A Fighters Path
A review of armor selection, purchasing, design, construction, and appearance.
As a fighter in the SCA, ones armor is always a point of discussion and change. It seems that no matter what, either it doesn’t look right, feel right, or provide the desired protection. Here we will document a local Buckstonites journey through the purchasing, development, appearance, and protective attributes of SCA quality armor. This is by no means a definitive “how to do it” list, just a small perspective of how one person did it.
Disclaimer. These are the opinions of the author and does not reflect the opinions of Buckston-on-Eno or the SCA in general. Please direct any and all questions/concerns to the Webminister.
Hi, I’m Ragnarr. I am the local webminister and chatelaine for Buckston-on-Eno. I am starting the process of building my hard kit and getting ready for the 2016 Atlantian fighting season. I have been fighting for a few years now, but I took a break for two years to catch up on life. Now I’m back and need a new kit. Hopefully this review will help someone out there build their kit.
My persona is that of a 10th century Icelandic viking. I don’t necessarily have to have everything about my hard kit built to period specs, but I want to keep it relatively close. The general idea behind my armor design is one that will provide adequate protection and comfort, while predominately remaining hidden as vikings didn’t have a lot of shiny armor.
The beginning
So where do we start? I guess one of the most important spots to focus on is the head. After all, your opponent will focus on it and we want to ensure he has a nice shiny target!
I chose to go with a custom helm from Windrose Armoury. I went with this because of a few reasons.
- Windrose has provided armor for me in the past. It was always a quality product with excellent customer service.
- Turn around time is roughly four months, so not too bad on a custom helm
- Their design choices for custom helms are easy to follow and provide a reasonable selection.
I saw a picture of a helm they built for a previous customer and instantly fell in love. All credit here goes to Windrose as I took the image off their Facebook page.
I ordered an exact copy of this, just tuned to my head measurements. I don’t have it yet, but I should have it sometime in September. I will post a review once its received and fitted.
Total cost of this helm, pre-shipping was $910.00.
Check out Windrose. They are pretty cool and have been providing armor to the SCA for a good while.
Elbows
I recently came across an article that described hidden arm armor. I thought the article did a really good job at describing the way one could hide arm armor, as well as make it pretty functional. That article inspired me to build something like his version, just tweeked a bit for my own personal tastes. Check out the page though for more information on how he did it. Custom Chainmail Hidden Armor
I again, went with windrose for my elbows. I had a pair of these previously and they worked great. They also seem to fit the bill for creating the previously mentioned arms.
These bad boys will run you around $65.00 pre shipping, but are well made and worth the money. I wanted to keep stainless steel to help with rust prevention as I live in a fairly humid and wet climate. You may be able to work with mild where you are at, just a matter of preference. Below is a pic from the custom chainmail site that shows the general end result I am going for.
I’m hoping that the elbow pad will maintain a level of security without having to add all kinds of straps. Time will tell on that one. I should receive these in the mail sometime this week, and will post pictures of my actual pair once received.
Click here for details on elbow and arm construction
(all picture credit goes to the original author)
