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Hello everyone. I was wondering if anyone else attends or is otherwise a member of the SCA (society for creative anachronism.)

I was recently Cajoled into attending a fighter practice by a gentleman I talk to at a local coffee shop, and have become very interested in the group (I'm a military and medieval history buff, among other things)

I've currently drawn up some idea's for a personae and some garb (mainly a surcoat) as well as some personal heraldry, but i wanted to see if anyone had any advice for a newcomer.

Thanks,

LM

In regards to dating/hooking up with members of the SCA (specifically females), as was related to me many moons ago, that the odds were good, but that the goods were odd. Proceed with caution. Other than that I don't really remember that much.

A little odd of a first comment, but thanks. I was asking more specifically for garb/gearing up advice.

Been a long time for me, I was into it back in like '93 or so. Fighter practice was fun, but I hated the dancing and stuff. Most of the events ended up being a bunch of folks wearing cloths from 1000 years ago, talking about football and computers.

But it gave me something fun to do in college, once I was done with school though I just kinda drifted away and never went back. I moved recently and found all my old armor rusted bright orange in the back of my garage.

Not trying to bash em or anything, it was a good bunch of folks and a lot of fun while I was into it, but I just lost interest after a while.

Hmm, medieval Europe did have republics, you know.

How does that have any bearing on what I was asking for, Joey?

lord marcus wrote:A little odd of a first comment, but thanks. I was asking more specifically for garb/gearing up advice.

It has been 15 years or so, and that is the most memorable thing I got from it. Necros pretty much nailed. Certainly worth having a go at for fun.

Thats the plan. Just trying to gather information on general stuff like making garb and such.

lord marcus wrote:A little odd of a first comment, but thanks. I was asking more specifically for garb/gearing up advice.

Don't use a real Killyj

I had some buddys go to some events back in highschool and come back bruised up and ready to make their own armor.
Only other person i've known that went was a prick that owned a less then friendly game store.

I've always wanted to check it out though, if i had a weekend to kill or something

I hung out around the fringes of the Barony of Three Rivers back around '90. They seemed like a pretty cool bunch overall, assuming your interests at least tangentally included Medieval and Renaissance history.

Getting into the fighting was a bit pricey. You'd want some good heavy leather (cour boulli) or three-quarter plate to avoid regular trips to the hospital, because they don't pad the weapons at all. It's essentially fighting with clubs. Concussions were not rare, and many considered you green until you had your first broken bone (usually a finger, the armor requirements protected arms, legs, ribs, and skull pretty well, but there is a limit to how heavy a gauntlet can be and stilll allow you to grab a sword).

For the other stuff -dancing, art, feasts, garb, and what-not - they are easily the equal of any Renfaire.


Ultimately I decided that for my Medieval combat fix I preferred Belegarth/Dargothir. They pad the weapons rather than the people, so significant injury is pretty rare.

SCA. Society of Chronic Adulterers.

feeder wrote:SCA. Society of Chronic Adulterers.

That seems a little distasteful in wording.

It's a joke in bad taste, which Scadians would probably make about themselves. He may be one.

I've known a bunch of them over the years, but only ever tried out the fencing at my local Barony, not the heavy lists. There are a lot of resources online for the googling.

Wait they don't put pads on their weapons?

Do they have crossbows?

The weaponry (as far as my locals tell me) is made out of Rattan (at least the swords and other "edged weapons)

Help me out-Rattan?

A type of wood also used in patio furniture.

Rattan is in the grass family, basically a solid core bamboo. Often used in martial arts equipment.

MudgeBlack wrote:Rattan is in the grass family, basically a solid core bamboo. Often used in martial arts equipment.

You said it better than I. Most of the weaponry I observed was wrapped in tape for extra support.

Nope, they pad the people.

They are really pretty hardcore about recreating medieval combat techniques, which were meant to be done IN ARMOR. And once you're in armor, it requires a fairly solid hit for the person inside to even realize they've been hit.

Rattan is used instead of other woods because of its structure. Rattan is formed of numerous small strips growning parallel to each other. These strips can be peeled off and are often used to weave wicker furniture and the like. So when rattan fails in a structural sense, it tends to mush up and flex freely... as opposed to other forms of wood, which break, splinter, and generate dangerous sharp edges and points.

Frazzled wrote:Wait they don't put pads on their weapons?

The melee weapons are clubs you could easily beat a person to death with. The people doing the fighting wear serious armor including heavy helmets which have to meet specific safety criteria and are checked by safety personnel.

http://www.sca.org/officers/marshal/docs/marshal_handbook.pdf

Frazzled wrote:Do they have crossbows?

Projectile weapons do get padding.

I'm just trying to get idea's on who is good as far as armor merchants, and what to avoid.

I want to get into SCA, but the local group is pretty much dead and I don't really want to be driving 3 hours to go fight with swords.

I know the SCA website has some links to where you can get plate armor and such, you might want to check it out. If you've got the money, you can also talk to local smiths if you have any. There are other, cheaper, ways to do it, but I don't know them for the most part. I know one guy made almost all of his armor out of hockey gear with leather stitched on top.

Nowhere is the old saying 'you get what you pay for' more true than it is for armor, SCA or otherwise.

I reccomend not scrimping on it. It is entirely possible your life depends on your helmet holding up when someone nails you with 'Revenge of the Rising Snap.'

Mannahnin wrote:

Frazzled wrote:Wait they don't put pads on their weapons?

The melee weapons are clubs you could easily beat a person to death with. The people doing the fighting wear serious armor including heavy helmets which have to meet specific safety criteria and are checked by safety personnel.

http://www.sca.org/officers/marshal/docs/marshal_handbook.pdf

Frazzled wrote:Do they have crossbows?

Projectile weapons do get padding.

Ok pardon the ignorance then. Who are the guys running about at the Renaisance with padded weapons? They said they were SCA. Frazzled confused (normal state of mind there).

OT but here's to hoping they have the Renaissance in Houston this year. More than 20,000 acres burned and the fairgrounds were a base of operations until they had to bug out. Damned smoke helped kill my mom.

Dragearen wrote:I want to get into SCA, but the local group is pretty much dead and I don't really want to be driving 3 hours to go fight with swords.

I know the SCA website has some links to where you can get plate armor and such, you might want to check it out. If you've got the money, you can also talk to local smiths if you have any. There are other, cheaper, ways to do it, but I don't know them for the most part. I know one guy made almost all of his armor out of hockey gear with leather stitched on top.

You could always join that local and attempt to rekindle the group.

Frazzled wrote:Ok pardon the ignorance then. Who are the guys running about at the Renaisance with padded weapons? They said they were SCA. Frazzled confused (normal state of mind there).

There are any number of different groups out there doing various kinds of live combat or live roleplaying, but if they said they're SCA they probably were. If they had padded weapons they might have been larp-type stuff used for casual fighting when they didn't feel like wearing the full armor. Most of the folks who enjoy these kind of fighting games/sports do multiple different kinds.

Necros wrote:Been a long time for me, I was into it back in like '93 or so. Fighter practice was fun, but I hated the dancing and stuff. Most of the events ended up being a bunch of folks wearing cloths from 1000 years ago, talking about football and computers.

I always got a chuckle out of the occassional slip like a digital wristwatch or "ye old nike sneakers"

CT GAMER wrote:

Necros wrote:Been a long time for me, I was into it back in like '93 or so. Fighter practice was fun, but I hated the dancing and stuff. Most of the events ended up being a bunch of folks wearing cloths from 1000 years ago, talking about football and computers.

I always got a chuckle out of the occassional slip like a digital wristwatch or "ye old nike sneakers"

Authentic or period boots are quite expensive. From what I can gather people buy their kit in pieces sometimes.

The wristwatch is no excuse apparently though.