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- Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
- Path: sparky!uunet!paladin.american.edu!darwin.sura.net!rsg1.er.usgs.gov!news.cs.indiana.edu!mikes@moose.cs.indiana.edu
- From: "Michael Squires" <mikes@moose.cs.indiana.edu>
- Subject: Re: Aluminum Armour (was Re: HELP WANTED RE KINGDOM AWARDS)
- Message-ID: <1992Dec22.085845.28693@news.cs.indiana.edu>
- Summary: Leather armor is easier
- Keywords: armor
- Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
- References: <DOCONNOR.92Dec20095044@potato.sedona.intel.com> <1992Dec20.175004.16679@midway.uchicago.edu> <DOCONNOR.92Dec20223250@potato.sedona.intel.com>
- Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 08:58:37 -0500
- Lines: 27
-
- I made some "couir bouilli" arm harnesses a decade ago out of 4 oz leather
- hardened in paraffin with huge amounts of candle hardener added. When the
- armor was a couple of years old I blocked a polearm shot from Sir Varian
- the Grey with my left forearm; the polearm shaft sheared neatly in two,
- and the armor had a small scratch on it. Sir Varian was very irritated
- with me for wrecking a wonderful weapon, which was the major casualty.
-
- Hardened leather does not last well in hot climates, as the paraffin will
- soften in temperatures reached inside a parked car in the sun. Here in
- the Middle and East it works well.
-
- I've worn articulated steel leg harnesses with a very small greave
- for over a decade, and attribute my lack of knee problems to regular
- exercise with weights and the reinforcement that a tightly made
- steel leg harness gives to the knee (direct shots to the knee are
- transmitted back to the cuisse and greave and do not touch the knee).
-
- The point is that it is relatively easy to make armor using leather and
- steel in a well-equipped basement armory, as long as there is someone
- around who knows some of the tricks. This armor not only looks reasonably
- accurate but also performs very well and can be maintained in the field
- with a simple repair kit.
-
- --
-
- Mike Squires (mikes@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu) 812 855 3974 (w) 812 333 6564 (h)
- mikes@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu 546 N Park Ridge Rd., Bloomington, IN 47408
-