Gulf Wars!

I had a really fantastic time at Gulf Wars and have posted some pictures on Flickr . I fought in the town battle, the bridge battle, the ravine and the castle battle. I'm still a little amazed that I managed to fight that much :)

Centurion War College

I went to Centurion's College last week and it was awesome! The first part of the day was classes and the second half was group fighting. The teachers were very patient and well prepared. I also got some good aside time with various folks as I had questions. I particularly like that the classes were mostly "hats-off" (not full armor) which left me with enough endurance to fight most of the afternoon. I took some photos and have posted them here.I fought in the field maneuvers and the bridge battles in the afternoon and had a great time! The bridge battles were crazy :) After the fighting there was a short court and then lots of social time. It was an very entertaining night to end a really fun day :)

The armor improvements have worked well, but I still have some tweaks to do. Rachel is working on making some pells for us to practice on and I'm hoping to finish up her torso armor some time soon. Here is a picture of my armor kit so far; it's now more mine than loaner. I've still got a good list of armor projects though, along with the need to make more garb before Gulf Wars. All of that depends on how much free time life grants me.

Armor progress

I've posted some pictures of my armor progress at http://www.flickr.com/photos/helene83/sets/72157623078074633/. You can see the coat of plates in its finished form.

I'm pretty happy with the coat of plates. Its light, comfortable, and provides good protection. I need to add some straps to the back to hold in place. I'm currently just belting it, which has to be adjusted periodically.

The legs were some I got at a steep "I'm quitting fighting" discount from a very nice lady. They needed some love and had to be re-strapped, but they work quite well. I added little plastic wrap flaps for the backs of my thighs, but they were a quick hack, so I need to pretty them up and rivet them in. They are currently held together with leather strap and duct tape :)

I got some elbows from a friends "random stuff" bin and finally finished the leather work on them this week. I hardened the leather with water and then lightly waxed it and I am very pleased with the results. They are lightweight, hard, and very durable. I test drove them last night and they worked fairly well. They are slipping some towards the wrist. I got some great feedback from folks on how to fix them, and I think that I will add some shoulders and strapping to hold them up.

Fighting tonight

Life has been complicated, but I finally made it to another fighter practice. I've managed to cobble together most of an armor kit, so I don't have to borrow as much. I had a good time and learned a lot. I need to do more cardio workout so that I won't get winded so easily, but I knew that already. Also, I am now an Authorized Fighter! Woohoo! I will get to fight at BAM!

Gambeson Goodness

My latest project has been trying to get together gear for heavy fighting. I am trying to get stuff together as cheaply and quickly as possible, and then I will upgrade gear to nicer stuff as I am able. Towards that, I have finally finished the gambeson that I started a couple of weeks ago. Its made entirely of stuff from my stash! I had some cotton sheeting left over from another project and a roll of cotton batting in my quilting stash. I even had thread that mostly matched.

I am really happy with how it turned out. Its reversible and I managed to keep the seams from getting too bulky. I used two layers of batting, as recommended by several gambeson how-to's I read online. It was a pain to put together. In trying to minimize seam bulk and make it reversible, I did a crazy series of piecing then quilting then piecing then quilting... it was more like a wrestling match than sewing session. I think it was worth it though - it looks decent and feels very sturdy and padded. I'm really happy that its done in time for fighter practice this week.

Heavy...

Look what I did last night :) I had some complications delivering my son in July, so I am just now recovered enough getting back into armor. I am still a newbie, but I had a lot of fun last night. It did make me miss the folks in South Downs, but I am making friends in the new group. I'm in the crazy loaner gear on the left side of the picture.