[William P]

Hi, ive done some research into 13th century knightly solid defenses and the idea of baleen whalebone plates on gauntlets is something i have seen referenced a few times

the questions is, has anyone had any luck making these? and how hard is it to purchase baleen (i live in australia)

not to mention that interestingly s 1461 inventory audit of sir john rastolf mentiones '24 shields of elm, 2 of whalebone and also 'for great crossbows of steel, two of whalebone four of yew.

[Mark Griffin]

Best of luck. This has been an idea of many for a while but unless you are a Japanese whaling fleet engaged in 'scientific' hunting then your options are limited. And as the whole industry is either tightly controlled or downright illegal...

I've always said the best place to go is an old whaling station and have a rummage. Your best bet for that is the South Georgia heritage trust who run the museum there. sghtdirectorsg@sght.org wil get them. But even if you get some, you'll need to import it and wil fall fould of the cites legislation. Its tough enough getting some humans into Australia, goodness only knows about bits of cetacean...

If I was being pragmantic then i'd say a decent polypropylene waster bears not a great deal of difference to a whalebone sword and one a decent grip plus the silver leaf is on who would know the difference?

As for the sheild, well there are plenty that have horn plates and its a close enough substance. Or you could search for ivoreene, the synthetic ivory. That would make a pretty blingy targe.

[Jeffrey Faulk]

Yeah, you are not going to be able to get legal baleen pretty much anywhere except via some very limited channels. You might be able to travel to Japan and buy some there, but you wouldn't be able to legally bring it into your country if they're CITES signatories. I suggest exploring contemporary alternatives. Try looking up modern plans for Victorian fashion such as corsets and bustles; whalebone was used in those, and you can probably find suggestions for replacements that will perform in a similar fashion. Light gauge spring steel, perhaps.

[Raman A]

Unfortunately because you live in Australia it complicates matters. I'm not sure what the Australian laws are. I know that Alaskan Natives are still allowed to harvest whales and sell their parts

http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/protectedresources/buying.htm

[Mart Shearer]

Keratin based plastics (usually made from chicken feathers) are becoming available due to their biodegradability.
http://www.easternbioplastics.com/index.html

There are also references to whalebone gorgets at Bouvines in 1214, and sword at the Tournament at Windsor Park in 1278. The problem being that we still have no definitive evidence of the appearance of various armors using baleen. It might have been sandwiched between fabric like corset "boning" of the same material, cut into riveted plates and riveted to a base, or cut into scales, etc...

[Mick Jarvis]

dig some up.

illegal and you will be stuffed in they caught you.

but I do know there was a while buried at Stockton beach (Newcastle NSW) quite a few years ago

[William P]

https://www.academia.edu/7637068/_Using_and_Abusing_Medieval_Whales_Leeds_Medieval_Congress_2014_Roundable heres an article on the use of baleen and, apparently the abuse of whales as well in the medieval period

and apparently the whalebone crossbow was used in composite bows, and made pretty much identically to most composite crossbows.

[Michael B.]

I love this subject. Living in Alaska I know where to get piles and piles of legal baleen, and count a couple natives among friends that could craft away to their hearts content. I've seriously been playing around with the idea of recreating some of the armor and practice weapons that are talked about for experiments. There's a building near me that's has piles of whales bones and ivory, which I actually legally use in some of my knives, and they have stacks upon stacks of baleen. Maybe I'll make this my winter experimental archaeology project?

A spotter this last year waiting for a whale breach.

Waiting by Michael K. Bergstrom, on Flickr

First whale in:

"Food for the Winter" (163/366) by Michael K. Bergstrom, on Flickr

[Mark Griffin]

Its an interesting moral dilemma too. Low-level hunting by indigenous natives with 'traditional' methods should be ok but my head also says that still has the potential for cruelty. Trying to remove my 21st cent existence from the equation is hard.

I have a bollock knife here with an elephant ivory handle. The material was in a pile of materal in a retiring cutlers workshop and was going to have to be disposed of but we decided that would be a waste. But despite being a thing of beauty pretty sure I'm on the wrong side of the law there.

But there again I was once spotted clearing a european badger off a road (it was a huge dead male and would have caused a car crash) by two cops and told that was illegal too. Didnt help I was in full winter survival gear, balaclava, korean war surplus stuff so must have looked like a mad survivalist. Not many of them in S England. Had been tending a kiln till 4 in the morning so wrapped up warm. I'd love a whalebone sword as another handling and practical use item but there are modern substitutes just as good I think.

[Mark Griffin]

aha!

http://www.ivoryalternative.com/

[Mike Janis]

You might be able to legally buy some from an Icelandic source. Iceland still whales, sells some of the meat locally and some to Japan. FWIW, Minke whale sucks, it is rubbery and doesn’t have much flavor.