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Author Topic: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight  (Read 31966 times)

Mike W.

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #45 on: 2014-02-19, 20:10:17 »
That sounds... appetizing.

Good news is I've ordered most of my soft kit from Historic Enterprises!

It may be a little while before I order some armor. I was eyeballing allbeststuff.com, but I'm a little hesitant to buy the cheap Indian stuff (though I haven't heard any complaints). I'm thinking that I'm just gonna save up and spend the extra money for GDFB and be more confident in the quality of the piece.
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Sir William

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #46 on: 2014-02-19, 21:27:16 »
Well, no matter where you get it from, if it be the likes of Kult of Athena, GDFB or similar sites, it's mostly if not all Indian-made.  That in and of itself doesn't mean its garbage (altho a good bit of it is) just that you'll most likely need to tailor it somehow.  Even if you go to one of the retailers who make (or have someone else not Indian make) it, it might still need tailoring to some degree- not to mention cost 2 - 3 times more than the Indian stuff.

It is what I'll end up going with, just need to pick which retailer I want to work with (one of the guys on AA decided to try his hand at being a retailer of this sort of maille, working with a shop to produce shirts and hauberks in about 1 - 2 months, considering going with him because I'd have an avenue to pursue if I'm not happy; that may not always be the case w/anything bought overseas direct) and give him my money.  lol
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Mike W.

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #47 on: 2014-02-21, 14:42:07 »
So my next project will be to build the kite shield, but I have a dilemma... Do I make it concave or flat?

I've seem most modern re-creations to be concave, but I have also seen flat. Additionally, the Bayeux Tapestry shows troops using their shields as tables.


I don't think you could easily do that with concave shields.
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Sir James A

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #48 on: 2014-02-21, 15:29:24 »
A flat shield doesn't protect as well as a rounded shield. I don't think flat is very useful and often is a "I don't have a way to curve it" concession. I thought, curved down like "n" instead of up like "u" would make it reasonably usable as a table since things would slide towards the center instead of off - but I'm not sure if part of what I'm looking at on those shields is a strap / handle or something else. I thought this would be a very simple question, but quite the contrary.
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Sir Wolf

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #49 on: 2014-02-21, 17:10:49 »
i have both.
personally i like the curved one better. better protection etc. i can use it as a table, just set it in the center etc

Mike W.

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #50 on: 2014-02-24, 15:16:58 »
I'm at the point where I've got my soft kit, I've got the helm, I'll be working on the shield come warmer weather, and all the remains is the maille.
I've been looking at allbeststuff and picked out these two:
http://allbeststuff.com/Round-Rivet-Flat-Washer-Chain-Mail-Shirt-Hauberk-Medium
     -It's just about the right size
http://allbeststuff.com/Round-Riveted-Flat-Solid-Ring-Coif
     -I intend to cut off the aventail and rivet the coif to the hauberk

They're inexpensive and I've heard good things about their maille. But just before I click the "Confirm Order" button, I thought I would get an extra opinion or two.
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Ian

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #51 on: 2014-02-24, 21:02:49 »
Here's the deal with maille.  Virtually all of it is made in India, and is not really accurate to historical maille.  There's really nothing we can do about that short of investing countless hours making it ourselves (no thanks, I'd go insane before completing it), or by spending way more money than I can afford to get maille made right.

That being said, allbeststuff, gdfb, icefalcon etc... it's virtually all the same to varying degrees.  What we can control on our end in terms of accuracy is the general type of maille we get, be it flat-ring wedge-riveted, or round-ring, pin rivets, or some permutation of the different options out there.  So, get as close as you can to what you want, and go in knowing that no matter where you buy your maille from it will require work when you get it.

You will need to tailor the arms, perhaps alter the torso tube, add triangle gores to the sides or front to tailor the waist etc.  These things are pretty much a given.  So if you go in knowing all that, and you're willing to do what we can on our end to make the best product out of what we have available to us, it really doesn't matter what you buy. 

The only caveat to that is, I would stay away from the butted stuff, aluminum stuff, and perhaps even the galvanized stuff (because removing that can be dangerous if you decide to one day). 
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Mike W.

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #52 on: 2014-02-24, 22:19:59 »
Thanks Ian! You've confirmed what I've already been mulling over. I don't mind tailoring (though having only done it with butted, which is much more forgiving), I'll give it a shot. Guess I'll what until the next paycheck comes in on Friday and it'll be mine!!  ;D
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Mike W.

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Re: I Want to be an 11th century Norman Knight
« Reply #53 on: 2014-02-27, 16:06:02 »
I want to save as much money as I can and thus I'm always looking for items that can be re-purposed for other kits. That being said, currently I'm working on a 11th century kit. Unless I'm mistaken, the maille was elbow and knee length with an integral coif. I also plan on having a 1st/2nd crusade kit, in which era I believe the maille was wrist length (with mittens) and knee length with an integral coif. I was thinking, instead of buying two separate maille garments, could I save some money by purchasing a long sleeved hauberk, severing the sleeves at the elbow, and setting aside the rest (with mittens), and reattaching it with a seam of butted maille when I want to switch to Crusades era? I know it's not historically accurate, but for someone who's on a budget and wants to get the most out of their money, to me its seems like a viable option.
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