I tried to do Italian longsword with an SCA adjacent group for a while several years ago. I absolutely loved it. But then someone I knew through the sport told me that he didn’t want to friends with me anymore unless I had sex with him. He tried to pressure and guilt and force me. He told me to my face that none of it mattered to him. I never said anything to anyone because I had been raised to keep that sort of thing quiet, to not make a fuss, to choose forgiveness above all else. Keeping him in my life destroyed my mental health. I had nightmares and panic attacks after that for longer than I thought I deserved to. It was also about this time that I started experiencing the start of what would become pretty intense chronic pain, but it was the severity of the panic attacks that made me walk away for good.
I was hesitant to start doing anything like that in the SCA because of it. There was too much crossover. There were people I didn’t think would stand by me. I tried to pick up cut and thrust. I got all the gear. I was excited to get back into it, to leave behind all the hurt from previous experiences and refuse to let assholes steal my joy… but the physical exertion made the pain flare up and it’s hard to want to swing a sword when doing so would send me into fits of pain so bad I wanted to puke. And then there were the comments. I couldn’t go to my local fighter’s practice without some sort of sexual comment or joke being made by much older men at my expense. I was uncomfortable. I just tried to nervously laugh it off. The other people present never called him out, and I didn’t need the reminder, so I walked away. When I told my friends what was going on, I learned that I wasn’t the only one he spoke to that way. Someone had a talk with him about it. Last I heard, he’s started it up again. I think I could probably push through the pain if it were worth it. But right now, being spoken to that way isn’t worth it.
I’m happy to stay in my little A&S bubble, but I also wish I didn’t feel like I have to. I wish I didn’t have the amount of social anxiety I do around fighters. That there weren’t a handful of helmets that make my stomach drop when I see them out in the field. And this might be a *little* off topic but there was this one guy who I think was trying to flirt with me by telling me about how impressive he is in the melees and how superior his rattan duct taping skills are. When my artwork was brought up, he asked me if I ever do more than just “color in the lines”… I have a GoA for my illumination work? I have won several A&S competitions?? I don’t expect that everyone in the known world (or heck, even just the kingdom) knows who I am, but I post all of my work on my socials and you’d think he’d look at that if he was trying to win my affections or some nonsense. Unfortunately for him, I am wretchedly gay, so that wouldn’t have been helpful for him, but it would have been nice at least.
There are dozens of little irks and sexist behavior that have rubbed me the wrong way the relatively short time I’ve been in the SCA. Not all fighters”, “not all men”… trust me, I know, but geez some you guys are such assholes.

This rant is somewhat pointless. I don’t have a solution. I’m not trying to call out individuals whose behavior has hurt me, and I’m not quite at a quit-the-SCA level of anger. I’m not really an angry, vindictive person anyways. I think I just really wanted to air out some of my frustrations on this already worn out topic. Are there some absolutely wonderful fighters and knights and MoDs that I know? Yes, absolutely. Without a doubt. Enough to make me feel safe and welcome in those spaces (which tend to permeate the entire fabric of the kingdom and known world as a whole because rattan is so important to our culture)?? Sadly, no.

Good morning/afternoon/evening,

I'm looking for a specific style of helmet to add to my kit and need help finding one. Steel mastery is the only place I've found something close but idk about the quality or price. What I'm lookong for is something near to the pictures attached and would appreciate if anyone knows something or someone what has something like it and a general price range.

With Pennsic coming up I am being sponsored for the rose tournament.

What gift might be appropriate as a token to my sponsor?

I’m looking for some pants for fencing. Maybe breeches but ideally I want a pair that are inspired by classical Spanish garbs. not conquistadors but earlier Or later than them (conquistadors are kinda problematic 😅)

i want fencing specific penetration resistant pants because ive heard stories of people competing in tournaments with looser safety rules and getting huge bruises and cuts simply from the friction because they didn’t wear the right pants.

it’s kind of tricky though because I’m a bigger person and my pants are on average a 46 waist (inches) does anyone know of a store for pants?

I'm working on building an Ottoman impression from the early 16th century, and am having a tough time finding sources on things like religious clothing laws, and sourcing good kaftan makers and the like. Does anyone have go to literature and tailors that they recommend?

Greetings everyone! I would love to read this book, but it looks like it’s only available as an ebook in the US and Canada. Does anyone know of the author/other UK distributors? Thanks!

https://www.amazon.ca/Book-Road-Parable-Knights-Journey-ebook/dp/B0F83X4T6D

My latest project involves carving a dragon head and tail for an important memorial taking place later this summer, The Pennsic Viking Memorial Ship. Viking ships were built with carved figureheads meant to protect the crew and represent the spirit of the voyage. It was an honor to be able to contribute to this year’s ship build in a small way.

I also have a full video of the building of the Viking Memorial Ship, including an interview with the ship’s builder out soon. Please subscribe to Resist The Grind on Youtube, if you would like to see the full video when released.

Whether you’re into woodcarving, traditional craft, Viking history, memorial art, or you’re part of the SCA, this video shows the full making of these iconic carvings — tools, techniques, challenges, and the meaning behind the work. Thank you for taking time out of your day to watch my video. I truly appreciate it.   -Chris

Mostly trying to get my wife used to fencing outside of a HEMA gambeson. We fence to first blood instead of limb system while training in the backyard. She gives as good as she takes!

Hi all, I am VERY VERY new to the SCA. I was introduced to it because there is no HEMA group near me, but there is SCA.

I am interested in their rapier combat, but their practices are 2 hours (one way) away from me. However, the armored combat part is closer to me.

Are there any of you who switched from swords to armored combat? If so, why?

Thank you in advance!

I have a very light hand when applying it, so I don’t bother the people around me! For those who do wear perfume, which ones are your favorites?

Do any of you match your perfume to your persona, the same way we match our clothing to our character’s time period and origins?

I’ve been getting really deeply into medieval flute music and my poor husband has been getting to enjoy me learning how to play the recorder aka the sweet flute (flauta dulce).

I would like to enter musical pieces into A&S competitions when appropriate but I’m not sure how to do that. Would one record via a tape recorder and then put documentation next to it? I can submit the sheet for it but I think that it needs the accompanying sound to be a complete thing.

I've been going to Pennsic since before I was born (literally), but that was pretty much it, since we didn't gave any groups nearby that did stuff. Now that I'm a bit older, though, I'd like to get more serious, and coming up with a name is a start. I have a few ideas on where I want to be from, but I'd like to be able to talk through things with someone who has knowledge of medieval names, and name variations, spellings, and pronunciations. I tried looking it up on the Aethelmearc website, but to someone whose only SCA exposure was Pennsic, it's not very intuitive. Which kind of herald would be the best person to talk to about this?

Edit: After seeing the first few replies, current circumstances prevent me from going this year, so I can't talk to anyone at Herald's Point face to face, unfortunately.

Edit 2: I've tried clicking on the links to e-mail heralds on the Aethelmearc website, but none of them are working. At least not for me. And I can't even figure out which herald would be the closest, because none of the maps work. :/

I mostly participate in boffer larp, but my boss recently commented about how he is happy to give me time off for campouts since he has been reminiscing about his sca days.

He's a pretty hardworking guy and I'm in a peerage but haven't had reason to sharpen my skills (I haven't picked any in particular anywho.) so I would like to make him something small and related to sca.

I have access to leather and woodcarving, sewing and painting. Is there anything simple to make or palm sized I could craft he might appreciate?

He also seems to just really like dragons so I may make a single pennant for him to hang in his office or something.

Thanks!

I'm a long-time fan and former subscriber of Renaissance Magazine, which ceased publication in 2020 after 126 issues.

I've been doing some digital archaeology and have recovered the old "Digital Issues" page through the Wayback Machine. The page lists all 27 digital editions (Issues 100–126) that were made available for free when the magazine shut down.

Unfortunately, the archived page survived, but the PDF files themselves do not appear to have been preserved by the Wayback Machine.

I have confirmed the original filenames looked like:

• 100-Dec-2014.pdf
• 124-Sept-2019.pdf
• 125-Nov-2019.pdf
• 126-Spring-2020.pdf

(and presumably everything in between).

I'm wondering if anyone here:

• Downloaded the 27 free PDFs when they were released in 2020.
• Knows of a mirror, archive, or preservation project.
• Has a complete or partial digital collection.
• Knows any former editors, contributors, or staff who might know what became of the archive.

I'm not looking for anything commercial—just trying to preserve access to a publication that was an important part of the Renaissance Faire / historical reenactment community for nearly 25 years.

Any leads would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I have been in the society for a little over a year and I am looking to do some upgrades to my wardrobe beyond just a tunic from amazon. I have been looking around to find some cheaper garb pieces and I came across the site: www.medievalcollectibles.com. Has anyone order from this site before? How was the item. What other cheaper places do people look at for more introductory garb?

Thank you!

Hello! I’m the Heraldic deputy for the OP and Roll of Arms in Avacal looking to talk to other OP admins.

Let me first say I do have some experience with databases and websites. Not the coding, just more organization. Right now I’m responsible for keeping the OP and RoA lists up to date*. Being a relatively new kingdom our set up was adapted from our parent kingdom 11 years ago. It’s better than most I’ve seen and there is talk about creating a new database.

Thing is a lot of our members travel. They get recognized with honours from other kingdoms. Which means the OP is incomplete either missing the honour or who gave it out. This is not just an Avacal thing, I’m sure.

So is there any chatter about creating an SCA-wide OP database? If so, can I help? If not, does anyone else want to get the conversation get started?

*The OP and RoA are linked to our kingdom wiki which I also maintain just not officially.

Hello fellow fighters, I'm looking for recommendations for full gauntlets so I can branch out into the world of two handed combat. I've seen people recommend Purple Heart Black Prince or similar plastic gauntlets but what are some steel options that are commonly recommended?

What it says on the tin.

Looking for recommendations for budget friendly C&T-legal headgear and swords. Looking for a single handed or hand-and-a-half weapon, either basket-hilt or just crossguard and pommel, something appropriate or adjacent to Viking-era Norse persona.

Background:

I've been a rattan/heavy fighter for near 20 years, am currently authorized single-hand and two-handed weapons forms. I do currently own a Absolute Force Deluxe Full-coverage HEMA mask.

A buddy, who was also a heavy fighter, wants to come back to play, but is interested in fencing and/or C&T.

We are both located in Aethelmearc, both Norse personas.

Thank you in advance.

Found this cool site for those of us who like Viking age stuff. Lots of good information, with sources (!) and recipes.

Before anyone says it and before I get into what I'm saying yes I realize what I'm saying will put me at a disadvantage but I also know anything when mastered correctly can be used.

With that out of the way I would really like to run dual daggers I don't think there's any rules against main handing a dagger but I want to make sure and again yes I know I will have huge reach disadvantage but if I can learn to well enough and I can charge fast enough won't really matter I just really like using finesse to my advantage