his Grace, Dag.
- Sword basket needs a little padding betwixt hand and basket - basket blocks and some strikes sting a bit.
- Half-Gauntlets need some revision; I have these mitts for hands, and had to make the openings big enough to get my hand through. In doing that, though, they hang off my wrists once they're on. I'm planning to use either some hidden elastic or some leather strapping and a buckle to get them to fit more snugly.
- Need to make a set of greaves that will provide some light lower leg armor and also mask the laces on my combat boots.
- Today's gambeson was an old sweatshirt; need to finish the one I started during fighter practice.
- On a positive note, other than a little polishing for the boss, I really like my shield (24" round 1/2" plywood)
 Having said all that, Tomas and I had a blast getting out there and doing some sparring. I suspect it will be more fun once I feel like I have a minor handle on what the heck I'm doing, even.
Last Modified: Friday, April 09, 2004 08:53.
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