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Lessons learned from 6 hours in harness
Sir Edward:
Yep, there's nothing like wearing the harness at faire all day to show you where you need to make improvements or add padding. :)
Those are some well earned armor bites! Man, that was great that you got through all three shows in Sunday. It's not easy in the heat, that's for sure. I hope you'll understand when I keep shoving water bottles into your hands. :) On a day like that, it needs to be at hand constantly. But it sounds like you did OK keeping up with the hydration.
Joshua Santana:
These lessons also are warnings and counsel to me (even though i never had the pleasure of wearing a full harness).
--- Quote ---Lesson #1 - Padded chausses. Definitely.
--- End quote ---
Point taken.
--- Quote ---Lesson #2 - Know your limits, and respect them. Chubby computer programmers are not built for hot, humid days, in full harness. I made it about 6 hours on Saturday in harness but couldn't make it to the 3rd show; Sunday, I cheated and wore my surcoat but no cuirass. I made it about 7 1/2 hours that day, and did all 3 shows.
--- End quote ---
Exactly, the worse thing that you can do is exert yourself to the point of heat exhaustion. That is why physical training and conditioning is necessary to prepare for events like these where you might have to stand in humid weather for more than 7 hours. This applies to me as well.
--- Quote ---Lesson #3 - Hydrate, conserve and relax. Drink fluids. Lots of fluids. Don't overexert yourself early - like I did saturday, showing off a bit. Special thank you to Sir Edward, Sir Brian, Sir William and my (cousin? nephew?) Chris for helping me with everything over the weekend. I absolutely could not have made it through the day without their assistance.
--- End quote ---
Yep, fluids will help keep you going on a humid day. If I was participating in a Demo, I would bring three or four canisters of fluids (water) to help with the heat. Yes, never exert yourself, do what you can even though it may not appear to be fun sitting down.
--- Quote --- I am honored and privileged to call you my brother knight! :)
As am I! Hear hear! :)
--- End quote ---
You all hear are my Brother Knights even though I haven't met you in person nor had the pleasure in bouting with any of you. I consider you to be my teachers, my friends, my Brethren in Arms, for that I am proud to say this to you all.
--- Quote ---Yep, there's nothing like wearing the harness at faire all day to show you where you need to make improvements or add padding.
--- End quote ---
;)
--- Quote ---On a day like that, it needs to be at hand constantly. But it sounds like you did OK keeping up with the hydration.
--- End quote ---
That is good. :)
Sir Gerard de Rodes:
Sir James,
Yes a few hard earned armour bites indeed.
I find thick woolen hose are more than adequate padding for my leg harness. Maybe a few calculated blows with the hammer may sort some of the fitting issues.
Blisters on the top of your foot could be caused by the weight of your greaves/leg harness sitting on your foot, this can be eased by wearing a strategically plaged piece of thick leather over the top of your boot or fastened to the bottom of your greave. The strap of my spurs works perfectly at padding my greaves from my foot.
Hydration is a must, if you stop using the toilet regularly then something is wrong. If when you do go to the toilet your urine is dark yellow then you really need to take on water.
We find that "re-hidrate" ( not sure if they are called that over the pond) type tablets are a great way of topping up on hydration and all the natural salts and good stuff needed to last a few hours in full harness.
Your harness is looking great all the same ;)
G.
Sir Rodney:
You're kit looks great in action! I'm glad you had such a good time, armour bites and all. ;)
I get alot of crap from my mates, but I completely disassemble my kit and wipe it down with gun oil as soon as I get home. If I'm at a multi-day event, I'll do it as soon as I get back to camp while "rehydrating" with home brew. The hockey/armour bag is your enemy; get your stuff out of it ASAP. The gambeson can be left to hang dry in direct sunlight and washed only sparingly (read: when your wife demands it :) ).
Sir Edward:
What we often find is that on the hottest days here, you do simply stop peeing altogether when in armor, since it's nearly impossible to rehydrate fast enough. It's not healthy. But it's often a reality of the weather conditions. The alternative is to drink so much water that you get sick. Usually I just barely keep up, and start needing to hit the bathroom right when I take the armor off.
One really good suggestion we had was to use Gatorade, and dilute it to 50% with water.
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