Thanks!
Sir Wolf, as far as other Dag players go, it's true... Looking good is not a high priority to most. My unit and maybe a few others are really pushing for increased garb and armor standards in the game. The problem isn't in the rules, which actually lay out a pretty nice set of expectations (in some ways, more stringent than the SCA), but in the lack of enforcement. This year at Ragnarok, a member of my unit was involved in a movement called Garb Gates. Essentially, every fighter had to pass through a gauntlet of prying eyes before they could take the field, and any rules violations were called out, and offenders were sent back to camp to either pout or fix the offending article. It worked ok, but it lost some steam as the week wore on.
Sirs Edward and Ian, thanks! I'm definitely partial to using my heraldry on every applicable piece of my gear. My shield has the same image, embossed into the foam, but it seems to be curving out of the way those in photos. As for the cohesiveness of my kit, I've managed that through proper planning, making nearly all of it myself (helmet excluded), and resisting the ever-present urge to scrap everything and start over. If I want a piece for the kit, I make it, and I do so for THIS KIT! Not a future kit, not the 2.0 version, this one.
Having all of the basics done with and sticking with the character has really allowed me to work on the bells and whistles. The ailettes were my favorite addition so far. Who would have thought that tying some painted leather rectangles to my shoulders would have such a vast affect on the look of the whole kit? They're just water-hardened and -formed 12oz leather, painted and sealed. Too many of the people I play Dag with are constantly aborting ideas for kits after making 1 or 2 pieces of it. The end result is that they have a LOT of time and money sitting unused at home while they run around in their 4th crappy kit of the year.
But it does help that there are maybe 3 of us that are very dedicated to bettering our looks and those of our friends, and we can all make use of each other's skill set. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I often rely on my mother's sewing abilities as well!
Here's a better shot of the shield from an unarmored day of fighting (it was over 90 and 50% humidity the entirety of Ragnarok), and a picture of my belt, which has our unit's motto, "Arise, ye loyal sons" spelled out in hand-made acid-etched brass mounts.
