Tuesday night fighter practice

I attended the Shire of Stormvale’s Fighter practice this last Tuesday. There were three authorized fighters and one in training. I need to attend practice more often and will be trying to make it as many Tuesdays practices as work will allow.

I had to stop earlier than I wanted when the leather ties keeping my legs attached to the C-Belt snapped. So last night I changed the leather cord out for a nylon that that should work better in the long run. Its hidden under a couple layers of padding and armor, so it should be fine.

In addition I was testing out a new padding system for my helmet. I had been getting headaches when wearing the helmet for more than an hour, so I completely stripped out the padding and liner and reworked it all. After a wearing it for well over an hour, I did not get a headache . I hope the problem is fixed but will find out more after a longer time in helmet.

Helmet Almost Done!!

Well I really should try to keep this more up to date. I have worked on this helmet a couple times in the last few weeks and have everything roughly fitting now. I need to have Robert over to do a final fit and then rivet the cheek and face pieces on. Maybe one more session and at most two too finish!!

P.S. Don’t mind the workbench clutter. I was cleaning out a couple cupboards and it's usually not this bad.

Robert's Helmet update

Well I did some more work on Roberts helmet last night. I closed two rivets and then started shaping pieces. All the parts for the top of the helmet are now shaped and either riveted together or bolted waiting to be riveted. 15 bolts will have to be replaced with rivets to finish off the top but I will wait until Robert can attend again before doing those.

Since the top is shaped I decided to continue breaking my rules and started shaping the pieces to attach the back slats and also first cheek plate. I would like to shape and fit the pieces ahead of time so we can concentrate on riveting for our next get together. This way it may be only 2-3 sessions before the helmet is finished.

Worked on Armor

Robert (my household member) stopped by last night at 7pm and we worked on armor and other projects until a bit after 11pm. Much was accomplished and we are talking about getting together weekly again.

It had been long enough since he last dropped in that we needed to review the state of our various projects. We started with Robert’s kit and had him put it on and check everything for fit and completeness. He has an arming cap, gorget, gambeson, athletic supporter, steel legs, aluminum gauntlets, heater shield and sword with cross hilt. He is still borrowing my helmet, steel arms and Balian’s spare breast plate. In addition his sword will need a thrusting tip since that is part of the authorization now.

For projects in process, his new helmet is about 20% finished and his butted chain hauberk about 60%. After our review we indentified that he needed several additional items and made a project list. We will probably stick to one project each and finish up one before we go on the next item. This will work best since we have not been getting together as often and I would rather finish one thing at a time instead of having all of them partially done. In addition the agreement has been that I would work on his helm and other items but only when he was present and that if he came by more often the stuff would get done quicker.

Project List in rough order, new helmet, chain hauberk, sword tip(we may actually do this next week), blue or brown helmet, arm harness, body armor so hauberk can be used, axe, great sword & polearm. So after the review we started working.

Robert split his chain hauberk down the front and began adding in extra rows. The mail was too small to be worn over his gambeson and needed to be expanded. When he made it, he fitted it while wearing a tee shirt. He split the mail, added several rows and ended up running out of chain links. So then he started helping me work on the helmet. He says he will come back next week with enough links to finish off the front and will probably add longer sleeves but will do that on his own now that he knows how to make his own links and expand/contract the mail. He had essentially made a chain poncho and didn’t know how to make the chain grow or contract for necks and arms etc. He spent the last couple sessions making the rounded neck. He ended the night with the chain hauberk about 80% done.

I took the helmet and began riveting in the pieces for the top. Previously I had shaped all but 4 of the top pieces and had held them together with nuts and bolts. By 11pm I had 24 rivets to go on the upper portion of the helmet. 12 are for the top pieces I haven’t shaped yet. For a couple of the last rivets I had to have Robert hold the helmet so I could use a tool with the hammer to be able to reach into the helm. I may cheat a little and shape more pieces before we get together again but will wait for Robert before I rivet anymore parts together. Considering the remaining shaping and the enormous number of rivets needed, I would guess the helmet is now 40% done. If I work on some shaping this week, I may be able to get it closer to 50% before we next meet.

Armor repair

I have apparently neglected the routine maintenance of my Armor!!! At a recent practice my shield edging came loose so I switched to two sword. Then after a couple minutes my sword finally pulped out and it broke at the cross guard. In addition I have been having problems with my leg armor. If I wear the legs for a couple hours the leather stretches and the knees drop down too far.

Having taken a complete inventory of my fighting kit, I need to put some work into nearly everything. So I am starting at the top and working down and fixing everything. This week is my helmet. The interior liner is loose and the leather cord for the aventail is frayed so I have taken them both out to replace.

The liner (after a good washing) is fine and looks to be in better shape than I thought. One small seam had split and the thread actually holding it into the helmet had worn away. Now the seam is patched up and I am in the process of sewing the liner back into the helmet.

Friday Night at Skalla's Steading

Robert did stop by on Friday but he was later than normal and we did not get as much accomplished as I had hoped.

He was able to finish his Chainmail Hauberk. At the same time, I put a bit more work in his helmet and the main supports are now all in and we have started on some of the X’s and Y’s for the helmet. I hope to finish the top section and be working on the sides after one or perhaps two more sessions.
Before breaking up for the night we decided to take stock in what he had and what he still needed.

Completed so far: Legs, gambeson, arming cap, sword, heater shield, chain hauberk.

Still borrowing: Helmet, Churburg style Breastplate

Still working on: His own helmet, Arms ( He has vambraces but needs elbow cops), Gorget ( We discovered he needs to re-make his gorget, it’s too small to fit his new gambeson) He would also like to switch to round shield from the heater he is currently using. After those are done we will consider what to do to replace the Churburg Style Breastplate

So our schedule is: Gorget first, elbows second, helmet third. I hope to have the Gorget and elbows done in three weeks. If I keep working on the helmet it should be close to being done by then.

Working on Robert's armor

Robert stopped by on Friday and we worked on his kit. He lacks elbows (he’s been borrowing mine) and he needs his own helmet (also borrowing mine). One of the helmet kits will be his as long as he does enough work on it. Friday he repaired his chainmail and we both worked on his vambraces and helmet kit. The chain is repaired and the vambraces are done. Next Friday we will cut out elbow cops and shape them. If we get far enough we can add the elbows but I expect it to be the week after.
I think he needs two more fighting practices with a couple different people to be ready to authorize as a fighter. After the elbows are done it will be time to take our show out on the road and make sure to attend a couple practices. Hopefully this will be accomplished in April and he can get authorized at the next event we can attend.
I will have to remember to take pictures of the progress. I always forget.

Second Helmet

Well I liked the first one so much, I decided to get a second kit and make a Helmet for Daryll. It arrived yesterday and I hope to put some work into it tonight.

New Helmet

Well after a couple hours here is a rough fitting. I have several more pieces to rough out and then starting to assemble it in earnest.

Tuesday Art Guild

Class ended early last night ( I am taking night classes) and I was able to drop in on the Teryll’s Art Guild. She is currently teaching a token or coin casting class. In attendance was Sylvia, Seth and his wife ( I should have written down her name) and an old Stormvale member from the 1980’s, Elnor. Seth tried on my old helm ( also from the 80’s ) and it fit!!! He will be borrowing the helm until he can make/purchase one of his own. I also have an old set of legs that look like they would fit him. They will need to have a couple straps fixed but that should be a quick and easy fix. The funny part is that both the helmet and the leg armor is older than he is.

Fighting Wednesday Night

Robert called and said he would like to stop by last night around 6:30. I contacted Ervon to see if he would like to have a fighting practice and help get Robert ready for his authorization. We started at about 7pm and the three of us fought until dark. Robert did much better than his last practice and was working in thrusts a bit more. I think a couple more practices should see him ready to authorize.
Ervon loaned Robert a sword and some body armor for the practice. Robert also used Ervon’s round shield and decided he liked that style better. It may have helped that the shield was a bit lighter than the one he had been using.
Robert needs a gambeson because the chain he is wearing is leaving small round spots where he is getting hit. He seems to be stuck on using chain so we will have to make sure we get it padded better.

Making an early period armor kit.

A couple weeks ago I decided to add an early period fighting kit to my list of SCA things to do. I would like the kit to be somewhere between 950 to the first Crusade. I think this would compliment my current 14th Century kit and allow me to be work on a couple different styles of fighting. So I have pulled out my old butted chain hauberk and started working on setting up the early period armor. I made this hauberk back in the mid 1980’s and I must have worn a much thinner gambeson back then because I remember it fitting and actually having a decent amount of room. Now when I put it on I look like a sausage in a chain mail casing. So I started working on panels that I will add to the front and back of the hauberk. Last night I finished the panels and split the front of the hauberk to start adding in the first rectangle of mail. I should be able to finish up the front panel tonight after work.

Getting Robert in Armor

Robert has been dropping in irregularly this summer and we have been working on getting him armored up. He now has all the armor necessary to practice in!!!! He may need to upgrade his body armor a little and we will lengthen his aventail to make the barrel helm he is wearing legal. Or I should say its “legal” now but I am not happy with the possibility of the current aventail moving up and exposing some of the back of his neck. So our next armory sessions will be to correct that.

To celebrate his armor being ready, we went out into my front yard and had an impromptu practice. We started about ½ speed and I had Robert hit me to get a good idea of how hard he should be hitting. Next I struck him and we worked on what was a good blow for him to receive. Next some basics about sword swings and blocking with the shield. Since he wanted to mix it up a bit more we spent the last ½ of the practice sparing. Robert did quite well but will have to work on thrusting if he is to prepare for his authorization bout.

We discussed the possibility of running a fighting practice each week until he was ready to authorize. So I think we will meet each Tuesday or Thursday to practice until dusk. After that we will work on armor or weapons. I will send a couple e-mails to check if there will be authorizations at the next few upcoming events. These events will be Havoc at Hastings, Procrastinators Brawl and Vikings Come Home and I hope to get Robert to one to authorize.

Mid Michigan Renaissance Festival

So far I have only been able to make it up for one day of the Mid Michigan Renaissance Festival. This is the final weekend and I had hoped to put in more of an attendance. Work, School and a Cold has made this difficult. I did enjoy the Saturday I spent at the Festival. I believe it was the first time I have ever fought Edmund d’Amberville and we put on a couple fights for the crowd. The Fest seems to be going well and I hope it will help result in recruiting members for Fearann na Criche and Stormvale.

Working on Armor

Robert stopped by last night (with his armor) and basically said “hey lets work on armor”!!!

So I dropped my homework (I will just have to stay up later to work on it) and we picked up the shop a little to set things up to work on his armor. He would like to get authorized as soon as possible so we are bringing his armor up to snuff (all his equipment is older and could use some TLC). His gorget was too large so we cut down the front and re-hammered the shape so it would fit better. After that was done we glued padding onto the inside of the gorget. We looked over the rest of the armor and decided to strap the legs slightly better and add a row or two to the aventail of the helmet.

He is going to stop by again on Friday and we should be able to get in a little fighting and then finish off the leg straps. I don’t think I will have the aventail lengthened by then but I will get a start on it over the weekend.

Havoc In Hastings 2008

Over the weekend I attended the Havoc in Hastings event. It was a nice demo and a lot of people stopped by to check out the fighting area. I hopefully this will result in some new members for Three Walls.

Sir Angus Gordon was running the Authorizations. I put on my MIT hat and helped out. There were two new authorizations, one re-authorization and one out of kingdom authorization for the day. Sir Brannos did a great job of running commentary explaining what was going on to the spectators and it reminds me that we sometimes fail to do that well during demo’s. I received another signature for acting as MIT for the event and now need one more to be able to take the test to become a Marshal!! Hopefully I can get the last signature this month and try to wrap up this process.

As far as I could determine the only other members from Stormvale attending were Erevon and Eron. They spent the day shopping and at the archery field. I did not see them at the event but they had noticed me on the list and had expected me to come over and say hi. Without my glasses I am good to 75-100 feet but past that I cannot make out individuals. So they yelled at me Sunday for not being sociable but it was more blindness and not so much anti-social. I probably should have stayed for court but as the fighting was wrapping up I ended up running home.

Old Picture

Recently a friend of mine found this old picture from about 6 years ago when my helmet and brigantine was new. The jeans and tennis shoes have since been replaced as well as the leg armor.

Well it’s been a pretty slow week. I should be finishing the Mail aventail today or Friday and will attach it to the loaner helm this weekend. This should make the Helm SCA legal and let me get Robert authorized for heavy weapons.

I liked the Banner and Pennons so much that now I think it’s time to get a Standard. Someone on the Armor Archive makes beautiful Standards and I think I will give them a try. I still need to design the Standard and will work on that this weekend.

Since I seem to be planning out my weekend I might as well look at further out to fill up more weekends. Looking at upcoming events my short list will be:
Havoc in Hastings (Hastings, MI August 30-31 )
Rain of Arrows (New Lothrup, MI Sept. 13 )
Vikings Come Home (Kalkaska, MI Sept 19-21)
If possible I would also like to attend: (not sure if work will co-operate)
Harvest Days & Chivalry Tourney (Camden, OH Sept 5-7 )

This makes for a pretty busy September. I may have to skip at least one of these events between real life and work. I am duty bound to Pentamere and feel I should give preference to events in Michigan so if anything has to slip it will be the Chivalry Tourney.

Missing Pennsic and Chainmail

Erevon dropped by Sunday night and we had an impromptu Pennsic pity party. We both worked on our chainmail projects and generally bemoaned the fact we would not be attending Pennsic. He is not going this year due to a couple family matters and I am not going as this is my off year. My wife hates the camping and we have come to an agreement that we would attend every other year. So my August yearly vacation consists of alternating between Pennsic and somewhere my wife would like to go.

The chainmail project I have started working on is a butted chainmail aventail. Robert (my nephew) has been working with me to get authorized as a Heavy Weapons fighter. He is using several pieces of my old armor. My old barrel helm allows too much exposure to his neck so I am putting together an Aventail. I hope to have it finished this week and attach it to the helm so we can get in a more serious practice. I will get some pictures up when his loaner kit is finished.

I put to together a gorget first and that helped but there is too much gapping when he tips his head forward or back for the helm and gorget to pass an inspection. I believe a nice aventail will take care of this problem and look better than anything we could do to the helm or gorget to get it to pass. I haven’t done chain mail since the early Nineties and it brings back some memories of when the Shire of Stormvale produced a hauberk as a gift for the King nearly twenty years ago .

NEW ARMOR!!!

Well this will be a series of small updates to bring this Blog current.

I ordered a new set of armor. Arms and legs, both to look a little spiffier and also reduce some of the weight of my kit. This is ABS plastic covered in leather and looks very nice. I ordered these from the House of the Wolf after seeing some information about their product at the Armour Archive. I ordered this and it shipped in one week. That is outstanding speed considering most armor I have ordered before.

I have practiced in the Arm armor already and really like it. I have a small adjustment to make to the legs and also may make a quilted leg to wear underneath the armor to look more period. This will give me something to do over the holiday!! http://houseofthewolf.com/