• pay up and get storage unit contents
• purchase tent (Panther Regency?)
• make/check tent poles for tent, along with ropes
• purchase horse trailer(?)
• clean armour
• restrape armour
• blue armor (puchase of tank/torch)
• organize armour packaging
• redo cloasure on bar grill  basinet
• roll front edges on vambraces (trim down a bit?)
• repair/fix guantlets
• nix padding for padded liner (period style) both helms
• purchase aventail/camails X2 and install
• ? of voiders and skirt or habergon – looks like habergon is right
• jupon or arming coat
• spiff up some garb
• make a new piece or two of garb (better stuff)
• order chuasses and braies
• use above to pattern a few more
• order turn shoes
• make chamfron and crinit (w/ eye protection)
• get saddles/tack out, clean and oil
• get bottles for cordial
• bottom cordial (simple syrup 2:1?)
• labels for cordial?
• ride a bunch on Jack and some on Angel
• fix one suitcase
• make a choice about 1350-60 versus 1390-1400?
• make a sheild, heater curved opposite (jousting)
• make side/back plates for churburg #13, strap, use…

I used the graphic above because I am pretty sure that I if I do one thing a day I will be pretty close to completion by the time GW rolls around.  Keep in mind the list is kind of crude at this point, like garb for instance needs to be broke down more into what specifically are goals for the war and listed out separately.

I got to site shortly after it opened, after having ran an errand or two that I had to be done.  In typical SCA fashion, being there on time meant I had plenty of time to get in armour and ready to go. This was  a good thing considering how long it had been since I had been in armour and the overall lack of practice and such.  So, I starting put on armour and after some minor strap repairs, I was good to go get inspected.   And the new guantlets for MadMatt over on the armourarchive.org were great by the way.

I went through the inspection and everything was great except my helm was leaving a questionable gap beneath the chin going up to the gorget.  This is something that had been raised as an issue once before.  I was legal but cautioned about it.  I went ahead and tied the aluminum camail into place just to make it a bit safer and keep from being hassled by marshals throughout the day.  I really think it looks bad, being aluminum, tied on (instead of properly sewed to leather and then then wired), and generally think it is too short also, but it served its purpose and now I am even more inspired on the riveted mail I need to get ordered.   So I then chilled for a bit until the tourney started, but kept the armour on to get back used to having the extra weight and limited mobility.

For those that do not know, this was an SCA event and the SCA uses rattan based weaponry for combat in the heaveier styles of things.  There is a little bit to what is legal, but basically you end up an inch and quarter stick to try and hit someone, of course you have to be willing to take a blow and there are even more rules about what is required in regards to the armour and such.  And the blows are hard hits generally, but not cranked up as hard I could hit someone with a three to four foot long stick of that size.   And of course all the combat is on the honor the participants to acknowledge a good blow based on the rules of the list and such.

So in the tourney, in the first round it groups of six fighters and you did a round robin.  Now recall, that my forte is doing things on a horse instead of ground before I say this next bit and that I also did not get the practice I should have.  Okay, I went 0-5.  I got suckered on the first bout, as much from rustiness and anything.  The rest I thinkg I gave pretty good and even pressured my opponent, but for the most part, my head is just to big and my sheild arm is too slow.  And in the third bout I believe, I took a body shot – beneath the arm and I got what is going to be a nice bruise forming as that area did not have armour.

So I was out after the first round, but there followed some really great boughts that ended with two of the best fighters from multiple kingdoms in the finals.  Duke Brannos overcame His Highness (and Duke) Logan to win the tournament.

Moving on to the feast quickly.  I had volunteered to wait on the high table, as someone needed to step up and do that for the group.  I was assisted in the endeavor, for which I am greatful.  The cooks, as has come to be expected did an excellent feast with several kinds of smoked meats and some wonderful side items of various varieties.  I seem to be giving the feast short change here, but it really was excellent and that is about all that really needs to be said about it.

So a few things that came out of yesterday for me:

1. I definitely have to get to some practices and get going with that.
2. I also have to get to working out and getting in better shape, especially with Gulf Wars coming up soon.
3. I need get the smaller shield strapped, padded, and maybe if cut down a bit, to eliminate some weight and speed it up.
4. A proper camail needs to be acquired and put on the helm appropriately.

Video of the Last Match Compliments of ???? from YouTube

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJABcXpG8iA

** Originally published on Mephistos on 7th of February 2009

Anyway, I am getting distracted. I am sitting here, once again preparing for my journey to the southern Mississippi for the annual event called Gulf Wars, this being I believe the 5th one that I will attend in twice as many years as I only make it bi-annually. I find it interesting that I am currently planning on leaving on Friday after work and the most recent forecast has it snowing, with some accumulation on the grassy areas and elevated surfaces for late Thursday evening/early Friday morning. Interesting, as I am pretty sure the last two times I have gone, leaving from here in Kentucky it has snowed or been snowing when horses were being loaded for departure.

It is with a huge amount of, well busted flat, that I note I will not be taking the horses this year. The first in my years of attending the event that I will not have a trusty hooved companion with me. Over the years, I have always taken a horse for myself and in all the previous years I have also had a traveling companion and hence took Angel. My horse over the years has been one of three different ones, S.D. (Special Dark), Dusty (Carbon’s Gold Dust), and Jack (Mad Jack Juett) – but Angel has always been there. I feel like Fatus Obscuros is striking again, which I have been told could roughly mean ‘the Gods will otherwise.’

This year it will be different. After purchasing a truck and getting things ready with back in January and up through February, including putting a braking control package on it and after searching and not finding a trailer, instead almost begging to borrow one, on Saturday past when hauling the trailer to do some repairs, my truck quit. It was a big time quit too, the engine seized. It may not be obvious to everyone, but seized engines do not get repaired quickly and are very expensive to replace on top of that.

So that brings me to not going or going down in the car without horses. That is kind of tough, given the extra money I know that will be required to fix the truck upon my return if I do attend. It is even worse though, as I am suppose to be early on event staff and be around the barns during the early part of the week for horses arriving. Further, I was running the big event, the emprise and hauling down the equipment that has been amassed over the years. That will not happen. Matter of fact, I am having an overwhelming feeling with just thinking about packing armour, clothing, and the big tent in my seemingly big enough four door (mini) sedan.

Anyway, hopefully I will figure it out on the morrow with some testing of getting the stuff in the car, as I have decided as of right now I am still planning on going. I am not going to hold out for getting to ride at all though I do have a couple of friends and maybe I will get to hack out a horse at some point over the week. I do feel like it important to uphold my obligations to my friends though in regards to the things I agreed to do if at all possible and will make sure that happens. I am sure that I will enjoy the new found joys of the heavy combat melee’s and at some point or another when folks I know are enjoying a good equestrian competition, especially like the joust or heavy mounted combat, I will feel just about the way Kristofferson when he hers Janice sing his song on the radio – happy for her, but yet just a tinge of busted flat over the whole deal.

First post here on Eligius as a blog, where I intend to start with blogging my medieval activities during this coming campaign season.  I may start with blogging from Gulf Wars.  Eventually I will get galleries of pictures and some video posted up here as well, and expect some additional awesome things in the near future on the site, maybe an eventaul restoration of the original forum discussions, which had some good information included.