Armour and Castings (http://www.armourandcastings.com/)

Three weeks ago, I ordered a custom pair of finger gauntlets, Milanese pauldrons, and a custom close helm for jousting. Beathan let me know that they were shipped a week ago last Saturday.

These are the finger gauntlets:

http://armourandcastings.com/catalog/product_...70f6779ac7

And yes, the price is correct, $120 for the pair!

The are copies of the Milanese pauldrons in the Glasgow Musuem and look a lot like the pauldrons on these pages:

http://www.bestarmour.com/ruce43.htm

Again, $120 for the pair!

And here is the helm:

[ Linked Image ]

The Skull and visor are 12ga and the gorget lames are 14ga. The cost - $240!


I received the pauldrons and gauntlets yesterday - and I can't find the words to describe how unbelievably beautiful, solid, and perfectly fitted they are!!

I cannot recommend Armour and Castings highly enough!

I will post pics when I get a chance.

GK Armoury -

I ordered a custom Gothic Breast and Backplate (14ga for jousting) from GK Armoury, letting Jeff know that I needed it quickly (I really wanted Allan to make it, but his que was WAY overfull)

Well, less than two weeks after I ordered this:

http://www.gkarmoury.com/gothicbreastplate.php

It arrived! It was perfectly fitted, articulated, and not only looks great but is super solid and will make a great joust kit. So I immediately ordered a custom lance rest to go with the kit.

Jeff is great to work with, keeps you informed almost daily on the progress of your suit and makes a near museum quality product. I highly recommend him to anyone looking for a new kit.

And, last but certainly not least - Allan at Mercenary Tailor is "Da Bomb"! http://www.merctailor.com/catalog/index.php

Not only has Allan made a custom helm for us to raffle off this weekend at our Medieval Faire, given me some seriously beautiful armour to destroy with period weapons (which will be videographed for all to see), but he found the time to custom make me a pair of 16th arms to joust in and got them to me in less than 2 weeks - While he was making stock to sell at his Ren Faire Shop!

I also bought a pair of "off the rack" greaves that not only fit like a glove, but look fantastic and are rock solid armour.

I thank all of these gentlemen for their work and am looking forward to ordering more from all of them in the future.

LLoyd i'm glad to hear your review of GK . I was unfamiliar with them until a customer asked my opinion a few weeks back and I took a look at the site. I REALLY like what I saw and now with your feedback I will be able to recommend these guys to folks for stuff we don't offer or that might suit thier style more. Thanks for the reviews. Damn sharp looking helmet from Armour And Castings too ! (these guys are already on my referal list).

You know, if you weren't so damn busy..... :D

Lloyd, those gauntlets sound like a very sweet deal. Pics would be wonderful (of course... :D ).

You said they fit well and look good - have you put them through any actual tests yet? I've had a hard time finding proper articulation, as most want to bind. No jousting or equine work - unfortunately, I'm walking - but a solid, functional set of fingered gauntlets would be very high on my list.

I've played around with them with both sword and waster and they work wonderfully. I will be jousting with them this weekend and will give a full report next week. Beathan even handmakes the gloves that are in them (which I figure to have to replace mid-season - not his fault, jousting is just tough on gloves).

This comes at a good time for me, Lloyd, thanks for the review! My group's been looking into better hand protection for unarmoured combat, and have been looking into inexpensive Indian import gauntlets. I'd seen these before, and it didn't even occur to me that they'd be functional for the price, but if you're successfully using them for waster and sword work, that sounds perfect.

Ordered a pair today to test out. If they're reasonable, I may start pushing them on my group, as our usual padded leather gauntlets just don't always do the trick (I'm missing a thumbnail at the moment).

I'm pretty much in the same spot as Bill... I need something functional, and would like something that looks decent. The other pieces I have been considering have been in the $650 - $900 range - just for gauntlets. The price has kept them off of my radar, but every time I get my knuckes rapped... :wtf: If it were going with a full historic harness, yeah, and I'll get them with the Gothic harness when I finally scrape the funds and take that plunge. For what I need now, these look great.

At $150 shipped for a custom set... wow! I think I can pull that one off... that "I want it" knife or spear can take a back seat to these if they'll foot the bill.

The price is good! I've often wondered why a 'leather strap' thumb articulation isn't more common than the 'riveted hinge'? It seems considerably simpler, as protective, and more articulate (if done right). Would love some more pictures, in use if possible :)

Thanks for the heads up.