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Jared Smith
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 Posted: Mon 29 May, 2006 6:56 pm Post subject: popularity and period of splint armour? |
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I am interested in making some splint arm and leg armour. I have hopes that this might be a nice supplement to a hauberk and pass for some type of 12th to 13th century transition phase of kit.
I would like to know "what kind of soldier" would have used splinted arm and leg armour, and around what time period.
An example is the Icefalcon Armoury models that the call "Rondell" style. I don't get any internet search results when I try looking up examples by this name.
http://icefalcon.safeshopper.com/2/67.htm?531
Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence!
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Jeff Kauffeldt
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 64
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| Posted: Tue 30 May, 2006 4:49 am Post subject: |
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A less wealthy knight or man-at-arms between 1325 and 1375, maby longer in eastern eourope.This style is rather distinct to the 14th century. Here are a few examples.
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James Barker
Location: Ashburn VA Joined: 20 Apr 2005
Posts: 365
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| Posted: Wed 31 May, 2006 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Jeff Kauffeldt wrote: | | A less wealthy knight or man-at-arms between 1325 and 1375, maby longer in eastern eourope. |
Splint armor on the arms seems mainly an Eastern thing all together; more German effigies have it than anyone else. Also splinted armor of any kind is hard to find pre 1350s and post 1365 or so. English Effigies have padded cuisse with solid shinbolds far more commonly than splinted shinbolds in the 1360s and full plate legs are more common in that era than the padded cuisse shinbold combination. Effigies in the 1370s in Germany are mostly if not all plate legs.
Splinted armor seems to have a short life span of 10 to 15 year and mostly in Germany.
Also if you are interested in historical I don't know of a single armorer that makes them in a configuration like you see in those effigies. SCA armories attach SCA style knees and elbows, in the effigies they have floating elbows and knees in several styles wholly different than Ice Falcon sells or like Global Effects created. SCA folks are worried about their rules and what is easy more than history.
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Jared Smith
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| Posted: Wed 31 May, 2006 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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I wondered if splint armour is considered legal for SCA. I have not seen ratan sword combat, but figure it might reward different armour qualities than sharp swords.
Plate seems to dent. If one doesn't wish to do a lot of plannishing and hammer work, splint might not be a bad option.
I figure you could incoporate some wool or padding within the leather backing, and the splint might be pretty good for against impacts.
Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence!
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Chuck Russell
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| Posted: Wed 31 May, 2006 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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yes splint is legal in the sca
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W. Schütz
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 01 Jun, 2006 1:10 am Post subject: |
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| Jeff Kauffeldt wrote: | | A less wealthy knight or man-at-arms between 1325 and 1375, maby longer in eastern eourope.This style is rather distinct to the 14th century. Here are a few examples. |
If that armour was a girl - man i would date her!
Gentes scitote,
vicine sive remote,
quod claret Suecia
plebeque militia.
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Al Muckart
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| Posted: Thu 01 Jun, 2006 2:32 am Post subject: |
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Hi Jared,
| Jared Smith wrote: | I wondered if splint armour is considered legal for SCA. I have not seen ratan sword combat, but figure it might reward different armour qualities than sharp swords.
Plate seems to dent. If one doesn't wish to do a lot of plannishing and hammer work, splint might not be a bad option.
I figure you could incoporate some wool or padding within the leather backing, and the splint might be pretty good for against impacts. |
I fight SCA rattan combat and you're right - it does reward different armour qualities than sharp swords. Because the SCA rules are, how shall I put this, more concerned with basic safety than with serious authenticity  there is a very wide range of armour quality we see, from museum grade reproduction to hideous plastic ugliness.
There is a much much lower incidence of mail in SCA armour than you see in more focussed living history groups because it's basically useless against rattan when worn as anything other than an aventail. Mostly people go for padding in various quantities and whatever plate floats their boat. I used to fight in vambraces with formed 16ga mild steel splints which bent fairly readily. Over decent padding - some tens of layers of linen or a few layers of batting splint armour offers excellent protection against the kind of impacts you get from rattan weapons.
Because rattan flexes, it's actually hitting with less force than rebated steel would, and over a slightly larger area so it's not as hard on armour as you might expect. If we hit as hard with rebated steel as we do with rattan we'd break people and their armour.
--
Al.
http://wherearetheelves.net
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This is a standard topic