I now have all my arm and leg armor pieces:

As you can probably tell, I’m piecing my armor together from a limited supply off-the-shelf selection. The pauldrons and vambraces match each other, and the greaves and cuisses match each other, but the top doesn’t match the bottom. I’m ok with this. I’m building an adventurer’s kit, not a nobleman’s gear. But even though I’m putting together a “Frankenharness”, I’m still choosing real, strong, protective armor pieces. Everything is between 18 and 16 gauge thickness, and the plates overlap in several places, so I’m well protected. Now I just need my torso armor — I’ve ordered a mail haubergeon and a breastplate.

Oh, and this sword is new to my collection, also. But unlike my other swords that are battle ready and sharp, this is an unsharpened weapon for sport combat. I’m planning to wear this armor for Halloween (and Ren-faires in the future), so I figured I should get a safer sword to wear (and wield) when around people — especially, potentially, children. This sword is a spadona: almost 47 inches long, and under 3.5 pounds. The point of balance is only 4 inches from the hilt, so it is easy to wield even with the weight. It’s designed for battle — blade-on-blade and blade-on-armor contact — so it’s strong and solid. I really like this sword, a lot.

The Old Adventurer