Arms and Armour and My Estate
armor, armour, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms unit18nate
3:28 pm
worn out armour
I’ve been back in the Society for Creative Anachronisms for almost a year now after several years of very low activity. When I started participating again I felt it wouldn’t be all that hard to step back into the organization because I had all my old clothing and armour and other equipment. Unfortunately my old gear was not in as good a shape as I hoped. Some of it needed replaced and most of it needed repair. Another factor that made things difficult was the fact that I was no longer a new member. My personal standards for authenticity are higher which made getting my gear back together more difficult.
The SCA is an interesting organization in that it allows it’s members to “play at their own pace”. The minimal standards for historic impression is set extremely low. The armour standards are based primarily around safety concerns. The basic guideline for authenticity in the Society is “a reasonable attempt at pre-17th century” which is interpreted pretty loosely Society wide. In the past this has allowed the SCA to attract a wide variety of participants who could then improve their own impressions of their “medieval” persona as they saw fit. I’m not sure that’s the case these days but that’s not a topic for this article.
The last time I was highly active in the SCA I had a very advanced “soft kit” (clothing) and a somewhat advanced “hard kit” (arms and armour). My soft kit was good enough I could have participated on the basic level of a number of living history groups. To be honest I would have not been able to participate on the level of the best groups but I was up to standards for basic living history. My hard kit was getting there and was certainly a pretty nice SCA kit. I at least looked basically like what my persona would have looked like. You could look at my kit and tell I was portraying an early to mid 14th century northern European with the exception of some modifications to meet SCA safety standards like the bar grill on my bassinet and my mitten gauntlets.
The problem I’m having now is that I need to so serious repairs to my armour which maintaining not only my own standards of authenticity but my ability to take the field. I don’t want to stop fighting for very long or at all but I don’t want my standards to back slide either. I do have the advantage of having a lot of spare parts for my armour but I still only have one full kit so the fact that it’s warn out is still a problem. I am working on a basic 2nd crusade kit which I can probably get together but my early 14th century kit is going to require a complete re-working. Ideally I’ll be able to improve on my main kit as I repair it but like I said I don’t want to be off the field for long.
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100 Knights 100 Fights.
armor, armour, Calontir, chivalry, knight, knights, medieval, quest, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms, squire, swords, tournament of the horse and falcon unit18nate
2:48 pm
I attended the Tournament of the Horse and Falcon this weekend in the Barony of Forgotten Sea, Calontir. The tournament itself was great. It’s a five man melee tournament fought as a round robin so pleanty of fighting and there were just enough teams to make a good tournament and be able to finish. On the seccond day of the events I got armoured up early and went looking for pickups. I found Baron Wulfrick on the list field and asked he if he would participate in my quest. He agreed and we had a good training session. I think I’m improving a bit as I work on this quest and I think it’s already helping my fighting.
Thank you Baron Wulfrick for taking the time to help me with my quest!
p.s. sorry about the video quality. I’m having trouble with my software.
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Events
armor, armour, Calontir, knight, knights, medieval, quest, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms, squire, swords, tournament unit18nate
11:35 pm
Well I made it out to an event finally. Life kept getting in the way of my other travels. Unfortunately there were no knights so I could not advance my quest but we did manage to do a little fighting at the event. I also shot a little archery which I rarely get a chance to do. The feast was excellent. Some of the best tasting dishes I’ve had in the SCA.
Origionally I was going to go to Saint George in Oak Heart but I had some friends who wanted to go to an event but could only day trip so I chose the even 45 minutes away rather than almost three hours away.
Here is a video I made at the event.
Next event is Melees and Madness which should give me more oppertunities to advance my quest.
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Newbie Knightly
armor, armour, chivalry, knight, knights, medieval, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms, tournament unit18nate
11:09 pm
$80 Great Helm
Recently there has been some discussion on the Armour Archive about some changes being made to the SCA rules of the list regarding covering blatantly modern material and equipment. The usual arguments have cropped up about how hard and expensive it is for people like the much lamented “poor college student” to put together a nice looking harness. Apparently some folks even think a tunic and baggy pants are too far out reach for these poor kids. Many of the regular member think this is a stretch.
Violen, an archive member, issued this challenge.
Any reasonable hobby has a price point to enter. The SCA is no different. If your having trouble figuring out how your going to cover your basic needs like keeping a roof over your head or feeding yourself then taking up a new hobby probably isn’t such a hot idea. It has been my experience that getting started in a typical hobby usually runs a minimum of $200-$500. That’s a fairly decent budget for a starter kit and there is no reason that starter kit can’t look decent with a little extra research and effort. If you scrounge a bit you can even trim that.
I recently picked up a helm (the one pictured above) from another Armour Archive member Hjalmr for $80.00. It’s a very basic early 14th century great helm which should be suitable for creating a knightly impression from the first quarter or so of the century. I’m planning to build a “knightly” looking kit around it for about $100 minus the gauntlets. When I’m done I will add in the price of the helm and gauntlets for a total harness cost.
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My Camp and My Estate
anvil, blacksmith, Calontir, forge, medieval, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms unit18nate
2:59 pm
Well yesterday I went down to visit Clay at Funguy Forge and make some things. I’ve known Clay since highschool. We both went to school at Warsaw High School in Warsaw, Missouri. Clay has an amazing blacksmith shop with all kinds tools for metal and wood working.
I was originally going to work on a set of plate arms while I was there but instead I decided to make some new tent stakes for my double bell wedge tent. Not the most impressive project but I really needed to replace the ugly green plastic topped stakes I’ve been using. I spent about four hours making 24 stakes while Clay worked on more interesting projects. I got to see a lot of his recent work up close including a beautiful lock he is making for a client.
We also made a handle and buckle for my new shield. All in all a very productive day in the shop.
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Heraldry and Heraldic Display
Calontir, heraldry, knight, knights, medieval, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms unit18nate
3:05 pm
I am trying to figure out my heraldry which has always been a problem for me. The problem is that I like making heraldic designs for fun. I could do it all day long. That makes it hard to make up my mind concerning my own heraldry. I’ve never submitted my own heraldry for exactly that reason. Over the years I’ve gone through several concepts but I’ve never actually be able to settle on one.
I drew out these heraldic thumbnails last night based on some concepts I’ve been working on. Currently I am leaning towards to bottom two because they feel more medieval to me. The top four are a bit too blatantly “Scottish” and using obvious national symbology in your persona’s heraldry is something a lot of SCA members do so I am not too keen on those. I do feel they are still solid designs I just don’t think I am going to go with them.
Hopefully I can get something figured out because I would like to get my device and name submitted by the end of April.
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My Camp and My Estate
Calontir, camp, chivalry, medieval, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms, squire, tent, Tentsmiths unit18nate
1:23 am
About a decade ago I purchased a 10’x18.5’x8′ Medieval Double Bell Wedged Tent from Tentsmiths. Despite the fact that it has spent a good deal of that time in storage the tent is in excellent condition. I have never had a mold or mildew problem with this tent and this is the first time I have had it up in over five years. Unfortunately this tent represents my entire camp at the moment. I use to have a bed and a couple benches but I don’t have those any longer. Currently my plan is to replace those items and add several other items. First up will probably be iron stakes unstead of the modern stakes I’m currently using. I will also soon be adding some kind of rugs or ground cover. I want to make some break down stools and a break down tressle table.
Eventually I will probably be buying a much larger tent because my family has outgrown this one for anything but small events. I’m going to keep this one however because it is very easy to put up and I do sometimes go to events by myself and it will be good for those events.
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100 Knights 100 Fights.
armor, armour, Calontir, chivalry, knight, knights, medieval, quest, SCA, Society for Creative Anachronisms, squire, swords unit18nate
3:19 am
I’ve known Syr Reimond for quite some time and even before he was knighted I saw him as an excellent example of knightly virtue. I come from a small shire and we have rarely had Knights at our fighter practice but of late we have been trying to get people from other groups to come down and fight with us. Syr Reimond visited our group this last weekend and gave us all some training time. He even loaned my brother and law half his harness so that he could fight for the first time. Since I have been too busy to attend an event in a while I was glad to have the oppertunity to get another fight in for my quest.
Thank you Syr Reimond!
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Arms and Armour and My Estate
armor, armour, chivalry, knight, knights, medieval, squire, tournament unit18nate
2:52 pm
In an effort to get prepared for this war and tournament season I decided to take stock of my armour. Not just what I am wearing on the field at the time but also the “best” pieces I have in my inventory. Of course there are several piece here that are not padded or strapped but they could be set up fairly easily. With any luck I’ll have at least an extra harness or two put together by the end of this year so I can provide armour to some of my noble cousins that have not yet acquired theirs.
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Literature
chivalry, knight, knights, medieval, squire unit18nate
9:32 pm
I picked up a copy of “The Last Duel” by Eric Jager about two years ago. It’s an account of the last judicial duel in France which took place in 1386. When I picked up the book I read about half way through it then it got away from me.
I was recently speaking to Sir Reimonde (Calontir) who reminded me of the book during a conversation about different text and tales on Knighthood. I remembered how interesting the tale was so I decided to pick it up again and give it another go. I’m about half way through the 2nd chaper now and I can’t figure out why I ever set the book down in the first place.
The book is a well written account and an excellent source of insight into the life of lower nobility in the late medieval period. I can’t wait to finish it!
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A Squire's Tale 