Final four.

Again. Must train harder.

The War Wagon!

We bought a small trailer to make camping events a little easier. Actually, it'll make things a LOT easier.

Here it is packed up and ready to go to North Oaken War Maneuvers (last month). You can see it's packed to the top with our Ger. But, honestly, I didn't pack it very well. I'm sure I can shoehorn in a lot more stuff.

It's going to make Pennsic packing a breeze. And the best part is that it folds up, so it will fit in the garage along with both cars. After hauling it once, we love it. Now all it needs is a coat of paint on the wood.

Harbor Freight Folding Utility Trailer.

Bad-ass Russian reinactors

Holy crap. These guys are nuts.

Spears

The splitting weapon - spear and boar-spear - in the composition of the armament of Old-Russian troops had value which is not smaller, than sword. Spears and boar-spears frequently solved the success of battle as this was in the battle of 1378 on Vozhe river in the Ryazansk earth, where the Moscow horse regiments by simultaneous impact "on the spears" from three sides overturned Tatar army and destroyed it. The tips of copies were wonderfully fitted out for the puncture of armor. For this they were made by narrow, massive and those elongated, usually tetrahedral. Tips, diamond-shaped, lavrovolistnye or wide wedge-shaped, could be used against the enemy, not protected by the armors: two-meter spear with this tip inflicted dangerous torn wounds and caused the rapid loss of enemy or his horse.
 
Boar-spears had a width of feather from 5 to 6.5 cm and a length of lavrovolistnogo tip to 60 cm. so that to the warrior would be to more easily hold weapon, to the pole of boar-spear it was fitted on two or on three metallic "twigs."
 
The variety of boar-spear was sovnya (sovna). had curved strip with one blade, slightly bent at the end, which was slipped over long pole. In the Novgorod I chronicle we read how the broken army "... pobegosha to the forest, pometavshe weapon and shields both sovi and everything from to itself ".
 
Sulitsey was called the missile spear with the lung and the thin pole length to 1.5 m. they were noted the cases, when sulitsu not only they threw, but also they brought by it the prick: "Bodin to byst'... by sharp sulitsami". Three or more than sulits (sulitsa it were sometimes called "dzheridom") were packed into the small quiver - "elaeagnus" - with the separate nests. Elaeagnus it rushed on the belt from the left side. 
 
A. Yurasovskiy
"Russian armors X-XVII enturies".
Artist Vladimir Semenov.
© depictive skill ". Moscow. 1983
Found at www.cross-dream.info/library/armour/thrusting-weapons.html

Fear me! For I am a giant!

Fighting boffer at the Cleftlands' January Event, 2010. 

Elevation

One of my squires, Farthegn, was put on vigil for the Order of Chivalry last Saturday. The look on his face when I begged the boon was pretty priceless.



Needless to say, I'm extremely proud of him. He will be sitting his vigil and elevated on February 13, at Val Day in Kalamazoo. 

Now to finish up the last minute details...

Let it be known

On St. Triverius’ Feast Day, in the 44th Year of the Society, Nikolai Grigorevich Petrov, a Knight in good standing with his King, was found in conversation with Logan MacCoinnich of Kintail, likewise a fine Knight. They spoke of many things martial and, in due course, it was revealed that both noble men desired to pick up the shields of their ancestors and cast away the foreign escutcheons with this they currently labored.

However, both men were hesitant, gripped by the fear of being left defenseless in the heat of combat, holding only armor with which they were not well acquainted. It was then that Sir Logan brashly suggested that he spirit away Nikolai’s shield to lands far to the north, for which in return he would offer his own shield to be likewise kidnapped.

Nikolai was indeterminate.

The day continued to pass, both men striving against many stout men in harness. As the sun began to set, Logan did once again approach the Son of Rus and cajoled him to consider the weapons of his homeland. Nikolai, in his great wisdom, was quick to ponder but slow to speak. Seizing this momentary pause, Sir Lucian, a man with which Nikolai had no previous quarrel, did shout from across the hall and demand that Nikolai take this opportunity to behave like a man, least he no longer be considered one.

Nikolai fell to the jibe, and rose to the challenge.

So it came to pass that Nikolai firmly grasped the favored shield of his homelands and made it his own.