Gambesons

These were the pictures of the gambesons I am speculating on.

(actually, as nice as these are, I cannot get them in small enough quantities to justify ordering them in. No point in getting them in from a rival, my rival would not be interested in cutting me a deal, so we would be losing money on getting a stock of them in.   I am getting a sample from Turkey, and we will see how that goes.)

 Don't panic about the colour...that is just to show his versatility. He has them in green, red, black, white, blue (shown) and other colours subject to a serious order.   I will be getting them in black. 

 The above is the one I want to get.  Look at how flexible everything is.  Either none to very little padding.  You don't WANT padding in the heat of summer, these will wick sweat away from your body and protect you from the scissoring effects of armour bites.  And they can look good as a uniform dress for demo events, at a fraction of the price of cloaks.  (I am fairly sure my price on these into Ottawa will run about 50 bucks,  60 dollars, tops.  Shipping, warehousing, duties and taxes sure do take their toll! And thats without my profit cut!)

 Those mittens are perfect for renaissance fencing.

 I like the criss cross stitching pattern of the skirt.  But like the gambeson below, its not as useful under plate armour.

Now these are the gambesons I have my eye on.  No doubt the readers of this blog have different ideas than me.   And if you want to get a green number five in double xL, it can be done at this time.  Email me if for some reason you want something out of the ordinary, this is the time to get it.

Newsletter April 2014

I was too sick to make it to the Temples Sugar Bush Demo.  I hear it was VERY well received.  Personally, I plan to see if we can get some sponsors from, say Beau's Brewery.  I know my swords will happily work for beer, but I would LOVE to get some crested gambesons or poofy shirts to help us look good for the very demo's they want of us.
      I shall be going into the Firkin and see if we can become a sports team.  I figure we drop between two hundred fifty and three hundred dollars every Sunday (a slow day for them, and they TELL us we are much appreciated, but I don't feel the love).  Baseball and hockey teams get either nachos on the table when they arrive, or a 5%  gift certificates payable at the end of the season.  I think it might pan out.  But then, who knows?
      The gambesons I have my eye on are made in Pakistan by a guy who has convinced me he does not abuse his employees.  I did not want a repeat of the Joe Fresh-Bangladesh factory collapse on my conscience.  This fellow makes gambesons in three layers of canvas with no padding.  Perfect for under metal armour, less so for under chain mail.  The prices are, of course, fairly low.  Shipping is actually a bit more than the cost of the items!   I think we can get them to the swords for under fifty dollars each.  That is half of the Hanwei price for the over stuffed Aketons.  (which of course, are still available, and perfect for under chain.  And even at double the price, its still cheaper than a full suit of armour!
        Buckles... Got a nice batch of buckles from a different Pakistan guy.  He makes them the medieval way...and they are VERY beautiful.  Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but even so, I like the medieval look.  I have included a few below to get you an idea.
             These are being sold in the South Tower Kit Shop for 9 bucks each.  For that, I'll even put a leather strap end on it for you! 

'

 Very medieval.  I have seen these on scabbards and boot straps.

 Strong.  Solid, One inch of good old cartridge brass.

 Two inches.  The centre bar is of course, designed to be covered by a belt.

I think this one looks like he is picking his nose!

This tiny one is designed to rivet directly to the tasset.

Very hansome.  One of the most popular. 

A strap end.  Helps gloved hands get a strap into place. 

Very plain buckle.  Has its place. 

Very medieval...based on a find at Yarvick.  I think they look mean!

The Isle of man uses arms that look like this, but of course, they use three of them on their coats of arms. 

Very elegant, that one above.  Its strong enough to use as front buckles of armour, but of course there are lots of other belts you can use these buckles for.  Water skins, hats, even shoes. 

And the prettiest of Viking Gripping Beasts.  Ragnar Lothbrock would be proud.


      So, on the fighting front, Jeff is building a fine curriculum based on Hugh T. Knight Jr.'s interpretations of Talhoffer and Lichtenhaur.  I think we look pretty period, and we are doing it right.  We are fortunate to have about 45 years of experience between us to help us do these interpretations. A lot of the you tube stuff is pretty iffy.  I hesitate to say bogus because it is probably not intentional, but there is a LOT of stuff out there which can get you hurt.  Jeff is doing wonders for the class, now that I have sorta stepped out of his way.  I cannot support him in his efforts enough. 

      Play safe. 
Marshal Bill Fedun

Temples Sugar Bush Demo

2014 first grads.

Algonquin Grads first of the new year

And Plante Grads, again, first of the new year.