tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44111606153017551442024-02-22T23:43:28.272-08:00Gawin's ProjectsA blog dedicated to developing my SCA persona, Gawin Kappler. Topics include fencing, costuming, and various other projects.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-32202637783960609052017-11-20T13:38:00.001-08:002017-11-20T13:50:33.588-08:00Starter gear for C&T<br />
<b>Basic Starter Set:</b><br />
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<b>Fencing Mask:</b><br />
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The masks offered by Darkwood Armory are well-constructed and at $60, the price is hard to beat. Take care to read the sizing instructions when ordering - or, if possible, purchase your mask in-person at a war (Gulf, Pennsic, etc). They are available online here: <a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_10&products_id=376&zenid=bokv61hmsd77smjvjb27n7e1g1">Darkwood Armory Fencing Mask</a>.<br />
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Zen Warrior Armory also sells very well-made masks. There are a few options available on their website, but for C&T, I would recommend buying one of their stainless steel masks, which start around $100 rather than their carbon steel mask. They are available online here: <a href="http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/catalog.php?item=149&catid=43&ret=catalog.php%3Fcategory%3D43">Zen Warrior Armory Stainless Fencing Mask</a><br />
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<b>Back of Head Protector:</b><br />
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The back of head protector is probably one of the trickiest pieces of C&T gear to acquire - as there are relatively few people who make them. As a result, a lot of people are going to need to make their own.<br />
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Zen Warrior Armory (<a href="http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/catalog.php?item=258&catid=43&ret=catalog.php%3Fcategory%3D43">ZWA Back of Head Protector</a>) and several HEMA suppliers (<a href="http://www.woodenswords.com/HEMA_Back_of_the_Head_s/1926.htm">HEMA Back of Head Protectors</a> - note I have not handled any of these) make commercially available back of head protectors that cost ~$70-75. Even so, all of these require modification to meet the rule requirements for my own kingdom, Calontir - which requires that all gaps be covered. This can be accomplished for the ZWA protectory by attaching a rigid "extension" to the back edge of the fencing mask. I have seen this accomplished with heavy leather, a strip of aluminum, and a series of lamellar plates.<br />
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There are also a few people who make vacuum formed plastic back of head protectors for sale, but none of the ones I know of sell them online.<br />
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<a href="http://hemaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=602">This forum</a> has a decent amount of information about making your own back of head protector out of leather.<br />
PLEASE NOTE that using leather as a rigid material can be fraught with problems - as leather can get harder or softer depending on use, temperature, and treatment.<br />
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<a href="http://schiltslac.com/2016/03/25/how-to-build-a-hardhat-mask-back/">This tutorial</a> shows how to use a construction helmet to serve as a back of head protector. I've had a bit better luck by cutting more of the helmet away and adding a leather "hinge" to the top of the mask to hold it in place. My tutorial is pending.<br />
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<b>Gorget: </b><br />
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Winter Tree Crafts sells a basic gorget that should work reasonably well for ~$60 (<a href="http://www.wintertreecrafts.com/items/gorget.html">WTC Gorget</a>).<br />
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Zen Warrior Armory also sells a gorget that works well for rapier/C&T - but I can't seem to find it on their website. The lobster gorget that I can find doesn't tend to provide adequate throat protection.<br />
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<b>Gloves:</b><br />
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MiG-TiG welding gloves work reasonably well as a cheap option for gloves (NOT the super-thick gloves that people think of as "welding gloves"). They can be had for ~$10-20 (<a href="https://www.harborfreight.com/professional-tig-welding-gloves-l-63485.html">Harbor Freight TiG Welding Gloves</a>) - though they frequently have logos printed on them. These can usually be removed with rubbing alcohol, vodka, acetone, or other organic solvent.<br />
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I personally use Darkwood's gloves (<a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_10&products_id=5&zenid=bokv61hmsd77smjvjb27n7e1g1">Darkwood Armory Leather Gloves</a>). They hold up reasonably well and aren't terribly expensive (~$30) and come in colors.<br />
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<b>Elbow Pads:</b><br />
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Only padding is required (not rigid material), so I've been using a pair of McDavid hex pads. However, a pair of modern skating or military surplus elbow pads should work reasonably well for getting started - just be sure that you can hide them under your garb. You should be able to buy these at Wal-Mart, a sporting goods store, etc. I've had pretty good luck at my local thrift store.<br />
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<b>Puncture-Resistant Hood & Body Armor:</b><br />
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Meeting the requirement for puncture resistance typically requires 3-4 layers of medium weight linen fabric. Other combinations of fabrics can be used as well - but in all cases, a drop tester should be used on a swatch of your fabrics before you construct a garment. I generally recommend that fencers create garb items that meet the requirements for puncture-resistant body armor. Likewise, making your own hood is relatively simple for anybody who can sew. Tutorials on these items are pending.<br />
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If you want to buy a hood, the Darkwood hood (<a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_25&products_id=10&zenid=bokv61hmsd77smjvjb27n7e1g1">Darkwood Armory Hood</a>) is my recommendation. It's around $35 and is made out of hemp and linen - which means it breathes pretty well.<br />
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<b>Sword:</b><br />
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Swords are, of course, the expensive part. My typical recommendation is that fighters start with a 42" bated rapier with the economy hilt from Darkwood (<a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=18">Economy Rapier</a>). This is an all-around functional weapon that strikes a good balance between being a good simulator of a sword and an affordable price.<br />
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If you need something significantly cheaper to get you started, however, my recommendation is one of the Hanwei practical rapiers sold by Kult of Athena (<a href="http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=SH1099&name=Hanwei+Practical+Rapier+37+Inch+Blade">37" version</a> and <a href="http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=PC1098&name=Hanwei+Practical+Rapier+43+Inch+Blade">43" version</a>). These have a reasonably good weight and balance - however, they tend to be much floppier than I'd prefer - which may be more of a problem for the 43" sword than for the 37" one.<br />
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For a longsword, I recommend either the <a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_6&products_id=87">basic Darkwood longsword</a> or if you want something 16th century and German, the <a href="http://castillearmory.com/all-products/mark-v-feder/">Castille Armory Feder</a>.<br />
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<br />Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-69812593936760268992015-08-26T08:26:00.000-07:002015-08-26T10:54:09.644-07:00Geometric ConstructionOne of the cool things about medieval clothing is the fact that much of it can be created using simple geometric shapes such as rectangles, triangles, and trapezoids (which are ultimately a rectangle + 2 triangles). For instance, if we look at this tunic, we can see that it is made from several parts:<br />
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<b>Body Block:</b><br />
The largest of these parts is called the <i>body block</i>. The body block is a large rectangle used to cover the front and back side of the trunk. It can be constructed by either using one long rectangle that is folded over at the shoulders or two smaller rectangles that are sewn together at the top of the shoulders. A neck hole is cut out of the body block, however there is some variation in the shape and finishing techniques used to finish the collar. The width of the body block is calculated by measuring the circumference around the chest/bust. This should measure the largest portion of the chest which is typically under the armpit and across the nipples. I typically add about 4" of ease to this measurement in order to give me some room to breathe/take off the tunic and also add 2" of seam alloance (1" for each front and back) then divide it in half to give me the width for the body block. For example, my chest measurement is 46". I add 4" of ease and 2" of seam allowance for a total of 52". I then divide this in half to give me the appropriate width for my body block, 26". The length of the body block depends on the type of garment you are trying to make. To calculate this, take the measurement from the top of the shoulder (shoulder seam) down to where you would like the garment to end. If you are making a knee-length tunic, this should be just below the knee, for a mid calf tunic, measure to the mid-calf, for an ankle length tunic, measure to the ankle, and so on. You will also want to add 1" for seam allowance. In my case, I found that the correct measurement from the top of my shoulder to mid-calf was about 44", so I added 1" to give me 45". If I were trying to create a patter with a one-piece body block that folded at the shoulders, I would double this number and cut out a body block that is 90" long x 26" wide. If I instead wanted to make the body block in two pieces, then I would want to cut out two 45" long x 26" wide body pieces.<br />
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<b>Sleeves:</b><br />
When it comes to creating our garments, sleeves are probably the most difficult part to pattern. At the most basic level, they are tubes that our arms go in, so we could pattern them as a rectangle, however this will result in a lot of extra material at the wrist, so I instead suggest that you pattern them as a trapezoid. In order to do this, we will need 3 measurements.<br />
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In order to calculate the length, we will need to measure the distance from the shoulder seam to the wrist, however we need to keep 2 things in mind. First, we need to make this measurement along the outside of the arm with the elbow bent so that we are measuring the longest distance that the sleeve will need to cover. Second, we need to recall that our shoulder seam will occur an inch or two further down our arm than it does on modern clothing because the body block will be wider than our shoulders. If you are confused by this second point, however, it is perfectly fine to use a measurement that is slightly too long, as you can just trim off excess sleeve length when you finish the cuff. We will also want to add 1" of seam allowance as before, so for instance, while my sleeve length measurement is 22", I cut out a 23" long sleeve.<br />
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In order to calculate the width, we need to measure the largest circumference around our arm. Once again, this occurs when the elbow is bent and the bicep is flexed. We will need to measure the circumference around the elbow. I typically add 1" of ease to this measurement and 1" of seam allowance in order to calculate how wide our trapezoid needs to be <i>at the middle of its length</i>. In order to finish our trapezoid, we need to take one more measurement that will tell us how narrow the sleeve needs to be at the wrist. This measurement is taken around the hand because, as you will note, your hand is larger than your wrist and needs to pass through the cuff of your sleeve. You will want to add 0.5" of ease and 1" of seam allowance to this measurement. My elbow circumference measurement was 16" to which I added 2", giving a total width of 18". My hand measurement was 10.5", to which I added 1.5", giving a total width of 12". You will note that the 18" measurement needs to be the width near the middle of the trapezoid, so the width at the shoulder will need to be wider. In order to calculate the width at the shoulder, we can simply calculate the difference between our elbow and wrist measurements (18" - 12" = 6"), divide that in half (6"/2 = 3"), and add that to the elbow measurement (18" + 3" = 21). So, my sleeve needs to be a trapezoid that is 23" long and that is 21" wide at the top and 12" wide at the bottom.<br />
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<b>Gussets:</b><br />
Gussets are small squares that help to add a bit of extra space to the base of the sleeve in order to allow for movement. While it may be tempting to simply include them into the sleeve, it also wastes fabric. Gussets should be about 6" square.<br />
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<b>Gores:</b><br />
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Gores are triangles that are added to the sides and/or inserted into the middle of the body block in order to flare the bottom of the garment out and to add fullness in a fabric-efficient manner. While there are examples of dresses with as many as 12 gores, a fairly typical arrangement involves 4 gores, with one gore attached to either side of the body block, and one gore inserted into the middle of the front and back parts of the body block. The insertion of these "center gores" is done by cutting a slit into the body block. You can see an example of this in the picture of the Bocksten tunic above.<br />
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Patterning gores is relatively straightforward. The overall shape for a gore is an isosceles triangle, however cutting out this shape is relatively wasteful of fabric. I prefer to cut each gore out as a pair of right triangles by making a rectangle with the appropriate length and height, and then cutting it along the diagonal. These right triangles can be sewn together along their long edge (not their hypotenuse) in order to form an isosceles triangle-shaped gore.<br />
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The length of each gore will depend on where the flare is intended to start and where the garment will end. If I wanted a gore to go from my natural waist and the garment was supposed to reach mid-calf, then I would measure the distance from my natural waist to mid-calf. I would then add 1" of seam allowance to this dimension. The width of each gore part depends on exactly how much fullness I want to add to the garment and to some extent, how much fabric I have left. If making the gores slightly smaller means that I can use 2.5 yards of fabric instead of 3 yards, then I should make them narrower. In my repoduction of the Bocksten tunic, I ended up having a measurement of 32 inches from waist to mid-calf, so I ended up with 33" long gores. I ultimately chose to make each gore about 18" wide, so I divided that in half and added 1" of seam allowance, meaning that for each gore, I cut out a 33" x 10" rectangle and then cut that in half along the diagonal.<br />
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<b>Layout:</b><br />
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Now that we have calculated the sizes for each of our pieces, it's time to consider how to lay out those pieces on our fabric. Typically linen and wool come in 60" wide pieces. Fabric should be pre-washed in the same way that you intend to wash the garment. I tend to wash the fabric with hot water, then machine dry. This tends to shrink the fabric somewhat, and I have found that 60" wide fabric shrinks down to about 56" after pre-washing. As a result, it is important to plan for this. The ultimate goal of planning our fabric layout is to determine how much fabric we need to purchase. We therefore want to be efficient with our layout so that we don't buy more fabric than we need. An example layout for a tunic based on my measurements is below. You will note that the length of the body block tends to determine how much fabric I need to purchase, and at 90", this suggests that I need to 2.5 yards of fabric in order to make my tunic.<br />
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<br />Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-75826651852550669592015-08-17T12:36:00.001-07:002015-08-25T18:35:50.569-07:00Buying it: High Medieval Men's ClothingWhile there is certainly a lot of pressure in the SCA and other reenactment/cosplay groups for participants to make their own clothing and accessories, it isn't necessary and is not the best solution for everybody. I have mentioned this in several other places on this website, but ultimately for those who lack the time and/or interest in making their own clothing, it is perfectly acceptable to buy what you need. However, purchasing medieval clothing can come with several pitfalls and it is easy to spend a lot of money on clothing that is of poor quality and that isn't authentic. As mentioned throughout the "First Garb on a Budget" series, authenticity, quality, and price are often competing goals, however, I have gone on a virtual shopping trip in order to help take some of the guess-work out of balancing these priorities. To do this, I provided myself with several limitations:<br />
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1) Items must be purchased from permanent merchants - I limited my shopping to online merchants who have been well-established within the SCA community and to those where I expect that anybody who is reading this article could follow the link to purchase the same item at any point in the foreseeable future.<br />
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2) Items should be off-the-rack - Given that one of the primary reasons for purchasing clothing rather than making it is time constraint, I have prioritized items that are available off-the-rack rather than custom-made pieces. Off-the-rack pieces also tend to be cheaper, which is another advantage.<br />
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3) The outfit must include all of the necessary layers and parts - Simply put, it is easier and cheaper to look good by wearing a simple version of all of the right things than it is to disguise the absence of an important part with bling.<br />
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4) The number of unique merchants should be limited - this should help to keep shipping costs down.<br />
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5) The selected clothing items should be reasonably authentic for the period between 1100 AD - 1350 AD.<br />
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6) The outfit should include the basic accessories - Long story short, a medieval person without shoes, a belt, and a head covering isn't dressed.<br />
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<b>Trade-offs:</b><br />
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In order to balance the competing goals of authenticity and cost, there are a couple compromises that you might consider. First, some of the items in the list above aren't strictly necessary. You won't need a hat if you have a hood and coif, for instance. Likewise, the cloak, shoulder bag, knives, and belt pouch can be considered to be optional, however you may also decide that they are necessary from a practical standpoint. I will list these items below as optional rather than as part of the basic outfit. Second, you might consider buying outer garments that are made out of linen rather than wool. This is common in the SCA, but it may not be acceptable for other reenactment groups because it is not an authentic practice. Linen tends to be a little cheaper and slightly cooler than wool (though wool is surprisingly breathable and I prefer it to cotton even in the summer). My list below will provide both options so that you can see how this affects price and make the decision for yourself.<br />
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<b>Where to Buy:</b><br />
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While there are a multitude of merchants who sell medieval clothing, I have selected only three of them based on their reputation for quality, customer service, authenticity, and price. Furthermore, by limiting the number of merchants, we can save money on shipping. I ultimately chose Historic Enterprises and Linen Garb for clothing items and Viking Leather Crafts for the leather goods. I generally find that HE's clothing is more authentic than LG, but for some items there is a significant cost difference, and so I have included both below:<br />
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<b>Underwear:</b><br />
<a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_245&products_id=1304">Underwear Package with Linen Chausses</a> - $134.95<br />
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<a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_245&products_id=1305">Underwear Package with Wool Chausses</a> - $139.95<br />
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<b>Outerwear:</b><br />
Buy Separately:<br />
Tunic:<br />
<a href="http://www.linengarb.com/?product=100-linen-tunic">Basic tunic from Linen Garb</a> - $59.00<br />
<a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_114&products_id=891">Basic linen tunic from HE</a> - $89.95<br />
<a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_114&products_id=892">Basic wool tunic from HE</a> - $164.95<br />
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Coif:<br />
<a href="http://www.linengarb.com/?product=coifs">Linen coif from Linen Garb</a> - $10.00<br />
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Hood:<br />
<a href="http://www.linengarb.com/?product=2-ply-liripipe-hood-copy">Linen hood from Linen Garb</a> - $39.00<br />
<a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_118&products_id=949">Wool hood from HE</a> - $47.95<br />
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Buy a Package:<br />
<a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_245&products_id=1550">Bocksten Package - linen tunic, linen coif, wool hood</a> - $153.95<br />
<a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_245&products_id=1551">Bocksten Package, wool tunic and hood, linen coif</a> - $224.95<br />
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<b>Accessories:</b><br />
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Shoes: Viking Leather Crafts has several shoe options. If you're going for a specific century, follow the headings on <a href="http://www.vikingleathercrafts.com/14th-century-boots-and-shoes.html">this page</a>. The shoes start at $54.95, but I recommend purchasing the rubber half-sole for an additional $15, which will improve your traction on grass and also increase the lifespan of your shoes as gravel and pavement are very hard on leather soles. Total: $70<br />
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Belts: Viking Leather Crafts offers several belt options. As a general rule, medieval belts were rather narrow, so go with the 1" or 3/4" belts available <a href="http://www.vikingleathercrafts.com/period-belts.html">here</a> for $29.99 or $21.99 respectively.<br />
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<b>Optional Items:</b><br />
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Belt Pouch: I debated whether to include this as necessary or optional because you'll want somewhere to put your wallet, keys, etc. Viking Leather Crafts provides <a href="http://www.vikingleathercrafts.com/kidney-shaped-pouches.html">several options</a>, and you may as well order at the same time as your shoes and belt. Price: $29.95<br />
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Hat: <a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_118&products_id=1546">Historic Enterprises Felt Hat</a> - $21.95<br />
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Shoulder Bag: <a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_120&products_id=1083">Historic Enterprises Forage or Pilgrim Bag</a> - $24.95<br />
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<b>Striking a Balance:</b><br />
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Using the options above, it is easy to see that the cheapest outfit consists of the linen underwear package, the linen tunic, coif, and hood from LG, and a pair of shoes and a 3/4" belt from VLC. The total for that outfit ends up being $334.85 + s/h. However, my personal recommendation would be to splurge just a little bit and to go with the wool chausses and hood from HE, which would add $5 to the total for the chausses and $8.95 for the wool hood instead of the linen one for a total of $348.80. You also may decide that you want a 1" belt rather than a 3/4" belt, which ends up adding another $8.<br />
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Depending on your priorities, however, you may find that you're willing to pay a little extra for more authentic clothing. In which case, you might consider the outerwear package deal from HE. It doesn't end up being much more expensive, coming in at $380.80 for the linen underwear and outerwear package + shoes & belt or $385.80 if we get wool chausses. Both versions include a wool hood as noted above. So if we consider the price difference between this package and my recommendation above, we're looking at a difference of $37. This would allow us to save on shipping from LG, which is currently $10 for the items on our list, resulting in a $27 difference in cost, which you will note, is essentially the difference in cost between the tunics.<br />
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Based on the above numbers, you can also see how much more expensive it is to purchase all of the appropriate pieces in wool. We'd essentially be purchasing the HE undergarment and outer garment packages in wool, which would run $456.8 total including shoes and a 3/4" belt or $464.80 with a 1" belt.<br />
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<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
For starters, it should be clear that one of the first considerations in purchasing garb is to establish a budget and consider the degree to which you are willing to make trade-offs between cost and authenticity. My findings suggest that a basic outfit can be accomplished with a budget of about $350, though this involves compromising authenticity in terms of material (choosing linen) and construction (LG vs. HE's tunic and hood construction mainly). For SCA purposes these are completely reasonable compromises, but will likely result in an outfit that is not acceptable for stricter reenactments. If we instead consider a $400 budget, then we still will likely need to compromise on material, but we can expect to be able to also purchase some of the more optional items. I would recommend starting with a pouch, as it really is helpful to have somewhere to put your wallet. If our budget is instead closer to $500 or more, then we can afford to purchase the appropriate garments in wool and can also afford some of the optional accessories.<br />
<br />
In general, the idea behind this guide is to get a newcomer started. For the vast majority of SCA events, a single outfit is sufficient clothing, as most events occur on a single day, two at the most. However, eventually you may decide to attend one of the SCA's larger week-long wars such as Pennsic, Gulf Wars, Estrella, Lillies War, etc. For these events, wearing a single outfit for a week is going to make it difficult for you to make new friends (and also to keep the ones you already have), so you will need even more clothing. One of the benefits of the outfit and options that I have written about here is that it is modular. By this I mean that you will only need multiples of certain items and that you should be able to mix and match those items as needed. For example, you probably only need 1 pair of shoes, 1 belt, and 1 hood because if you stick with the same time period, you will be able to wear those items with different tunics, etc. So, how do we expand this individual outfit for going to a week-long war? <br />
<br />
<b>The "War-drobe" </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
As noted above, you only need one pair of shoes, one belt, one pouch, one hood, one hat, etc. However you will need several sets of clothes, as otherwise, you're going to get stinky. In general the primary cause of clothing getting dirty is our bodies, so it is the layers that touch our skin that will get the nastiest. Therefore, we will need more underwear than anything else. I generally recommend no fewer than 3 sets of underwear. Historically the layers of clothing that touch the body were made from linen precisely because linen can be boiled in a pot and left in the sun to dry. There was no need to dye this fabric, as this treatment would ultimately bleach it in the sun. We can do something similar at war by rotating through our clothing, wearing 1 set, letting another one air out in the sun, while keeping a third set dry in our tent in case it rains.<br />
<br />
We need fewer outer garments because they aren't in direct contact with our body, so I recommend at least 2 outer tunics. I also recommend more than one coif, as it will pick up oils from your hair, but you can probably get away with only having 2.<br />
<br />
There are a few other ways to stretch your clothing. For starters, wool is much better at resisting moisture than linen. As a result, wool chausses, tunics, and hoods are going to stay fresher over the course of the war because they will resist dampness in the air and will wick sweat rather than absorb it. Wearing modern clothing as an additional under-layer can also help stretch your medieval clothing. Most people are wearing modern underwear beneath their braies and while many do it for comfort, it also helps to keep your braies from getting quite as funky. Another trick is to wear a pair of wool hiking socks underneath your chausses. They will help keep your feet dry, provide a bit of extra padding for your feet, and can generally be dried out quickly using the same method as the one used for the other undergarments.<br />
<br />
Overall, my recommendations for a week-long war are therefore 3 shirts, 3 pairs of braies, 2 pairs of chausses (if they are wool or we use the hiking sock trick, otherwise we'll want 3 pairs), 2 tunics, 2 coifs, one hood, one pair of shoes, one belt, one of any accessories that you may have. In other words, starting from our basic outfit, we would need to purchase 1 additional tunic, 1 additional coif, 1-2 additional sets of chausses, 2 additional shirts, and 2 additional sets of braies. We could accomplish this by purchasing 2 of HE's basic underwear packages (I do recommend the wool chausses) for $139.95 each, a tunic from LG for $59, and a coif from LG for $10 for a total of $348.90. If we really needed to cut costs, we can save some money by buying only 1 additional complete set of underwear and 1 of <a href="http://historicenterprises.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_245&products_id=890">HE's basic underwear sets</a> that do not include chausses at $89.95. This would result in a total cost of $298.90. If we put everything together then we can see that enough garb to attend a week-long war will run a minimum of $633.75.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-62091061937972122922015-05-01T18:14:00.004-07:002015-05-01T18:20:26.999-07:00BraiesSimply put, braies are medieval boxer shorts. Braies would have been constructed from linen and typically would have been undyed or bleached white. Combined with a linen shirt, braies would have comprised a linen base layer that would have been more comfortable to wear against the skin than wool and which would have been more easily washed. Neither of these garments were found intact on the Bocksten man, however linen tends to be more susceptible to rotting than wool or leather, and so it is reasonably likely that these garments rotted away. It is also possible that the Bocksten man was not wearing a linen underlayer, however there is plenty of evidence from other sources to indicate that such garments existed and were worn.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/images/maciejowski/leaf12/otm12vc&d.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/images/maciejowski/leaf12/otm12vc&d.gif" height="181" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farm workers wearing only their braies. Image from the Maciejowski Bible, a 13th century manuscript.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Wool or linen chausses would have been used to cover the foot and lower leg and would have been pulled over top of the bottom edge of braies such that the entire leg was covered. These chausses would have been tied to a belt at the waist that may or may not have been part of the braies.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Chausses_1440_Cleeves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Chausses_1440_Cleeves.jpg" height="320" width="117" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Braies and Chausses tied at the waist band.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
There is some debate concerning the appropriate method of constructing braies and over whether they were a pair of sewn "pants" or whether they were actually accomplished by simply cloth wrappings, similar to the undergarments worn by ancient Romans. Accomplishing such cloth wrapped braies is rather simple, as it involves the creation of a single rectangle of fabric approximately 60" x 40"-50" which is conveniently about 1.5 yards of linen fabric. This cloth rectangle is then wrapped around the body and rolled over a belt. The link below provides a picture tutorial along with instructions (that appear in Swedish and English). Getting the exact measurements probably takes a little playing with the wrapping process and a little practice, but once you've figured it out, making this style of braies is as simple as cutting the fabric to size and finishing any raw edges by rolling the fabric over twice and stitching into place.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlPl3thXFj5COHElt4OfL-7Z6YnQif6t3a2PKsCbr3SiRxxiLsKMpSOmyD1cBVMqZ0GhGii2zk_-Jd6JPQIwUlDf3TAnKtsHGSW1h6Uhf9IfkluOVJQzyB4lFTmBVEERrmylG6Q8a46DS/s1600/IMG_3008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlPl3thXFj5COHElt4OfL-7Z6YnQif6t3a2PKsCbr3SiRxxiLsKMpSOmyD1cBVMqZ0GhGii2zk_-Jd6JPQIwUlDf3TAnKtsHGSW1h6Uhf9IfkluOVJQzyB4lFTmBVEERrmylG6Q8a46DS/s1600/IMG_3008.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://hibernaatio.blogspot.fi/2014/04/nain-se-tehdaan-lannevaatteen.html">Cloth Wrap Braies</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Braies can also be sewn together to form a pair of short pants as we might think of them modernly. This site: <a href="http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/trousers/breechesindex.htm">sewn braies</a> provides images of several types of braies along with the patterns for making them. Their recommended pattern shown below is essentially a rectangle for each leg and a square gusset in the crotch. You might slightly improve this pattern by adding about two inches in length to each of the leg pieces and then rolling the waist band back over itself to form a channel for a waist band.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/trousers/braiestest1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/trousers/braiestest1.gif" height="269" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div>
Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-68120274205757407622015-05-01T15:52:00.000-07:002015-05-01T15:52:03.096-07:00Striking a Balance: Buy it, Make it, Trade itGetting started in a reenactment organization can be a daunting task. Putting a complete kit together often requires a newcomer to not only acquire clothing, but also accessories such as shoes and belts, armor, weapons, camping gear, etc. One of the strengths of the SCA is its relatively low bar for entry (an attempt at medieval clothing). Likewise, the SCA is in many ways an organization for people who make things, and so many newcomers will find plenty of people who are quite willing to help them learn to make their own equipment. Unfortunately, this attitude sometimes results in a lot of pressure for newcomers to make all of their stuff. It seems obvious that making things yourself is cheaper than buying them and likewise, that this would lead a website that is geared towards helping newcomers put together their first kit on the cheap to also support this line of reasoning. However, the reality is not nearly this simple and in many cases it is far better for people to simply buy some or even all of the gear that they need.<br />
<br />
<b>Why would this be the case?</b><br />
<br />
Well, for starters, we need to recall a previous post where we discussed that every project must balance time, monetary cost, and quality. As stated before, you can have things good, fast, and cheap: pick two. In the case of the imaginary newcomer that this site is geared towards helping, we must remember that they do not have an abundance of free time, free cash, or crafting skills. Therefore, if we focus solely on reducing monetary costs, then we must either expect to spend a lot of time making things or we must choose to make low quality stuff. In general, this series tries to balance these two things. Certainly making things requires some amount of time. This is kept to a minimum by keeping things simple (one form of reducing quality). However, sometimes making things isn't really an option. This may be because the piece of equipment is complicated, takes specialized skills, and sometimes it's because you can't buy the materials for the price of buying it.<br />
<br />
<b>When should we make things?</b><br /><i>1) When we want to:</i> Doing things is kinda the point of the SCA, and crafting can be incredibly rewarding. If a particular craft is something you're interested in and if an item is something that you want to make, it may be worth prioritizing making the item (at the expense of time and possibly quality). Certainly, however we must temper our choices with a solid dose of reality. It is certainly feasible for your first garb project to be a full Elizabethan gown, but given how complicated such a garment is, you would need to be realistic that either the project won't turn out very well or it will take an extraordinary amount of time (while you essentially learn how to sew). Keep your early projects simple and work towards projects that your skills will allow you to successfully complete in a reasonable time frame. Remember, you're going to want your gear sooner rather than later.<br />
<br />
<i>2) When we don't hate doing so, and:</i><br />
<br />- Buying is too expensive: If your budget is really small, you don't really have many other options than to make things yourself. At the extreme end, it may be worth considering whether the SCA is a hobby that you can afford at all. Ultimately hobbies are luxury items, and if you're making a choice between eating this month and buying fabric for a tunic, your priorities need to be reevaluated. Even making things yourself has a cost (materials, tools, instruction, time), and while the SCA tends to extol the virtues of upcycling, recycling, and repurposing mundane objects and materials, the reality is that doings so is actually fairly difficult and requires a skilled craftsperson, not a novice to pull off well.<br /><br />
- It can't be bought: Simply put, some personas are more popular than others. Merchants tend to have those personas covered pretty well, so if you're looking for viking or 14th century stuff, it's almost certainly available for purchase somewhere (and it's probably better than you'll make on your first attempt). However, SCAdians like to be different, and for many people, this expresses itself in their choice of persona. If you're trying to be something less popular, however, you might not be able to buy the gear you need to complete your kit. From the perspective of keeping costs down, an important consideration is to choose a persona that is popular so that you can benefit from the myriad of freely available research, inexpensive "starter"-level gear, and crafting help.<br />
<br />
- It's a group project: Sometimes local groups get together to make a whole bunch of a particular gear. Shoulder bags, coifs, veils, and banners are popular choices, but entire outfits and even armor are sometimes built as a group activity. You should try to take advantage of these opportunities to make things even if you aren't very experienced or aren't particularly keen on that form of crafting in general, as the group atmosphere can make things more enjoyable, and making things as a group tends to mean that expertise, tools, and materials will be available for free/cheap.<br /><br /><b>When should we buy things?</b><br />
<br />
<i>1) If you dislike making things:</i> Seriously, if you absolutely hate sewing, just plan on buying your clothes. It isn't really worth the stress, aggravation, etc and you're reasonably likely to be happier with the final product made by someone who 1) has experience making things and 2) doesn't hate it. Remember that your time has value, and if you're spending your time doing something you hate, you may as well just get an extra part-time job. Of course, this approach requires us to make compromises. One of the big ones is that you're likely going to be limited in the period of clothing that you can accomplish without spending a bunch of money. Clothing gets increasingly complicated starting around 1350, and much of the later clothing requires an individual fit, which makes buying clothes off the rack difficult and expensive. At the same time, earlier medieval clothing is fairly simple, isn't personally tailored, and is relatively inexpensive to purchase.<br />
<br />
<i>2) If you don't have time to make things:</i> Obviously if time is your limiting factor rather than cash, by all means, just buy what you need. There are a few variations on this, however. For instance, if you're spending your time sewing your clothes, you might elect to simply purchase a belt and/or pouch because you don't have time to learn an additional crafting skill. You also might find that some tasks aren't really worth your time. For instance, my wife does tablet weaving and offered to make black twill tape for use as trim on a pair of pants that I'm planning. However, she has plenty of other projects on her schedule and the twill tape itself is fairly cheap to just buy, so it probably isn't worth it for her to weave it by hand. Similarly, many medieval notions can be made (hooks and eyes, buttons, lacing cords), but sometimes it might just be worth buying, as these are often cheaper than the time-cost of making them. This also has particular relevance to newcomers. As you are putting your first kit together, you, by definition, don't have things to wear in the mean-time. If a project is going to take you months to complete, you might find that buying it is a better option so that you have it now rather than later.<br /><br /><i>3) If you lack the necessary skills/tools: </i>To a certain extent, it is expected that you can learn quite a bit by attempting to make things, but some projects are more complicated than others. Basic sewing and armoring projects can be carried out using fairly minimal tools and without much previous skill, but putting together a full suit of plate armor requires quite a bit of time, skill, and certain specialized tools that probably end up costing more than the armor itself. It is important to be realistic about what skills you can acquire given your resources (are you teaching yourself, or do you have an instructor?) and time-frame (Can you wait 5 years to get into your first garb?).<br />
<br />
4) If it's not worth it: Sometimes you'll find that buying something is cheaper than buying the materials or you'll find that the difference in cost between the finished product and the materials is so small that it's just worth buying it. Similarly, if something takes a lot of skill to make and can be bought rather cheaply, it's worth just buying. Consider shoes. Shoes are usually made of leather and often require several different types/thicknesses of leather. Leatherworking requires some tools certainly, but leather is often only sold in full hides, so a single pair of shoes might require you to buy $300 worth of leather, even though you'll only use a little bit of it. Furthermore, you'll expect to pay about $8-10/square foot for the leather, and a pair of shoes uses 5-6 square feet. If you consider this material cost and compare it to the cost of purchasing period shoes (about $75), you'll see that 1) You have to buy a lot more materials than you'll need at significant cost and 2) There isn't much savings from making it yourself. Finally, shoes are a bit tricky, and if you don't get a good fit, you'll end up in quite a bit of pain. Coming up with a good pattern for your feet will waste quite a bit of materials as well (good thing you got a whole hide). Because of this, you'll typically find that it isn't worth the hassle of making your own shoes.<br /><br /><b>What about barter?</b><br /><br />SCA members often suggest barter as a way of keeping costs low, but on the face of it, this isn't necessarily a feasible plan for newcomers. For starters, there's often the assumption that the parties are exchanging goods that they have created, for instance, trading leatherwork for clothing. However, our proverbial newcomer doesn't necessarily have other skills with which to make things either, so they can't trade a belt for a tunic, because they don't know how to make either. That being said, bartering labor for gear may be a reasonable task. This labor may not be in the context of the SCA. You might find that someone's willing to make you clothing in exchange for mowing their lawn, cleaning their gutters, etc. Similarly, there are lots of camping events, and often people are willing to trade garb, armor, a place to sleep, etc for people to cook meals, wash dishes, setup and tear down tents, and watch their kids. At major wars, there are even merchants who hire people to man their booth who provide clothing, meals, etc to the people who work for them. These arrangements ultimately are on an ad hoc basis, however, so there's nowhere I can point you to in order to find them. You'll have to ask around on your own.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-34614597775513446942014-11-08T20:30:00.001-08:002014-11-14T06:59:00.479-08:00Where to buy stuff on a budget:<h2>
<b>Where to buy stuff on a budget:</b></h2>
<div>
Sometimes it is better to just buy the things we need for our kits. I have provided an annotated listing of merchants and products that I think strike a good balance between quality, authenticity, and price below. </div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Armor:</b></h3>
<h3>
<b>Starter Helmets:</b></h3>
<div>
<a href="http://ironmongerarmory.com/stock-helms/munitions-bascinet-helms">Ironmonger Armory - Munitions Bascinet</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://black-bird-armoury.myshopify.com/products/starter-helms">Blackbird Armory - Starter Bascinet/Great helm</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=107&sid=3c1f2e53a10e11cddbf79a44a3145b6b" rel="nofollow">Armour Archive user "accdntprone" (Requires login)</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These three starter helms are essentially equivalent. All 3 options are reasonable for the mid-14th century kit that I recommend for garb and armor on a budget. Your decision probably comes down to wanting a bar grill vs. the face plate that is on the Blackbird Armory helm. Obviously Accdntprone's ordering is a little more complicated (you need to send him a personal message), but as far as I can tell from reviews, he makes a good, solid helm. If you're looking for an earlier period helm (spangenhelm), I think Accdntprone also offers those as starter helms. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
<b>Other Armor:</b></h3>
</div>
<div>
<a href="http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/index.php">Armour Archive</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.madmattsarmory.com/inv_arms.php">Mad Matt's Armory - Reasonably priced armor</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rough-from-the-Hammer/362237653794369?sk=timeline">Rough From the Hammer - Unfinished Armor Parts</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Armour Archive is the #1 go-to place for armour questions, buying armor online, etc. The forum has plenty of armour for sale, reviews of armourers, etc.<br />
<br />
Mad Matt has a good reputation on the Archive, and offers a good mix of inexpensive armor pieces and much pricier custom work.<br />
<br />
Rough From the Hammer specializes in selling pre-formed armor parts. The parts are left unfinished, which means that you'll ultimately need to do the final polishing, strapping, etc yourself. </div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Greaves (lower leg protection): </b><a href="http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11398570&DeviceOptOut=1">Field Hockey Shin Guards</a><br />
<br />
Greaves aren't required armor for SCA combat, but they can be a really good idea. The lower leg and calf has a fairly complex shape that makes steel armor greaves fairly pricy. Likewise, trying to form your own plastic greaves is also somewhat difficult. Some people use soccer shin guards, as these are a readily available commercial product, however they tend to be somewhat bulky. Field hockey shin guards like these, however are very low-profile.<br />
<h3>
<b>Fencing Gear:</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Masks:</b></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_25&products_id=376">Darkwood Armory - Fencing Mask</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/catalog.php?item=149&catid=43&ret=catalog.php%3Fcategory%3D43">Zen Warrior Armory - Fencing Mask</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The most important thing you need to pay attention to is the sizing. You should make sure you get a mask that fits (which is to say it should probably be tighter than you think it should). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Zen Warrior Armory makes really good fencing masks. You might notice I didn't list their cheapest mask, and that's because I think that having a stainless steel mask with a tighter weave is worth the extra money.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Darkwood masks seem reasonably sturdy. They're priced pretty cheap for a stainless steel mask. All around, they're probably a solid choice.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Both merchants offer a rigid back of head protector for their masks (for Cut & Thrust). Ultimately, if I were just starting out, I'd probably just buy whichever one allowed me to combine shipping with other items.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Gloves:</b></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_25&products_id=5">Darkwood Armory - Fencing Gloves</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.weldersupply.com/P/270/TillmanBlackONYXMigGlove">TIG Welding Gloves - multiple sources, logo should come off with acetone</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Darkwood Armory gloves wear pretty well and at $30 are cheaper than most of the other fencing gloves available. Alternatively, you can use a pair of TIG welding gloves, since they're rather supple and thin to provide manual dexterity. Try to find a pair that is all leather. Any logos or emblems can usually be removed with acetone or rubbing alcohol with a little effort. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Hoods:</b></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_25&products_id=10">Darkwood Armory - Fencing Hood</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/tailormadegarments/tailormadegarmentscustomwork">Tailor Made Garments - Hood, Shirt, and Doublet (about half way down page)</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Both of these hoods should be completely fine. I'd list Zen Warrior Armory, but theirs are cotton and quite thick, which makes them pretty warm compared to the hemp or linen ones listed here. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Gorgets:</b></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/catalog.php?item=248&catid=63&ret=catalog.php%3Fcategory%3D63">Zen Warrior Armory - Fencing Gorget</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.anshelmarms.com/gorgets.html">Anshelm Arms - Brigandine Gorget</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Zen Warrior Armory seems to offer the cheapest gorgets that I've been able to find and they provide good protection for fencing. We have a number of them in our loaner gear and they hold up well to the hard usage they get there.<br />
<br />
I don't own nor have I seen any of the Anshelm gorgets in person, however, my gorget is made in that style, and I find that it is a bit more comfortable to fight in. Anshelm's price on these ($75) is pretty good, as I can't find anybody else who is selling these for less than $90.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Swords:</b></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=18">Darkwood Armory - Economy Hilt Rapier</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/catalog.php?category=70">Zen Warrior Armory - Complete Weapons</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Without explaining in detail, my recommendation at this point for new fencers is to save their money and buy the Darkwood Armory sword first. My experience is that fencers who get reasonably involved in SCA rapier ultimately purchase a DW blade within 2 years, even if they bought another sword first, so why not save up a bit more money and buy the DW?<br />
<br />
As far as the price difference, I think ZWA's swords are actually selling for more money than the website suggests (based on my recollection of prices from Pennsic), so I think they come in closer to about $250-$275. I recommend either the R6 or the R9 swept hilt guards, and probably the 40" long sword (which is the longest they offer) with the heavier pommel that is recommended on the website.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As far as Darkwood armory's swords go, pay the extra $10 and get the bated rapier blade rather than the practice blade. You'll probably want either the 42" blade or the 45" blade (if you're around 6' or taller). </div>
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<h3>
<b>Accessories:</b></h3>
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<b>Shoes:</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.vikingleathercrafts.com/period-footwear.html">Viking Leather Crafts - Leather shoes of various periods</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.bootsbybohemond.net/index.php/shop-ii/shoes-a-pattens">Boots by Bohemond - Shoes and Boots from various periods</a><br />
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Both of the above merchants provide reasonable reproduction shoes. They also both provide various other accessories such as knives, belts, leather pouches, etc. Bohemond's shoes are of higher quality, but I own shoes from both sources and they have all lasted for several years of heavy use (Lilies War & Pennsic + 20ish other events/year). </div>
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I recommend most people purchase the additional rubber 1/8" Vibram non-slip sole to protect your shoes from asphalt and gravel, and to provide a bit more grip than the leather sole provides. I do not recommend purchasing the lugged sole that is available from Viking Leather Crafts. It doesn't look particularly good with the shoes and can provide too much traction for combat sports (which can lead to knee injury). </div>
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<b>Bling (buckles, belt hardware, etc):</b></div>
<a href="https://www.quietpress.com/">Raymond's Quiet Press</a><br />
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<a href="http://thorthorshammer.com/">Thor Thor's Hammer</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.fetteredcockpewters.com/">The Fettered Cock Pewters</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.billyandcharlie.com/dec.html">Billy and Charlies</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.dragonsjewels.com/">Drachenstein Treasures</a></div>
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I recommend all of these merchants. They all produce good work, do quite a bit of historical research, and provide reasonably priced pieces (and also some really expensive stuff). </div>
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<b>Clothing:</b></h3>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/tailormadegarments/tailormadegarmentscustomwork">Tailor Made Clothing</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.linengarb.com/">Linen Garb - Inexpensive basic garb items in linen</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.revivalclothing.com/">Revival Clothing - Lots of 14th century clothing</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.historicenterprises.com/">Historic Enterprises</a></div>
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This is far from a complete list, however there are plenty of merchants who offer garb of questionable authenticity for lots and lots of money, so be careful. Revival Clothing and Historic enterprises are essentially the "big boys on the block" so to speak when it comes to buying garb. Their clothes are pretty good, authenticity-wise and they are well constructed. Some in the SCA consider their prices high, but I'd actually say that they offer pretty good bargains considering the amount and level of work that goes into making clothing.<br />
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Linen Garb's clothing is fairly basic, and can be used to give a good, generally medieval look. In my opinion, they aren't as authentic as the other merchants, but they're definitely good enough. Their prices are quite reasonable. Ultimately, I think you'll do better trying to build pre 1300's outfits from their garb.<br />
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I think I first came across Tailor Made Clothing as a merchant this past Pennsic, but apparently I know a lot of people who wear their clothes (as I know pretty much everybody in the photos). The clothing items pictured are of good quality, and ultimately if the listed prices are accurate, they are under-charging for their work. The downside here is that you'll probably have to wait for your piece to be made, whereas the other three merchants have a sizable inventory, and can probably fill orders immediately.<br />
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<h3>
Fabric:</h3>
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<a href="http://fabrics-store.com/">http://fabrics-store.com/ - Linen Fabric</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.bblackandsons.com/">http://www.bblackandsons.com/ - Wool Fabrics</a><br />
<a href="http://96fabrics.com/">96 District Fabrics - Linen, Wool, Cotton, Silk - website not yet functional</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/96-District-Fabrics-LLC/262024223862203">96 District Fabrics - Facebook Page</a><br />
<a href="http://www.carolinacalicoes.com/framed.html">Carolina Calicoes - Linen, Wool, Silk, Cotton Fabric</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wmboothdraper.com/">William Booth, Draper</a><br />
<a href="http://www.graylinelinen.com/">Gray Line Linen</a><br />
<br />
Fabrics-store.com is my usual go-to recommendation for people who are trying to get into linen garb while keeping the price down. Their linens are about $8/yd, which makes them cheaper than most other sources. However, you'll find higher quality linen at 96 District Fabric, JoAnn's, and sometimes at Carolina Calicoes. If you order from Fabrics-store.com, pay attention to their rotating sales, and use the coupon code "ilovelinen" for an additional 7% off.<br />
<br />
B. Black & Sons is a great source for all sorts of wool. You'll pay around $20/yd, but their wool is high quality and they have a fairly wide selection of different kinds of wool.<br />
<br />
96 District Fabrics and Carolina Calicoes are mainly available at events. Both merchants set up their shops at Pennsic, and they can also be found at big events along the east coast. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have online shopping set up, but you should be able to place an order by contacting them directly. 96 District has good quality fabrics. Their prices are a few dollars higher than fabrics-store.com's prices on linen (around $10/yd if memory serves). Carolina Calicoes is a little more hit-or-miss, as much of their inventory comes from wholesale lots and auctions, which means that it changes over time. They seem to reliably offer linen around $6 or $7/yd. I haven't worked with their linen much, but it seems to be of ok quality. They usually have a reasonable selection of colors available too. Keep an eye out for them at events, because they often have some unique fabrics and sometimes they have some killer deals going.</div>
<div>
<br />
Both William Booth and Gray line offer higher quality linen. The price is slightly more expensive. William Booth offer offers a selection of twill tapes, trims, and other notions. Just be careful, as the site is geared a little more towards 18th century reenactors, so some products may be a bit out of period.<br />
<h3>
Trim:</h3>
<a href="http://www.calontirtrim.com/">Calontir Trim</a><br />
<br />
Ultimately trim is a bit of a luxury. In order to keep monetary and labor costs down, I won't really offer much discussion on the use of trim to appropriately decorate your garb. However, if you want trim, this is probably your best bet for buying it. They travel extensively, so they may very well pop up at a major event close to you at some point. </div>
Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-53368068268539106452014-03-08T11:36:00.000-08:002014-03-08T11:36:01.547-08:00Mid 14th Century Helmets<div>
<b>Head:</b> Your head is probably the most important thing to protect in SCA combat. First of all, it contains your brain, and that's kind of important (Trust me, I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Neurobiology :-D). Secondly, your face is also located on your head and it's fairly sensitive to being hit and has vulnerable bits like your eyes that help you to see. Thirdly, the way that SCA rattan combat works means that your head is going to be one of the areas that is hit most frequently. Because of this, you want your helmet to be strong and you actually want it to be fairly heavy (at least 10 lbs) as this additional weight will increase the inertia of your head, which will keep your brain from bouncing around in your skull as much. You also want a helmet that is made of sufficiently thick metal to keep it from denting too easily. While thinner material is legal, you should consider 14 gauge mild steel to be the absolute minimum thickness of metal for your helmet, and should probably look for something in 12 gauge steel.</div>
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There are 3 main styles of helmet that are appropriate for the mid 14th century.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/KHM_Wien_B_74_-_Great_helm_of_Albert_von_Prankh,_14th_century,_front.jpg/296px-KHM_Wien_B_74_-_Great_helm_of_Albert_von_Prankh,_14th_century,_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/KHM_Wien_B_74_-_Great_helm_of_Albert_von_Prankh,_14th_century,_front.jpg/296px-KHM_Wien_B_74_-_Great_helm_of_Albert_von_Prankh,_14th_century,_front.jpg" height="320" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Great Helm of Albert von Prankh,<br />
<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KHM_Wien_B_74_-_Great_helm_of_Albert_von_Prankh,_14th_century,_front.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KHM_Wien_B_74_-_Great_helm_of_Albert_von_Prankh,_14th_century,_front.jpg</a></td></tr>
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The great helm, would have been going out of style by the mid 14th century, but is simple enough that making one can be accomplished with minimal tools. These have the advantage of looking pretty badass, but typically have poor visibility. Furthermore, the flat surfaces (especially on top) can make this catch shots that would glance off other styles of helm.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
This tutorial is fairly decent and describes how to make this style of helmet: <a href="http://www.arador.com/armour/how-to-make-a-great-helm/">http://www.arador.com/armour/how-to-make-a-great-helm/</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So is this one: <a href="http://lochcairn.freeservers.com/classes/barrelhelm1.htm">http://lochcairn.freeservers.com/classes/barrelhelm1.htm</a><br />
<br />
This video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ASz5eHoiyE">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ASz5eHoiyE</a> and this one: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_TCzalrvTA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_TCzalrvTA</a> are also helpful in figuring out how to make one. I </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1416.jpg" height="262" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">A kettle helm made by Therion arms (<a href="http://therionarms.com/">http://therionarms.com/</a>)</td></tr>
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<div>
The next style of helm is the kettle helm. Historically, kettle helms did not cover the face or the back and sides of the head, but several armorers make kettle helms with bar grills and slats that cover the rest of the head to make them legal for SCA combat. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://www.madmattsarmory.com/images/armor/RoundTopBascinet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.madmattsarmory.com/images/armor/RoundTopBascinet.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">A bascinet style helm with a fixed bar grill covering the face from Mad Matt's armory (<a href="http://www.madmattsarmory.com/inv_head.php">http://www.madmattsarmory.com/inv_head.php</a>)</td></tr>
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Finally, there's the bascinet. This style of helm is probably the most popular in the SCA. It is fairly simple to make, and the conical point makes it good at causing some shots to glance off the surface. The cheapest versions of these are made with a bar grill that is fixed to the helmet itself. More expensive versions have a hinge at the top that allows you to lift the bar grill and potentially swap it out with shaped face plates that are more common in later decades of the 14th century.</div>
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In general I recommend buying a helmet unless you have a particular interest in making armor, have access to some metal working tools, and have the time to spend on making one. As far as making one goes, the easiest of these to make is the great helm, as it requires only a few tools and can be riveted together (rather than welded). The other two styles require some more complex metal shaping, a few more tools (that aren't necessarily super expensive), and access to welding. I will address these possibilities in more detail in a future post, but for now my recommendation is to find an inexpensive "starter" bascinet style helm with a fixed bar grill. These typically run around $150 - $300 depending on some options.</div>
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Mad Matt's Armory offers several great helms, kettle helms, and bascinets at a reasonable price: <a href="http://www.madmattsarmory.com/inv_head.php">http://www.madmattsarmory.com/inv_head.php</a></div>
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Iron Monger's munition's grade bascinet is a decent choice: <a href="http://ironmongerarmory.com/stock-helms">http://ironmongerarmory.com/stock-helms</a></div>
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Helms are frequently for sale on the Armour Archive: <a href="http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=3">http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=3</a></div>
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Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-82318717082418574342013-11-18T12:57:00.002-08:002013-11-18T15:01:49.336-08:00Mid 14th Century ArmorI have chosen the mid 14th century as the time period for the first set of tutorials for the SCA on a Budget series largely because of the armor of that period. While mid 14th century clothing is simpler than the clothing of later time periods, it is not any simpler than clothing from earlier time periods. In contrast, the armor of the mid 14th century is more complicated than the armor of earlier time periods, which might lead you to wonder why I chose that period as a starting place for my tutorials. The answer is fairly straightforward, which is that the armor of earlier time periods does not meet the minimum armor standards for SCA rattan combat. Furthermore, the armor of the mid 14th century is far simpler than the armor that comes even a few decades later. Because of this, the mid 14th century is a "sweet spot" in medieval history where the historic armor is sufficient to meet SCA armor standards, but is simple enough to be made by novices with limited tools and metalworking experience. Ideally my focus will be around 1351 which would make the armor perfectly suited to the Combat of the Thirty (CotT), a special type of melee that occurs at large events like Pennsic<br />
<br />
<b>So, what would a mid-14th century knight or man-at-arms wear into battle?</b><br />
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I urge you to first watch this video titled "How a man shall be armed" which has been prepared by La Belle Compagnie, a Hundred Years' War reenacting group that has done some remarkable research. The armor that we will be making will be most similar to the armor worn by the man on the left from 1337, the start of the Hundred Years' War.<br />
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<b>Helmet: </b>Nothing says medieval armor like an awesome helmet. For the mid 14th century, you have a few options. If you are planning on making the helm yourself, the simplest option is to make a great helm. By the mid 14th century, the great helm was going out of fashion, but they could still be seen on the field. Great helms have the main advantage of being simple and requiring minimal tools to make. They also look pretty cool. However, they have the disadvantage of having limited visibility and of presenting flat striking surfaces (not all of them do this). An example of a nice great helm is worn by the fighter who is facing us in the first image of this forum thread: <a href="http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=85680">http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=85680</a>.<br />
<br />
The most popular style of helm is the bascinet, which is seen in the video linked above. These were initially worn underneath great helms, but ultimately they developed into a helmet of their own. They initially did not have any form of face protection, but visors and nasals developed quickly afterwards. In the SCA these are often made as a fairly cheap starter helmet and face protection is carried out by welding steel bars together to make a "basket" for the face. As far as making these yourself, they aren't terribly difficult, but do require some more tools than the great helm, are a little more difficult to shape, and require access to welding equipment. If you are going to buy a helmet, this is probably your best bet.<br />
<br />
A third option is the kettle helm. I won't go into much detail about them, but essentially they are a steel wide-brimmed hat. Medieval kettle helms lacked face or side protection, but SCA versions typically include a bar grill and some metal slats to met the minimum armor standards. These are about the same difficulty to make as a bascinet, but have a few more pieces, so they're a bit more expensive to buy.<br />
<br />
Choosing between these helm styles will largely be a question of aesthetics. In general, I recommend simply buying your helmet, as making your own requires some metalworking skill, access to materials and tools, and will take a relatively long time to complete on your own.<br />
<br />
<b>Padding:</b> The first layer of any armor is typically padding that serves to cushion the body against blows, provide a place to attach other pieces of armor, and make wearing armor more comfortable. Typically padding was made from cloth, with a natural undyed or bleached linen outer shell that is padded by either stuffing some form of material into channels stitched into the fabric or by quilting layers of thick material between the layers of the shell. Historically the stuffing would be a natural material, and I urge you to do the same. When armor was stuffed, materials like un-spun wool, horse hair, and raw cotton were used. If you use the quilting method where you stitch multiple layers of fabric together, this would be accomplished by using many layers of linen or 1-2 layers of fulled wool. Interestingly the padded layers actually offered significant protection from arrows, as layered cloth is fairly puncture resistant, and raw cotton in particular seems to wind itself around the shaft of arrows that spin as they pass through the padding. I have had success using fulled wool to pad my 16th century arming doublet. Wool serves as a very breathable layer of padding. In addition to the materials I've listed here, bamboo quilt batting also works quite well.<br />
<br />
Depending on how you count, there are 2 or 3 different padded garments that you will want to create. The first is a garment that is sometimes called a gambeson or aketon and protects the torso. The construction of this garment is similar to the Bocksten man tunic. The second garment you'll want are padded cuisses. These cover the upper leg and also serve as a place to attach the knee cop. Building these two garments first is probably your best bet, as all of the rest of your armor will fit over top of your padding and/or will be attached to it. The third padded piece goes inside your helmet and serves as padding for your head.<br />
<br />
<b>Elbows and Knees:</b><br />
<br />
SCA armor standards require that you protect both your elbows and knees with rigid protection. For the purposes of this suit of armor, we will accomplish this with simple elbow and knee cops that do not have any lames and does not involve any articulation. This will keep it simple and keep costs down. Making elbow and knee cops isn't particularly hard, and for many new armorers, they are their first piece, so making them is definitely an option, however these aren't usually terribly expensive pieces to simply buy either. Depending on your willingness to shape metal and your overall budget, you may consider simply buying these pieces. Once you have made or bought them, they will be attached to the sleeves of your padded gambeson and to your padded cuisses. This will help keep them in place. You will also usually need to add a strap that will go around the joint to keep the cop in place.<br />
<br />
<b>Wrist and Hands:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
If you are planning on fighting with sword and shield, the cheapest way to protect your hands is to wear demi gauntlets (that protect the wrist and hand, but not the fingers) and put a basket hilt on your sword and shield (to protect your fingers). If you plan on using two-handed weapons (great sword, spear, polearm), you'll need full gauntlets that protect your fingers too. This gets expensive, there's really not a great way around that. Demi gauntlets are harder to make than elbows, but they're not too difficult. Getting fingers and thumbs to articulate correctly, however, is fairly tricky, so you're probably going to end up buying gauntlets.What's more is that protecting your hands is really important. It's fairly easy to break a finger in SCA combat, and since most people work with their hands, that's not really something you want. Hockey gloves are the bare minimum protection required by the rules, but they're really marginal in their protection. Fighting with them, especially sparring with pole arm or great sword while wearing them, is asking for broken fingers. Don't skimp on your hands.<br />
<br />
<b>Legs and Arms:</b><br />
<br />
Armor for your legs and arms is optional, but highly recommended. The simplest and cheapest way of armoring these body parts is using splinted armor. Splinted armor takes the form of metal splints riveted or sewn to a leather or cloth backing. This method keeps the amount of metal shaping to a minimum and is a fairly forgiving and flexible method of armoring your limbs. As far as limb armor goes, the forearms (vambraces) are the most important part to armor followed by the upper leg (cuisses). Upper arm protection (rerebraces) are also a good idea. Lower leg protection (greaves) can also be useful. Striking below the knee does not count as a legal blow in SCA fighting, but it happens sometimes and it hurts. Splinted greaves will also improve your appearance.<br />
<br />
<b>Neck:</b><br />
<br />
Neck protection is required. At a minimum you will need to attach a chain maille drape to your helm. However, in my opinion, this is a very poor method of protecting against thrusts which are highly prevalent on the melee field. I recommend that you also wear a gorget to protect your throat. Gorgets don't really exist in the mid 14th century, however you can make a simple gorget in the same way that you make a coat of plates. While it is inaccurate, it will aesthetically match the armor. Furthermore, if you wear a chainmaille (or leather or quilted cloth) drape from your helmet, the gorget will be hidden.<br />
<br />
<b>Body:</b><br />
<br />
<b></b>The SCA requires that you protect your kidneys with a minimum of thick leather. Some people do this using a weight lifting belt. If you have finished your gambeson, you can put on a leather belt underneath to protect your kidneys, and that will serve as sufficient armor to meet the rule requirements, but I don't recommend it. Historically the body's main protection would have been chain maille, however during the mid 14th century, coats of plates started to be worn. You can see an example of a coat of plates in the video above. Essentially this is constructed by riveting overlapping plates of metal to a leather or cloth coat. This provides rigid protection for your torso and serves as kidney protection.<br />
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<br />
<b>Shield:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The appropriate style of shield for the mid 14th century is a "heater." Aluminum is a popular choice for making shields in the SCA because it is light, but they are also expensive to buy. Some people use street signs to make them, but this method still requires that you affix some form of edging on your shield. A more attractive, cheaper, and more attractive method is to make a bent plywood shield.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-61215365032343248402013-11-10T10:00:00.003-08:002015-08-26T07:13:44.587-07:00Seam Finishing TechniquesWhen I made my first few outfits, something that I didn't know about (but really wish I did) was seam finishing. I was never really "formally trained" at sewing, so nobody had ever explained to me that if you didn't finish the seams of your garments that they would fall apart the first time you put them through the wash. If you've ever had this happen to you, then you'll know that this is indeed a very sad thing.<br />
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Now, there are plenty of ways to finish your seams, and I can't cover them all, but I will talk about a few common ways to do it. Some of these require extra equipment, while others work best when hand-stitching.<br />
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<b>Serger:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Probably the easiest and most-straightforward method of finishing your seams is by using a serger. Now, you're probably thinking, "What's a serger?" Simply put, it's a special kind of sewing machine that finishes edges and they look like this:<br />
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Finishing seams with a serger basically involves running the machine around the edge of each piece of fabric before you sew them together. It really couldn't be any simpler (unless you could figure out a way to never need to thread one). Sergers also typically trim the fabric edge so you get a nice clean finish. For an example of a serger-finished edge, grab the nearest t-shirt, turn it inside out, and take a look at the seams. You'll see that they are essentially wrapped in thread. That is what a serger does. The major drawback of a serger (aside from the difficulty in threading one) is that it requires an extra piece of equipment, and they aren't exactly cheap. It is worth checking with sewers in your local group to see if one of them has a serger that they'd be willing to let you use for your project (I don't own one, but borrow my roommates when I need to use one). If you can't find a serger, you can approximate the effect by using the zig-zag stitch on a regular sewing machine. It won't be quite as strong or as neat, but you can get pretty close with careful stitching and trimming (Of course this requires you to have a sewing machine as well). </div>
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<b>Felling:</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7038Fb3gYYiPmOZ8VaEKU1Squbr4mSFvqSqzlKKJI9aoJ1rHVAA9JaTu76x37W_aT7I8d6gDHwFNAD3jNHTQgGEWuaW8_jmihG8L1ztSyBz08QZjIi-j844CAUY84xbc5U9z6ltH1cmU/s1600/Seam+Types.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7038Fb3gYYiPmOZ8VaEKU1Squbr4mSFvqSqzlKKJI9aoJ1rHVAA9JaTu76x37W_aT7I8d6gDHwFNAD3jNHTQgGEWuaW8_jmihG8L1ztSyBz08QZjIi-j844CAUY84xbc5U9z6ltH1cmU/s320/Seam+Types.jpg" width="320" /></a>If you find that you lack the fancy machines necessary to serge/zig-zag stitch the edges of your garment or if you want a more medieval look, felling your edges might be for you. Felled seams often appear in canvas tents and sometimes jeans are constructed using them. Felled seams are a historical method of assembling garments and are quite strong (which is why they're used in tents). If you are sewing by hand, this is probably your best bet for most seams. Essentially they are done by having the two pieces of fabric (blue and green lines) wrap around each other as shown in the image on the right. They can be done by hand or using a sewing machine. The orange lines show roughly where the seams go when hand sewing. I like to do these by overstitching. This is shown in the image below:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEegcjzufod0KP1Zs8AwAELo39PopomDDWci9HZe5kE1_mftpX02_YN_NgWXeBVU7Y62RfdhqgZb-h7sSI4APpIe7CMUdDYq4We13QcqVFhYdkIPK0ovjJD9FiHxcCX09vnjE8j5EvW7I/s1600/Overstitch+Felled+Seam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEegcjzufod0KP1Zs8AwAELo39PopomDDWci9HZe5kE1_mftpX02_YN_NgWXeBVU7Y62RfdhqgZb-h7sSI4APpIe7CMUdDYq4We13QcqVFhYdkIPK0ovjJD9FiHxcCX09vnjE8j5EvW7I/s400/Overstitch+Felled+Seam.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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For machine sewing, you can get a special presser foot to help you make them, but this is unnecessary. Unfortunately you'll find that there really isn't a way to do this without creating a visible machine stitch, which is something I like to avoid when sewing medieval clothing. However, you might find this to be acceptable, particularly for undergarments (shirts, braies, etc). Furthermore, you can create a hybrid where you do the first seam stitch with a machine, roll the felled seam over, and finish with a hand stitch (hem, overstitch, etc). </div>
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This is another good explanation of how a felled seam works: <a href="http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/tarptent3/flatfelled.html">http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/tarptent3/flatfelled.html</a><br />
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This is a reasonable tutorial for how to make them using a sewing machine: <a href="http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/standard-flat-felled-seam">http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/standard-flat-felled-seam</a><br />
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<b>Rolled:</b></div>
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Another way of finishing edges is to roll them over. This tucks the raw edge inside the roll so that it can't unravel. Rolled seam edges are shown above, and they can be carried out in a couple ways. The neatest way is to put a narrow hand-rolled hem around each piece and then sew the pieces together, but a quicker way to do it is to simply stitch your fabric pieces together, leaving a wide seam allowance (3/4" - 1.5" depending on how much fabric you need to leave yourself). Then, simply fold this seam allowance over twice, tucking the raw edge inside, press with an iron, and stitch the edge down (by overstitching, hem stitch, etc). You can also do this with a sewing machine, but like before, you'll have a visible machine stitch (unless your machine can do a blind hem stitch, but most can't). </div>
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This is a good tutorial on doing a hand-rolled hem: <a href="http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-sew-a-rolled-hem">http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-sew-a-rolled-hem</a></div>
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For a quick reference sheet to some basic sewing stitches, look here: <a href="http://www.ia470.com/wardrobe/stitches.html">http://www.ia470.com/wardrobe/stitches.html</a></div>
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<b>Note:</b> What I have called overstitching during most of this tutorial is referred to as a "whip stitch" by this stitching guide. For rolling over and finishing hems, there are several stitches presented in this guide that will work just fine including the whip stitch, vertical hem stitch, cross stitch, and even slip stitch. However, you will probably find that the simpler, spiral ones are a bit faster. </div>
Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-64171186188749573022013-10-21T12:08:00.000-07:002015-05-01T18:30:16.555-07:00The Bocksten Man Tunic<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hkm.varberg.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/kjortel.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.hkm.varberg.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/kjortel.gif" height="227" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tunic worn by the Bocksten man</td></tr>
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<b>The Tunic:</b></div>
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The first garment we will focus on for our reconstruction of the Bocksten man outfit is the tunic. The tunic worn by the Bocksten man is a fairly typical example of <i>geometric construction, </i>meaning that the pattern is comprised solely of geometric shapes (rather than complex curves). There are several advantages to this method. First, this method avoids wasting fabric by making use of rectangles and right triangles. Second, this method simplifies the process of patterning, as it breaks the body into component simple shapes. It should therefore be obvious that this fits our design principles of being both cost effective and simple. However, it is also a highly authentic method of construction, as geometric construction is present in archaeological finds that date back to pre-roman times and forms the basis of garments well into the 19th century. With regards to historic costuming, understanding geometric construction will serve us well not only in making medieval tunics, but also in the construction of virtually every other garment including medieval braies, chausses, hoods, dresses, and arming garments as well as shirts and other undergarments during the renaissance.<br />
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<b>Tunics as an Undergarment:</b><br />
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In general, two layers of tunics or more is appropriate. Historically, an undyed or bleached white linen under-tunic would have been worn against the skin. This layer had the benefit of being more comfortable against the skin than wool and would also have been easier to wash, which would have been important considering that its proximity to the body would have meant that it would be soiled with sweat and oil. This garment does not seem to have survived the burial of the Bocksten man, which is somewhat typical, as vegetable-based fibers (like linen) are more prone to rotting than animal-based ones (like wool). The outer layers of tunics would generally have been constructed out of wool and could have been dyed fairly bright colors.<br />
<br />When making an under-tunic for yourself, it is reasonable to make it slightly shorter than your outer tunic and also to skip the insertion of the center gore (the triangle inserted into the middle of the front and back). I find that it takes me approximately 2 yards of 60" wide linen to do the undertunic and about 2.5 yards of 60" fabric to make the outer tunic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_100.jpg" height="289" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tunic of St. Francis of Assisi , also geometrically constructed<br />
(<a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_100.htm">http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_100.htm</a>)</td></tr>
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<b>Geometric Construction:</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drentha.com/images/board/2008/tunic/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.drentha.com/images/board/2008/tunic/0.jpg" height="320" width="289" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One way to layout the Bocksten man tunic<br />
(<a href="http://www.dagorhir.com/forums/index.php/topic,5902.msg77835.html">http://www.dagorhir.com/forums/index.php/topic,5902.msg77835.html</a>)</td></tr>
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To the medieval tailor, the purpose of using geometric construction was to waste as little cloth as possible. Fabric was expensive in the middle ages, as it all had to be made by hand. Wool, for instance, required that somebody raise sheep and shear them, that this wool be carded, spun, and woven into fabric. This fabric was then further treated by the process of fulling and was finally dyed. The production of other fabrics such as linen weren't any easier, and you can imagine the difficulty in unwinding the cocoons needed to make silk. The resulting fabric would have been rectangular in shape and would have been about 22" wide, limited by the arm span of the weaver. As a result, geometrically constructed garments are patterned primarily using rectangles and, at times, using triangles that can be formed from rectangles. The resulting patterns waste very little fabric and also allow medieval tailors to take advantage of the selvedge (finished edge of fabric that runs down both sides and that doesn't unravel). Modern technology has changed how fabric is woven, so these days we typically have 60" wide fabric to work with. This allows us to make our pieces a little wider if we need to, but really it just changes how we lay out our patterns. The image to the right demonstrates roughly how to lay out a geometric pattern for the Bocksten tunic using modern 60" wide fabric. That layout comes from a rather good tutorial on making the Bocksten tunic (link in the caption). The tutorial was posted by a user named Alric on the Dagohir forums and it provides fairly detailed instructions on the construction of the Bocksten tunic, so rather than reinventing the wheel, I'm simply going to direct you to go read that tutorial on how to make the tunic and will instead provide guidance on a few key features that I think are a little tricky or that the tutorial doesn't address well. </div>
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<b>The Historical Pattern:</b><br />
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The original bocksten tunic is a fairly simple tunic constructed from rectangles and triangles, as we've mentioned previously. The original would have had full-length sleeves and would have been long enough to reach mid-calf. You will also note that the triangular "gores" that are inset along the sides and center front and back give the tunic some added fullness. These gores seem to start around the natural waist, in contrast to the St. Francis tunic shown above, where the gores proceed all the way up to the armpit. The original was made out of medium-weight twill-woven wool. For recreating this tunic, a plain fabric or a herringbone pattern would both be good choices. In the SCA, we often use linen as a substitute for wool because it is a little bit cheaper, a little bit cooler, and a little bit easier to acquire. If you choose to use linen, I recommend a medium to heavy weight linen (5 - 7 oz) for constructing the tunic<br />
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<a href="http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/bocktunc.html">This Site</a> provides details on the actual pattern and pieces of the Bocksten tunic. You'll note that some of the pieces (like the right sleeve) are actually pieced together from smaller pieces. This would have been done on the original piece simply because the tailor ran out of fabric pieces large enough to make the whole sleeve, so instead he put two together, and voila! sleeve without waste. You probably have enough fabric to make this a single piece, so you can probably simplify the pattern by avoiding some of those seams. However, if you find that you need to piece fabric together in order to get a whole piece, by all means, do that, it's period.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1di15A52cGCQ5s8xB0Vg6TuWw_e35S5Ej1zE_Ldyu6gc/pub?w=974&h=764" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1di15A52cGCQ5s8xB0Vg6TuWw_e35S5Ej1zE_Ldyu6gc/pub?w=974&h=764" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleeve and gusset layout from original</td></tr>
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If you examine the historical pattern closely, you'll see that Alric's tutorial made a few deviations from the original. First off, you'll note that Alric uses square armpit gussets where the original uses triangles. Second, you'll note that the sleeves of Alrics pattern are simple trapezoids, while the sleeves of the original are more rectangular from the shoulder to the elbow and finish with a trapezoid for the forearm. Don't worry, Alric's method is completely reasonable and falls well within the normal variation in geometric construction. However, if you look closely, you'll see that the pattern layout for the sleeves and armpit gussets could actually be cut from the same rectangle.<br />
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Another difference you'll notice is that the neck on the original Bocksten tunic is a simple oval, whereas Alric's tutorial uses a hole with a slit, forming a "keyhole" shape. Once again, both methods are reasonable and well within the variation of construction seen in medieval tunics, so feel free to use the method you prefer. Note, however, that on the original, this ends up requiring a larger neck hole (because your hole head needs to fit through it), but allows for a simpler method of neck hole finishing. I will address finishing the collar in a future post, as it is probably one of the more complicated aspects of tunic/shirt design.<br /><br />
<b>Other Notes:</b></div>
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<ul>
<li>Alric's tutorial doesn't address <a href="http://gawinkappler.blogspot.com/2013/11/seam-finishing-techniques.html">seam finishing techniques</a>. Seam finishing is crucial if you want to wear your garment more than once, because well, fabric falls apart after you cut it unless you do something to prevent it from unraveling. Because there are several possible methods of seam finishing and because it is important for all garments, not just this tunic, I will be posting a separate post that is dedicated solely to seam finishing techniques. </li>
<li>Alric assumes the usage of your shoulder measurement to find the body block width. This might not work if you are on the heavier side. Instead I recommend also measuring the circumference of your chest (at the nipples) and your belly (at the bellybutton), dividing those two values in half, and using the larger of those three measurements (shoulder width, chest/2, belly/2) as figure "B" when following his pattern. </li>
<li>Alric doesn't really mention adding seam allowances. I typically add an inch to each measurement to give me a half inch of seam allowance on all sides. If this is your first attempt at making a pattern, I recommend adding 2 inches, because it is far easier to remove material than it is to add it later. </li>
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The next post in this series will show you how I begin making my own Bocksten tunic. I'll also be posting some tutorials on seam finishing and on finishing the collar.</div>
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Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-41720695091144184162013-06-07T16:44:00.004-07:002015-08-25T20:38:43.379-07:00Overview of High Medieval ClothingGiven that the SCA is a medieval organization, it should come as no surprise that personas from the high middle ages (approx 1000 AD - 1350 AD) are relatively common within the organization. This popularity has significantly influenced the availability of clothing, armor, and accessories that are available from SCA merchants, but it has also meant that a significant amount of research on how to make items from this time period are readily accessible. There are several reasons for the popularity of this period. For one, it is the clothing and armor of this period that many people think of when they envision medieval knights. However, for our purpose, making an authentic kit with little money and little skill, the high medieval period has several benefits:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Clothing patterns are relatively simple - Nearly every garment can be constructed from rectangles and right triangles</li>
<li>Fitting clothing from this period requires little tailoring</li>
<li>Clothing construction can be accomplished with only 1 basic sewing stitch</li>
<li>Clothing from this period is quite comfortable</li>
<li>You can buy clothing from this period off-the-rack</li>
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<b>The Medieval Outfit:</b><br />
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Medieval clothing, like modern clothing, served several roles. It preserved the wearer's modesty, protected them from their environment, kept them warm, and displayed their social status. Clothing typically was worn in layers, which provided great utility in carrying out these roles. Typically, the layers that touched the skin were made from undyed or bleached linen, while outer layers were constructed from dyed wool. The colors could be fairly bright, and the idea of medieval people dressed only in shades of dull brown certainly is not reflected in images of medieval people.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.13c.ru/images/Brae_12-13c/mac12vB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.13c.ru/images/Brae_12-13c/mac12vB.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Images of Peasants laboring in the Maciejowski Bible (13th century) showing typical medieval outfits</td></tr>
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<b>Underwear: </b><br />
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As mentioned above, underwear garments were worn next to the body and were constructed from undyed or bleached linen. These layers needed to be washed most frequently and linen is a strong material that is relatively easy to wash. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=109500235" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=109500235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image of a laboring peasant from the Maciejowski Bible</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://historicenterprises.com/images/398469_10150535309711208_1430068546_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://historicenterprises.com/images/398469_10150535309711208_1430068546_n.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A modern recreation of medieval underwear layer including braies, shirt, and coif. Chausses are also shown (in green). Image from <a href="http://historicenterprises.com/">Historic Enterprises</a></td></tr>
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Braies: Braies were worn to cover the upper legs and are essentially medieval boxer shorts.<br />
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Shirt: A linen shirt or under-tunic was worn to cover the torso and arms. They were constructed in much the same way as the tunic, extending to around knee level and including long sleeves.<br />
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Coif: A coif is a small linen cap that was worn on the head to cover the hair. It served to protect hats and hoods from the dirt and oils found in the hair.<br />
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<b>Outerwear:</b><br />
Outerwear included chausses, a tunic, and frequently a hood. These garments were historically constructed from dyed wool fabric, however within the SCA they are frequently constructed from dyed linen. While wool is actually surprisingly breathable and cool in the summer, linen is cooler and also cheaper, which is why it is popular among members of the SCA, as many events are held outdoors in the summer.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_84.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_84.jpg" height="320" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear View of the Bocksten Man outfit (circa 1350) showing outer layers. Image from: <a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_84.htm">http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_84.htm</a></td></tr>
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Chausses: Chausses or hose were worn to cover the foot and lower leg. They are essentially thigh-high socks that are pulled up and over the bottom of the braies. Unlike modern socks which are knitted, medieval hose were cut from woven cloth on the bias (diagonally) to provide some degree of stretch and were sewn together. They were held up by being tied to the waistband of the braies or a separate belt and/or by garters worn at the knee.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/8_Krejcovstvi/18_Justyna/VIII_18_22A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/8_Krejcovstvi/18_Justyna/VIII_18_22A.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern recreation of outfit from Manesse codex showing a long tunic, belt, pouch, hood, and shoes. Image from: <a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/8_Krejcovstvi/18_Justyna/VIII_18_22A.htm">http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/8_Krejcovstvi/18_Justyna/VIII_18_22A.htm</a></td></tr>
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Tunic: The tunic covered the upper body. The basic shape is a long-sleeved 'T' that flares from under the arms or from the waist. Generally tunics for working-class men fell to below the knees, while tunics for wealthier men fell to mid calf or longer.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/8_Krejcovstvi/04_Vera/VIII_04_11A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kostym.cz/Obrazky/8_Krejcovstvi/04_Vera/VIII_04_11A.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern reconstruction of Bocksten outfit showing tunic, hood, and coif. Image from: <a href="http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/8_Krejcovstvi/04_Vera/VIII_04_11.htm">http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/8_Krejcovstvi/04_Vera/VIII_04_11.htm</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Hood: In the middle ages, hoods were typically a separate garment from cloaks. Medieval hoods typically had a "tail" called a liripipe and included a mantle that covered the top of the shoulders. Sometimes the edge of the mantle was cut into various shapes, or dagged, as a form of decoration.<br />
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<b>Accessories:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Shoes: Shoes were typically constructed of leather and may or may not have had a pointed toe. Shoes from this time period were <i>turnshoes</i> meaning that they were sewn together like an inside-out bag and were then turned so that the seams were left on the inside. Ankle boots seem to be the most commonly worn type of shoes during this period.<br />
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Belt: Medieval belts could be leather or fabric. They were typically rather narrow (~1" wide) and were fastened with a buckle.<br />
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Belt Pouch: Pouches served as a way of carrying small items like money, dice, small trinkets, etc. They were often suspended from the belt, but sometimes they were worn underneath the tunic for added security. Both kidney-shaped and trapezoidal pouches are good choices for this period.<br />
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Hat: Medieval hats served the same purposes as modern hats, sun protection, warmth, rain protection, and decoration. Both straw and felted hats seem to exist during this period, and there are portraits of laborers wearing hats that are very similar to modern straw hats. Felted hats were made in various shapes including the "bycocket" popularized by Robin Hood.<br />
<br />
Cloak: Cloaks were worn for added warmth and served as medieval rain gear. Cloaks were essentially a blanket, however circular or semi-circular cloaks are more fashionable than the rectangular cloaks seen in the early middle ages. As mentioned above, hoods tended to be worn as a separate garment. Cloaks were fastened with a metal clasp called a brooch.<br />
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Shoulder Bag: While one might describe the shoulder bag as a purse, they were worn by both men and women and would have served to help carry items that were too large to fit in a belt pouch.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://battleofwisby1361.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/frda-vc3b1ska.jpg?w=640&h=480" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://battleofwisby1361.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/frda-vc3b1ska.jpg?w=640&h=480" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern reproduction Shoulder bag aka "Pilgrim Bag" Image from: <a href="https://battleofwisby1361.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/the-medieval-pilgrimage-reenacted/">https://battleofwisby1361.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/the-medieval-pilgrimage-reenacted/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Knives: Knives were a commonly used tool for medieval people and were frequently carried in sheaths suspended from the belt. It may have been common for people to carry two knives, with one being specifically meant for use as an eating utensil and the other serving a more utilitarian purpose. Medieval people carrying two knives can be seen in various visual sources and the Bocksten man was also found with two knives.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/theenglishcutler/images/knives-3/img-ec3-knives-info-page-grp-500x483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/theenglishcutler/images/knives-3/img-ec3-knives-info-page-grp-500x483.jpg" height="308" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image of various reproduction medieval knives, daggers, and even a spoon. Image from <a href="http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/theenglishcutler/index.htm">http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/theenglishcutler/index.htm</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Daggers: Certainly not every medieval person carried a dagger at all times, but those who were travelling or who were members of the martial class did seem to wear them. "Ballocks" daggers are popular choices amongst reenactors in part due to their distinctive shape, but other dagger styles such as the rondel dagger are also available. </div>
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Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-53790493157934805662013-04-12T13:27:00.003-07:002015-08-25T19:13:54.693-07:00Persona and Kit<b>What is a <i>Kit</i>?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
When I talk about building a kit for the SCA, what I mean by kit is the set of equipment that is necessary for you to be involved in your chosen activities in the SCA. All kits will involve garb, as every person is required to make a reasonable attempt at medieval clothing. However, there are other objects that can also be included in your kit. The particulars will vary on these as an armoured fighter's kit will involve armour. A rapier fighter's kit might also involve some armor (like a nice gorget and gloves) along with their swords. An Archer's kit might involve a bow, quiver, period arrows, etc. Those who don't do any of these activities but camp a lot with the SCA on the other hand, may find that for them a kit means a tent, camp furniture, etc.<br />
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<b>Choosing a Persona:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The first step in putting together your kit is to identify a particular place and time that you are interested in portraying. For some this is relatively general (14th century France) for others it is highly specific (Swabian landsknecht from 1560). There are several factors worth considering in choosing your persona. The obvious ones are whether you have a particular interest in a certain place or time and whether you want to fit in with a local group that tends towards a certain period (like the 14th century mafia in Atlantia or Calontir's anglo-saxons). However, when attempting to keep costs down, it is important to consider the balance between looking good and having the resources to achieve that look. In general, the later in period you go, the more complicated and fitted clothing gets, the more difficult the armor gets to make, and as a result, the more time or money it will take to make your kit.<br />
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<b>The "One True Century":</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This last concern was the reasoning behind my first baron's explanation of the popularity of the 14th century mafia. The SCA minimum armor standards essentially require rigid joint and head protection, however early medieval armor doesn't provide this, while later medieval and renaissance armor involves a greater degree of more difficult to make plate armor. During the 14th century, however, historically accurate armor meets SCA standards and also can be made to look good by someone with minimal skill. Meeting SCA minimum standards with earlier period armor relies on hidden sport armor, while later period armor simply requires more complicated work. Garb also follows the general trend that the earlier in period you go, the less fitted the garments are, and so the easier they are to pattern. pre-14th century, you can make pretty much everything out of rectangles and triangles. By the 15th century, much of the clothing requires fitted curves in order to achieve the right shape. This is not to say that later periods are impossible, just that they are harder. For those whose primary interest is not in making things, it may be advisable to choose a persona for which it will be simpler to make and acquire the basics of a kit rather than to choose to portray a persona for which the appropriate gear will take a greater degree of determination. For the purposes of this series, I'm avoiding the assumption that anybody <i>wants</i> to make their own things, but rather I am assuming that the reader understands that they may<i> need</i> to make their own things. I will attempt to keep things simple for that group.<br />
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<b>Things to Consider Including in your Kit:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Garb: </b>This will include not only clothing, but also footwear and accessories as well. I will make a post about accessories in the future, but suffice it to say that without appropriate accessories and footwear, most SCAdians simply look like they're wearing some weird pajamas. For inspiration, take a look at the Armour Archive's 2013 show off your "soft" kit thread: <a href="http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=158437">http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=158437</a> (Soft kit usually refers to garb, as opposed to armour which is hard)<br />
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<b>Armor:</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>Matching garb and armor in a single kit gives you greater flexibility in terms of which clothing you wear to an event and allows you to stretch the number of outfits you have. It also helps your armor fit better, because often, armor was made to be worn with a particular kind of clothing. Keeping your armor pieces consistent with each other and consistent with your clothing is the most straightforward way of looking awesome. I recommend taking a look at the Armour Archive's show off your kit thread here: <a href="http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=160509&hilit=show+off+kit">http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=160509&hilit=show+off+kit</a><br />
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<b>Feast Gear:</b> For the most part, my instructions for feast gear will be to pick up some cheap wooden salad bowls at good will, but an authentic feast gear kit can really help build the medieval experience at feast.<br />
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<b>Tools:</b> These are going to be discipline specific items such as archery equipment, musical instruments, puppets or other props for performance arts, etc.<br />
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<b>Camping Gear:</b> This would include tents, camp furniture, beds, cooking gear, day shades, etc.<br />
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<b>Miscellaneous:</b> There are probably things I have forgotten, however banners displaying your heraldic device are a common thing to have in the SCA and might be something you want to help make you, your encampment, or your day shade look pretty.<br />
<b><br /></b>Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-72660648819179673812013-03-04T12:32:00.001-08:002013-10-29T15:05:17.736-07:00The CatchIn my last post I claimed that you can put together a good kit for the SCA inexpensively and I'm sure you thought to yourself, "What's the catch?" Well, the short answer is time. The classic project management pyramid demonstrates the need for a balance between three main constraints; time, cost, and quality. As noted in my previous post, our goals are to keep costs down and do things well, so we should expect that this will come at the expense of speed. In our case, putting together a nice, cheap kit is going to require us to spend more time doing research, shopping for deals, and probably making things ourselves. However, you should not be left feeling like you cannot play until your kit is done. For that reason, this post will be focused on what to do until your gear is ready and a few tips for getting your kit put together more quickly without sacrificing quality or spending a lot of money.<br />
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<b>Loaner Gear:</b><br />
A lot of newcomers feel uncomfortable borrowing garb/armor/camping gear/etc from other people (who may be relative strangers after all). I think this largely stems from the value that our mundane (modern) society places on being self-sufficient, however your local group can in many ways drive this feeling as well. When I joined the SCA as a 22-year old first-year graduate student, my local group was made up of a group of married adult professionals who were approximately 30 and who had been playing SCA for a decade (or more). In general, this group had all the stuff already and were established enough in the SCA to take care of doing their own thing. Taken together, I very much was left feeling that I needed to take care of myself, and in retrospect, this isn't an approach that I recommend for newcomers, particularly if they are on a budget.<br />
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Most SCA groups (and some individuals) have garb, armor, camping gear, tools, etc that they don't use or don't use frequently that they are willing to loan to newcomers in order to help them get involved/put their kit together. As I mentioned in the introduction, putting together a good, cheap kit is going to take some time, so the best way for you to get involved while you're working on your kit is to borrow garb to get to events, borrow armor to wear at practice, etc. Remember that this gear is meant to help newcomers (like yourself) get involved, so don't feel embarrassed/weird about borrowing it. However, there are some expectations that you should keep in mind, and even if they don't state them explicitly, you should follow:<br />
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1) Be responsible for what you borrow: It should go without saying that you shouldn't trash other people's stuff, but you also should be sure that you are using and maintaining their gear appropriately. For instance, if you borrow a tent and aren't sure about how to set it up or how to pack it, ask. Some people are very particular about how their gear should be used and sometimes the care of equipment may not be straightforward (such as needing to air a tent out after use or needing to avoid using soap on cast iron)<br />
2) Make progress on acquiring your own gear: Loaner gear is meant to help newcomers <b>while they get their own kit together</b>. At the point where you decide that you are going to pursue the SCA/an activity in the SCA, you should make progress towards acquiring your own equipment. Remember, there may be someone who needs that gear more than you do.<br />
3) Pay it forward: A lot of people in the SCA who have been playing for years (or even decades) got their start as proverbial 20-year old poor college students like yourself. I'd bet that they remember that experience fondly and that many of them will be more than willing to help you out. As a newcomer, you'll find that there really isn't a good way for you to pay them back for their help (it isn't like they need a T-tunic), but that isn't really what they are expecting. If you stick with the SCA, someday (and it might not be that far off in the future, really) you'll be in a position to help another proverbial 20-year old poor college student put together their first kit, and you should do so because that's really what makes the SCA awesome.<br />
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<b>Ask for Help:</b><br />
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One of the coolest things about the SCA is the wide variety of skills that are represented within our group and the general willingness of people who have such skills to teach others. In terms of our goals to make a high quality kit cheaply, getting expert help can save us quite a bit of time and money. While help with making things is the most obvious way we can get help, consider asking for help with your research as well. It is likely that more experienced craftspeople can point you towards appropriate sources for what you are trying to make and many will loan you books and source material if you ask. Furthermore, if you are't familiar with how to do research in the first place, you may even ask someone to teach you how. In my local group, we are awash with librarians who teach people how to do research as part of their job. There may be people who are able to help you with your research based on their mundane skills/professions even if they aren't particularly familiar with the time period/crafts that you're trying to do (librarians, scientists, writers, etc).<br />
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In terms of making things, getting help from those who are familiar with whatever craft you are attempting can save you time and money and improve the quality of your kit. More experienced helpers can provide guidance that avoids wasted materials, point out reasonable shortcuts that can save you time, and sometimes provide you with tools and workshop space. The right tools can save you a lot of time and make it easier to build a good-looking product. Furthermore, there are some objects which really can't be made without certain tools. As before, remember to respect the help that you are given. Take care of any books/tools that you borrow or use. If someone invites you over to their shop, follow their rules, bring a 6-pack, and be courteous.<br />
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<b>Hunt for Bargains:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
To a certain extent, putting a kit together cheaply means buying as few items as possible, but sometimes you can find some great deals on items that you need which can result in you getting a nice object cheap and quick. For starters, at many events there are what I like to call "SCA yardsale" merchants. These are typically people who have been playing for a while and have realized that they have no need for the 15 sets of garb, 3 suits of mismatched armour, 5 sets of wooden feast gear, and various candles and baskets that they have acquired over the years. These sales are good places to pick up wool and linen fabric, no-longer needed garb, armour bits from peole who have upgraded their kit, and books. In the past year, I've picked up a pair of knee cops for $20, a pair of rapiers for $25 each, a pair of rubber band guns for $15 total, a whole bunch of wool (some of which was free), and a few other sundry items for only a few dollars. When you are just getting started, these types of sales are probably the best place to pick up some basic feast gear (wooden bowl, tankard mug, wooden spoon, knife) for only a few dollars (usually less than $5 total) as well. These merchants are usually just trying to get rid of stuff, so they are also typically willing to haggle, especially if you are taking several things off of their hands.<br />
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Most other merchants at events and online are actually trying to make money, but you may find that you need to purchase from them at some point. If you do, be sure to pay attention to their clearance sales, etc. At most major wars there is typically a "midnight madness" event where the merchants have special sales. Several of the "major merchants" at events like Pennsic have clearance bins where they are selling seconds, discontinued products, surplusses, and one-off pieces at drastically discounted prices. At last year's Pennsic, for instance, my little brother managed to acquire a pair of well-made period shoes and a leather sutton-hoo pouch for about $50. The last day of such events is also a good time to hit up the merchants for deals. Many of them would prefer to sell their product for a slightly lower price than pack it up and haul it home. Also remember that even though these merchants are a bit more formal than the SCA yardsale types, they are still often open to a bit of haggling, especially if you are buying several objects.<br />
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One last piece of advice when looking to buy things is to do you research in advance. Know what sorts of objects would be appropriate for your persona so that you don't need to replace them later, and get feedback from other people about the seller. At a major event like Pennsic, it is worth asking more experienced SCAdians to guide you around the merchant area to help make sure that you buy the right thing from the right person at the right price.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-87263252893120431852013-02-19T18:04:00.000-08:002014-03-08T11:25:09.398-08:00SCA on a Budget<b>Introduction:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The up-front costs of getting involved in a historical group such as the SCA can be pretty high. As a newcomer, you will, at the very least, need garb, but you will furthermore need armor if you want to fight, tools if you want to get involved in crafts, camping gear if you want to attend some events, etc. The costs of these things can add up quickly, which by itself can be stressful, but this is compounded by the sense of urgency of feeling that you are behind or that you cannot participate until you have acquired all of these things. This time crunch often compels newcomers to buy or make things as quickly and as cheaply as possible, but this is a mistake. Such early purchases are often quite wasteful, resulting in the acquisition of gear and equipment that isn't pretty, isn't medieval, and sometimes isn't even useful.<br />
<b><br /></b>I have created this series of web posts in order to help newcomers to overcome some of these initial hurdles. One of the greatest strengths of the SCA is that members love to help out newcomers, but this help can be a two-edged sword. Newcomers are often overloaded with information by their local group, by members of online forums, etc; however they typically do not have a good way of determining which information is good and which information is bad (And plenty of it is just plain bad). I found that combating misinformation (provided by very well-meaning people) was quite frustrating and decided that I needed to put together a comprehensive, straightforward, and high-quality resource to help guide newcomers through putting together their first garb, armor, camping gear, etc. To be clear, the goal of this series is not to contain all of the medieval crafting knowledge ever. Instead, the goal is to simplify the process of researching and assembling a high-quality, but simple medieval outfit. In other words, when a newcomer comes to me and asks, "What should I do about garb?" I want them to be able to follow the instructions on this site to make an outfit that they can be proud of, that will look and feel medieval, and will last them for several years.<br />
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So, who is this guide for? Well, obviously I'd love it if every newcomer would have the chance to read it (at least, once it's finished), but I think the primary audience is people with little historical costuming experience regardless of sewing experience. My goal for many of these guides will be to allow people with almost no patterning, assembly, sewing experience to follow them. The other audience that I hope will give these guides a chance are people who have minimal interest in historical costuming and sewing, such as the stereotypical "stick jock" of the SCA. For those individuals, I hope that this guide will show them how cool medieval clothing can look and that it will demonstrate that accurate clothing is neither harder nor more expensive than medievaloid alternatives. Finally I hope that these guides will demonstrate how accurate medieval clothing (and armor) works better in many cases than modern alternatives.<br />
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With these objectives and target audiences in mind, let us begin by discussing our design principles. In project management, there's a saying, "You can have it cheap, fast, or good. Pick two." This is certainly true of putting together your gear and kit for the SCA. However, in many cases, we emphasize the first two principles (cheap and fast) over the last one (good). The effects of this should be obvious, shoddily constructed gear that doesn't look medieval, doesn't hold up to wear & tear, or even worse, simply doesn't work. So, my first admonishment is to instead strike a balance between these three design principles when you approach making/buying your gear.<br />
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<b>Keep it Cheap:</b> I should state here that purchasing all of your gear is certainly an option, but in general it is cheaper to make things yourself. There are caveats to this of course, as some things require special skills and equipment that actually make buying them a better option. While I will be focusing on tutorials throughout this series, I will also include suggested merchants who make quality products at a reasonable price. The main ways to keep costs down are to shop around and look for sales, avoid wasting materials, don't buy things you don't need, keep things simple at first, and finally, to borrow tools and expertise when possible.<br />
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<b>Do it Fast: </b>The focus of this series is on tutorials to help you make things for yourself, so I should state outright that this is going to take some time. I often tell my friends to avoid sewing on a deadline, but I think this is true of most crafts, especially when you're new at them. Rushing through projects is a good way to waste materials, to spend a lot of time with a seam ripper, and to end up with mediocre stuff. So, instead of rushing, we will focus on planning. This series will keep the time-cost as low as possible by pointing out short-cuts, keeping the projects simple and modular, and by prioritizing more essential pieces. Finally, in some cases, striking a balance between time and cost will cause me to recommend the purchase of key pieces of equipment.<br />
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<b>Make it Good:</b> At the end of the day, the SCA is in many ways a medieval dress-up party, not a reenactment group. However, what's the point in a medieval dress-up party if you're not wearing medieval clothing? Fortunately for us, accurate medieval clothing doesn't have to be hard, it doesn't need to cost a lot of money, and in most cases, we can replace skill with power tools (sewing machines are really good at making evenly spaced stitches). The tutorials in this series will show you how to dress like a medieval person using layers of simple, well-constructed garments and appropriate accessories.<br />
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Before you get started, it is worth putting together a plan. Such a plan will include the following steps that will help you to determine how to balance between the three design principles of cost, speed, and quality.<br />
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<br /></div>
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<b>Determine Your Interests and Budget: </b>It is important to start from reasonable expectations and with a full understanding of what you will need. Obviously every SCAdian needs garb, but if you're interested in fighting in armor or rapier, shooting archery, playing music, etc those interests will change the amount and type of the gear you need. Furthermore, your finances are going to determine how much you need to make yourself and what you can buy. If you just need garb, for instance, and have a budget of $500, you can probably just buy what you need to look super spiffy (As long as you make good choices. You can spend a lot of money on crap.). If your budget is more like $100, we might need to get creative. Furthermore, it might be the case that you have to consider budget over time. You might not have $150 cash right away, but could set aside $20/month for a while. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Decide What You Want To Look Like: </b>Ultimately, looking good while dressed as a medieval person is about making choices and the first big choice you need to make is what you want to look like. I recommend choosing a persona that strikes a balance between what you want to wear and what you can afford to wear (money, skill, time). Likewise, I suggest that once you pick a persona that you stick with it (at least until you have the money, skills, and time to change it). This is for three reasons. First, having a complete and coherent look is the most important and easiest way to look good. Mixing and matching clothes or armor from different time periods looks more Mad Max than medieval. Second, it is ultimately cheaper to stick with a single period. Eventually you'll end up wanting more garb, especially if you end up going to something like Pennsic. It will be cheaper to make more clothing from the same period, because this will allow you to mix and match outfits as well as re-use accessories. You don't want to find yourself needing shoes for when you dress Tudor, another for when you dress Viking, and yet another for when you dress like a Crusader. This gets expensive fast. Finally, as you work within a single place/time period, you'll start to understand its aesthetic. This will help you in future projects and will allow you to phase in increasingly better pieces as your gear wears out, stops fitting, etc. </div>
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<b>Decide What You Can/Want To Make: </b>The big question here is what are you realistically able and willing to make, and what do you need to buy? For the most part, making things yourself can save on cash, but time is also valuable. If you hate sewing, it might be worth your money to commission someone to make you clothing. Likewise, some pieces of gear, especially armor, either cannot be made at home (like rapier swords), require more tools than you realistically can get, or will require skills/time that you don't have. The precise balance of these factors will depend largely on your budget and other resources. As an example, I will typically recommend that newcomers who want to fight heavy simply buy a helmet. Most helmets are going to require some welding, so that's not a reasonable thing to expect to make on your own. Furthermore, I also recommend that newcomers simply purchase elbow and knee cops. They aren't terribly difficult to make, but they are also not terribly expensive to buy, which means that the time and effort spent making them is probably worth simply buying them unless your budget is super small or you're really interested in making armor. When it comes to clothing, shoes are a similar example. Typically leather needs to be bought by the hide, and shoes require a few different thicknesses of leather, so you'd end up buying 3 hides of leather in order to make a single pair of shoes. Furthermore, shoes are a bit complicated and poorly fitting shoes = pain and suffering. At the same time, you can get a reasonable pair of period looking shoes for around $60, so for most, it's a better choice to simply buy them. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Plan Ahead: </b>Once you've decided what you're going to make, it's time to plan out how you're going to do it. Figure out what materials and tools you will need, and make a plan to acquire them. You'll probably end up needing to buy your materials, but you can often find other SCAdians who are willing to loan you their tools or allow you to come over to their house to use them. Keep in mind that many projects end up using the same materials, so sometimes it is better to buy in bulk. Furthermore, when buying things on the internet, consider buying all of what you need from the same place at the same time to save on shipping. White linen, for instance, gets used not only for shirts/under tunics, but also for braies, coifs, linings, padded arming garments, etc. You should calculate what you need and buy that all at once to save on shipping. Some places also offer bulk discounts when you order fabric by the bolt, for instance. <b> </b>Knowing what you need and when you'll need it will allow you to shop around, look for sales and discounts, and help you put your gear together in a reasonable time frame.</div>
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Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-2742180076601056042010-10-01T09:41:00.000-07:002010-10-01T09:41:59.274-07:00A few youtube videos for your viewing pleasureLast night at practice I promised Master Eldred a few youtube videos, particularly this one with a lesson on fencing with a buckler.<br />
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Part 1: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxCsoAFMNO0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxCsoAFMNO0</a><br />
Part 2: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxgVcCbEO0M&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxgVcCbEO0M&feature=related</a><br />
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A lesson on gaining the blade & mechanical advantage: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij2D4NRXyH4&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij2D4NRXyH4&feature=related</a><br />
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Italian lunge: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiA6kOZbIGg&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiA6kOZbIGg&feature=related</a><br />
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These are fairly basic lessons that I think are pretty good. There are a few videos of Tom Leoni I found while getting these links that I'll have to check out and write about in the future.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-39683369448921147252010-10-01T09:33:00.000-07:002010-10-01T09:33:31.940-07:00A project listWell, it seems I've finally gotten past the post-Pennsic not working on projects phase.<br />
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My current project is my first landsknecht outfit. I've started on the shirt, and we'll see how the pleated collar goes. Its proven a bit more complicated than my previous shirts and I'm trying to decide whether to finish it with a neck band or a cable stitch. I suppose I'll get lots of practice with these because I've promised to help Jlona make her shirts/chemises and the Hungarian shirts seem to work the same way.<br />
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It will hopefully end up something like this: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMVttcBtyiY0xyM1IRgD8WS5NZw-Djyzv5wzFxmwRHBePD4WLf0r6doEUFvn3f95CpiH4JuLnJC4o9nJd5jvPtY6W1BCunTcyWXIsx6mmMNhnrbGCmkjP0AKtJCtNRT3pNcEn6HQlH8w/s1600-h/DSCF3051.jpg">https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMVttcBtyiY0xyM1IRgD8WS5NZw-Djyzv5wzFxmwRHBePD4WLf0r6doEUFvn3f95CpiH4JuLnJC4o9nJd5jvPtY6W1BCunTcyWXIsx6mmMNhnrbGCmkjP0AKtJCtNRT3pNcEn6HQlH8w/s1600-h/DSCF3051.jpg</a><br />
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My goal is to have my landsknecht kit ready for Ymir, as it will be one of the few events I might need/want to wear a bunch of felted wool. I'm partial to some of the outfits in this series of illustrations: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliodyssey/3247167359/in/set-72157613230877937/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliodyssey/3247167359/in/set-72157613230877937/</a><br />
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If I get particularly ambitious, I might start working on an arming doublet as well this weekend. The inside of my arms got a little chewed up by the strap at heavy practice the other day.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-16542168318523909282010-09-30T08:40:00.000-07:002010-09-30T08:40:47.698-07:00A drill for all ages...I mentioned in my last post that I was looking for some drills that will be useful for new fencers and that I can use to instruct them while also improving my own fencing. Mattheu and Connor lent me a few suggestions about ways to do this that basically boil down to working on the basics while also forcing myself to use perfect form, perform perfect attacks, and keep myself perfectly safe.<br />
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Purpose: The general idea is to learn to identify both your own and your opponent's openings. For more advanced fencers, really focus on using proper form, properly gaining and controlling your opponent's sword.<br />
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The concept: If we break down the lines, we basically have high, low; inside and out. At any given time, we can protect 2 or maybe 3 of these with our rapier and off-hand, but our guard necessitates leaving one line open.<br />
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If we understand this, then we can do a few things:<br />
1.) Identify that opening in our own guard<br />
2.) Be prepared to defend that opening<br />
3.) Use that opening as an invitation<br />
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We can also use this knowledge to help identify our opponent's openings which will allow us to:<br />
1.) Identify the openings in our opponents guard<br />
2.) Use this information to direct our blows<br />
3.) Use this information to understand how our opponent must parry<br />
4.) Use this information to engage in useful feints<br />
5.) Control the fight by controlling our opponent's defense<br />
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So, we want a drill that will teach new fencers points 1 and 2, while allowing more experienced fencers to work on 3, 4, and 5. This drill is performed with the understanding that if pairs are at different skill levels, the fencers will be playing completely different games.<br />
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Drill:<br />
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A pair of fencers take their guard against each other (in armor). The first fencer (A) identifies the opening in their guard, then enlarges it. The second fencer (B) uses that information to strike. While performing this attack, fencer B MUST be sure to gain the blade, close the line, and deliver a good lunge (or pass, etc). Fencer B gets only one attack and fencer A must properly defend and may deliver a blow if B leaves an opening.<br />
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After each attempt, fencers/instructors may provide feedback before switching roles.<br />
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Variations: change the guards around, add secondary weapons/parrying devices<br />
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Newer fencers will probably be focused on finding the hole, exploiting the hole while more experienced fencers can focus on creating an invitation, feints, and on using perfect form.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-43310250173438101262010-09-27T08:41:00.000-07:002010-09-27T08:43:55.200-07:00Armored, sharpened, and ready to go...I managed to get most of my armor strapped up for practice last week, but I still have a few pieces left to go (helm included). I took a shot to the thumb last week and considering how much it still hurts, I think that fighting tomorrow night is probably a bad idea, so no heavy for me this week.<br />
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Last weekend was Midnight at the Oasis, and that went pretty well. I made it to the final round in the single elim tourney, but then lost to Ilaria. Due to the number of people in the bracket, it was a 3-way final, so we did something a bit different. After the match with Ilaria, she and I took on Connor together. We ended up losing 2-1 (it was best of 3), but it was a fun bout.<br />
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After the tourney, Letia fought her prize (congrats!)<br />
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Melee in the afternoon was a pretty cool scenario, but almost everybody was wiped out from the heat. We did a few runs before people really started dropping out, and so we ended a bit early.<br />
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I talked with Mattheu afterwards about some things to work on while doing slow work drills with new fencers. His advice boiled down to making sure I'm doing everything perfectly while I fight them. One of my main problems has been actually using appropriate footwork/staying in the guard I want while fighting, and so I have been working on making sure I do that while fighting newer fencers, but Mattheu suggested I do the same with attacks and parries. That is, that I should be sure to attack safely (i.e. from their blade), force openings.<br />
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I also got some suggestions on how to simplify teaching new fighters to attack from Connor. Basically, all guards cover some areas and leave others open. Fighters should be aware of where their own openings are as well as the openings of their opponent. Perhaps for this week I'll come up with a drill to make use of that.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-59835839673624409062010-09-13T08:50:00.000-07:002010-09-13T08:50:48.203-07:00Drills for New FencersWe've had quite a few new fencers at practices these days. With the 40 for XL thing going on, their Excellencies, Master Nikulai, and Master Eldred have all picked up a rapier. On top of that, we've had a few other new fencers with Jason, Sean, and Jlona all coming out to practices as well. Last night we had 6 new fencers and 7 authorized fencers. Giovan started everyone off with some drills, while Wistric gave Sean the "first practice run-down" of how everything works.<br />
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After drills I did a few passes with Jason before moving on to work with Master Nikulai. He wanted me to write up a few drills to help with basic stance and footwork, so here they are:<br />
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Drill 1:<br />
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Purpose: to learn to assume guard in a single motion<br />
Optional Equipment: rapier, dowel/stick<br />
(instructions are for right handed fighter)<br />
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First stand upright with feet parallel and together. Turn your left foot 90 degrees so that your right toe is pointed forward and your left is pointed to the left.<br />
Optional: place stick or dowel between the feet pointing forward. You can use this as a guide to keep your<br />
feet in line and maintain separation.<br />
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Place your right hand (with or without sword) on your left side like you would if you were to be holding the sword while its in its scabbard.<br />
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Now, in a single motion, extend your arm as if drawing the sword, placing your hand in guard and step forward with your right foot to assume an appropriate fencing stance. Be sure to do this in a single motion and to make sure you are balanced immediately. You want to be settled into guard immediately without having to shift around.<br />
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Notes: Appropriate fencing stance<br />
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Right foot should be straight forward, left foot turned 90 degrees towards left. Feet should be approximately 1 1/2 foot lengths apart. Legs should be bent slightly and weight distributed roughly evenly between your legs.<br />
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Upper body should be upright as if your spine is being suspended from a string. You don't want to be leaning forward. The right shoulder should be towards the front with the chest turned in the direction of your left toe. Right arm should be out in guard as if holding the sword. Head should be facing front.<br />
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Drill 2:<br />
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Purpose: Practice advance, retreat, dissociate hand and foot movement<br />
Optional Equipment: sword, dowel or stick to place between feet to keep them in line.<br />
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First assume your guard. Then, carry out the following movements:<br />
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Extend your arm, advance<br />
Recover your arm, advance<br />
Extend your arm, retreat<br />
Recover your arm retreat<br />
RepeatGawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411160615301755144.post-27095245508717105852010-09-10T09:38:00.000-07:002010-09-10T09:38:33.488-07:0040 for Pennsic XLAt Pennsic this year, I got a little drunk at the Baron's Beer Bash and came up with an awful idea. Next year is Pennsic 40, and so I thought it would be awesome to have 40 fencers from Windmaster's Hill. I proceeded to tell their excellencies this idea which ended up in the plan being 40 fencers, 40 heavy fighters, and 40 A&S exhibits for Pennsic XL. 40 for XL as it were.<br />
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Since this is all my fault, I'm going to be doing all three. Fencing has pretty much been my thing in the SCA, so I've got that one covered. While I do dabble in making things and have managed decent garb in this last year, I'm going to need to improve my sewing and brewing this year in order to make something I want to submit for an A&S exhibit next year. Perhaps that would be an opportunity to make the buckler I've been planning? As for heavy fighting, I already have most of the armor I need, and I've started showing up on Tuesdays to let his Excellency beat me with a stick for coming up with such a crazy idea.Gawinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15517034999103720630noreply@blogger.com0