Gauntlets -- myArmoury.com

Christopher VaughnStrever · Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject: Gauntlets

I am trying to find a good pair of gauntlets. Until recently I had decided to buy from the Mercenary's Tailor. http://www.merctailor.com/catalog/images/Fingered%20gauntlets.JPG
However upon looking closer at them I am not too sure any more. I am seeking help from the fine people here. What i am looking for is web sites and/or prices/Pics of your gauntlets that you have acquired, and how well they perform. If there is restriction as there should not be or too much articulation. I have tried to look around myself but I seem to keep comming across the same gauntlets online.

I am looking for any style and century as long as the metal is a 16 gauge(body of gauntlets) and 18 gauge(finger lames) I would prefer a thicker gauge though I myself only found 1 12 gauge pair, though I would have to wait till march of next year to get them and that is if I paid for them now>< So a no go for that. But really, any help is truly appreciated and I know some of you have some sweet stuff ^^

Jeff Kaisla · Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject:

Chris, I'm encountering much the same problem. I've already bought a pair of gauntlets off e-bay that turned out to be duds. I couldnt even grip a weapon. The ones I am currently looking at are these http://darksword-armory.com/1706.html .

They are 16 and 18 guage but I've been talking to them and they will do a set in all 16 for $75 extra. Maybe they will go thicker if you ask. I still have to find out if the finger plates are riveted on to strips of leather then sewn on to gloves and not just riveted directly onto the gloves. Unless I find something else in the next month....these are my next purchase. If you're interested ...I'll let you know how they perform.

I don't know if you're familiar with Dark Sword, but they are renowned for their extremely durable, if not all that historically accurate, swords, so my hopes are high on these ones.

Kelly Powell · Posted: Fri 27 Jun, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject:

try to find the guys who are making spring steel gauntlets......after forming them they immerse them in a molten salt.....light as aluminum and are a groovy blur/black....I believe a gentleman in oklahoma(ansteorra) is making the best for your buck...I'll ask around armor archive and get back to you.

Christopher VaughnStrever · Posted: Sun 29 Jun, 2008 3:26 pm Post subject:

Jeff and Kelly, yes please do keep me updated I would be very interested in both items

David E. Farrell · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 9:31 am Post subject:

Spring steel gaunts (and whatever else you can afford) are the way to go, but you will likely have to pay a fair amount for them (unless you don't mind picking up a set that aren't historical or aren't custom fitted). They won't always be blue/black - that is an additional finishing process ('bluing') that produces that color.

I have found the following folks who do semi-custom or pre-build work by searching over at the Armour Archive (some very knowledgeable folks over there, imagine some of them are here too)... but not all of them do spring steel work:
http://members.aol.com/knightsarmoury/knightsarmoury.htm
http://www.madmattsarmory.com/
http://wildarmoury.com/
http://armourandcastings.com/

Or you could go the custom route, but that gets a bit tricky and expensive. I am trying to commission some pieces through a fellow in Poland, and would recommend posting to the Armour Archive looking for specific information before going down that road (can be rather long).

Do you have any specific idea of what you want (style, how historical, etc)? - knowing that will help provide some more advice

Matt Edwards · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 4:10 pm Post subject: i

I would watch out with ordering fingers from anyone over seas. If they dont work right then your stuck with them. If there in the states then you will have no problam takeing care of getting them fixed up (most of the time). And the guys at knights armoury are not takeing commissions right now. Mad matt is a good armourer but he is new at makeing finger gaunts. You would be mad matts 2nd or 3rd person that i know of that orderd fingers from him. If i were to order finger gaunts i would order from shamrockarmory.com or icefalcon.con if i had the money.

Jeff Kaisla · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 4:39 pm Post subject:

Thanks for that link David, these are a great lookin pair of gauntlets.
http://armourandcastings.com/index.php?_a=vie...ductId=100

They've got a couple of mean lookin Barbute helms too that look a little fantasy like to me but none the less impressive.

Hmm I may need to add Armor and Castings to my favorites list....anybody have any experience with their product?
Particularly Gauntlets and Sabatons.

Jason Daub · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 5:03 pm Post subject:

Jeff,
Take a look at Medieval Reproductions, Peter Fuller is one of the best and he's in Calgary, there's a link to his site on the links page here.

David E. Farrell · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject: Re: i

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject: Re: Gauntlets

Shawn Shaw · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 9:29 pm Post subject:

I haven't seen it mentioned here and perhaps you all know better but watch out for Kings Lance gauntlets. I bought a pair of mitten gauntlets and broke them in at a SCA tourney. I was duct taping them to my hands after my first bout. That's bad enough but what makes it even worse is that I was using full gaunts AND a baskethilt AND I didn't take any direct blows to the hands...

I'm in the process of rebuilding them. The main problem seems to be uselessly weak leather strapping and rivets that are too small. The body of the gauntlets seems fine, just not articulated/put together well. As they were only about $100, I should have known better but it was all I could afford, so it's what I ended up with.

Randall Moffett · Posted: Mon 30 Jun, 2008 11:03 pm Post subject:

You some some factors that also are important. The most important is what you are using them for. Many groups, especially the SCA are very specific about finger gauntlets. They require the individual fingers ground out on the weapon handle of 1/4 inch padding. Soem kingdoms do not even allow them. Several other groups have them.

Historic gauntlets often varied from around in thickness. I have seen some around 1.2-1.5mm top end to .8mm low end. I have even seen places they are thinner. Many of these bits likely were not heat treated thought only a few have ever had any testing done for that. So gauntlets often do seem lighter because they were. Finger gaunts remain in common use long after the mitten disappears. It seems odd as the provide far less protection from impact than mittens. Some 17th century gauntlets I worked on were simple scales on leather strips. Nothing complicated.

So then the question is what do you need them for. Display, LH, SCA? Each one has specific needs, though they may and can over lap. I have seen some really nice SCA gauntlets that were very accurate historically. Shawn's point is a good one. Mass produced and less expensive you might be looking at saving 40-50 or more but you may have some work to get them usable.

Also what time period are you looking at? This will also determine what you ought to use or not use.

I have not bought from these people but have seen some of their work and it was very good.
http://www.bestarmour.com/rukavice7.html

The gaunts I make for myself or others all vary. parts that overlap a lot are 1-1.2mm or so. The cuff can be lighter if you plan on having an arm harness on. very hard to destroy the arm through 2-3mm or armour. Parts that do not are usually 1.5mm plus or their abouts. I use fingers gauntlets for LH stuff now and with some decent padding etc. They are good. To this day I do feel more confident that if I am concerned about some people on the field or what not I have my mitten gauntlets. I did a little SCA as a guest in mittens I made of 1.2-2mm. It was funny I went to some practices several times and then met up with a friend in the SCA and was fighting in the same gaunts I always did. So after an hour plus one of my mittens lames popped. I was surprised as I never had any armour failures with my stuff. So my wife looked for and found the rivet as I tried figuring what happened to the gauntlet. Turned out that I did not even peened the rivet. Because the articulation was so tight and the glove obscured it I did not notice... I had finished them the night before I needed them at midnight or so. For years it had just sat there and never had an issue. It was not even a blow to my hand that knocked it out it was just the movement of my sword. My lesson was to inspect things over and over again. Of course I think I tend to be less concerned about stuff I make myself than others. Big Grin

I am much more careful with my own stuff now.

Good luck and let us know what you are looking for.

RPM

Christopher VaughnStrever · Posted: Tue 01 Jul, 2008 5:49 am Post subject:

Jean Thibodeau:

Aaron Schnatterly · Posted: Tue 01 Jul, 2008 6:01 am Post subject:

Gauntlets and a helm are two pieces you definitely want to get "right".

You absolutely want to know the purpose clearly before you put your money out.

In my case, I wanted a pair for high-end living history and display, and some occasional WMA use. I also wanted to go straight to the pinnacle of the "German Gothic" armours, and for them to be as accurate and proper as I could get. To fill this bill, I went to Jiri Lucius of Armoury Lucifer in the Czech Republic. (www.luciferarmoury.com) Jiri is a top-notch artist and all-around good guy. Communicating with him was always awesome, and he sent regular updates. Here's what I wound up with:

Links to two galleries of pics of this pair:
http://www.luciferarmoury.com/galerie.php?aktsl=107
http://www.luciferarmoury.com/galerie.php?aktsl=95

These are the best pieces I've ever seen outside of a museum. They fit my needs (and hands) perfectly. The articulation is very tight (tolerance) and glide almost silently and through the full range of motion of originals.

I would not hesitate for an instant to commission further work from Jiri. Outstanding work, good communication, and I feel I certainly got what I paid for (and probably more).

Christian Henry Tobler · Posted: Tue 01 Jul, 2008 7:39 am Post subject:

Hello Aaron et. al.,

I agree - Jiri's gauntlets are amazing. I own this pair: http://www.luciferarmoury.com/galerie.php?aktsl=52

I own a lot of reproduction armour, but these are the finest pieces of my collection. Unfortunately, I need to take one of them apart this week to reattach a finger; that happens when you fight with poleaxes!

All the best,

Christian

Sean Flynt · Posted: Tue 01 Jul, 2008 9:29 am Post subject:

Judging only by looks and an apparent connection to the Guild of St. Olaf folks, Via Armorari appears to have high quality products:

http://www.viaarmorari.com/

Aaron O'Bryan-Herriott · Posted: Tue 12 Aug, 2008 8:14 am Post subject:

Hi.
I realize this thread is now a few weeks old and may not still be monitored by the participants, but I thought I'd throw my $0.02 in regardless.
Randall mentioned Bestarmour.com and their Gauntlets. From my POV (and I hadn't known about the other armourers mentioned, so I can't comment on them), the crew at Bestarmour are very fine people and easy to work with, if you don't mind a week or maybe two delay in communications. Their Gauntlet range is extensive. I'm not sure if they are exacting in terms of historical accuracy, but I they do tend to take very seriously their work and it looks fantastic (in the images). I myself would appreciate someone with specific knowledge commenting on the accuracy of their designs.
I can give you my opinion about quality, weight and workmanship in better detail shortly though, since a pair of their Gauntlets is (finally - the wait was about three months) arriving in the next few days.
They require a complete set of hand dimensions to make any pair for a customer, so in this sense they truly are custom-made. In fact to the best of my knowledge, all of their Armour pieces are custom... which in itself is a step above ready-made pieces and already more historically accurate in terms of process.
Price for the Mitten RG 4.3 pair was around $600. Seems costly, but I'm really hoping they live up to expectations... expectations which they fairly set on their page, so I'll be sharply disappointed if they don't. Either way it turns out, I expect they should certainly *look* nice Happy

Marc-Antoine Jean · Posted: Tue 12 Aug, 2008 8:41 am Post subject:

about Medieval Reproductions...they are really really really, way too much expensive...imo

About the Canadian armourers there are Eric Dubé at www.armuredube.com and François L'Archevêque at www.flarcheveque.com . Some years ago they were associates in the Armurerie du Duché, but that time is gone (O: Both two are at the top of their art.

Here in Québec, Darksword Armoury is well reknown for the poor quality of ALL of his products. Gauntlets are way too big and heavy. For good handling you'll need something more tight to your hands. Mercenary's Tailor seems as good as Darksword... even the Museum Replicas model seems to be way better ! Always remember, even with custom order you can have a good price if you don't want that much ornementations en them.

Those ones made by Jiri are just outstanding !

And... as usual, you'll have what you paid for...

Allan Senefelder · Industry Professional

Marc-Antoine Jean · Posted: Tue 12 Aug, 2008 10:32 am Post subject:

the problem Bill had is nothing to compare to the crap made by Darksword (O:

ok. I'll order a pair of MRL gauntlets and made tests of my own (O: