Rolf Devinci

Mid/late12th century armor prior to the introduction of early plate armor and great helms. The armor was based primarily upon a chain mail hauberk in the European 4 in 1 pattern worn over a three quarter length padded gambeson. The venerable nasal helmet was still being used in conjunction with an arming cap and chain mail coif. The lower extremities were usually covered by chain mail chausses that extended over the top of the foot. Leather gauntlets were often covered in chainmail as well for added hand protection. It was also the early beginnings of heraldry and the use of coat of arms - color patterns and symbols to represent combatants in the field. Found upon surcoats and the smaller, more agile heater shields it facilitated battlefield identification in the melee of medieval combat. The primary weapon remained the sword characterized by Oakeshott as the types XI to XIII having the cruciform hilt and either the brazil n...

Left the bows at home this mild Sunday morning and opted for my katana for some bottle cutting. I do collect swords but rarely practice with them of late simply because I do not have a suitable cutting stand. That changed when I picked up a bale of hay to use as arrow stop on my archery range. Turns out it makes a good bottle rest and is very forgiving upon the blade when making a "bad" strike. That said I had purchased a (cheaper) katana several years ago to use as my beater sword for drills and practice cutting. I had put it through some abuse in the past and does have some edge rolling, scratching and discoloration. Bought from Ryan Swords on Ebay it is forged from 1060 carbon steel and has held up fairly well. You may wonder why cutting bottles filled with water is appropriate for developing sword handling skills? In fact it is very effective.....if your strike is clumsy or your technique lacking the bottle is simply...

After a few years of being relegated to a glorified wall hanger I finally began shooting my 55#@28 Chinese recurve bow again. Having developed some shoulder issues the result of playing hockey and one too many bike crashes I had no choice but to cease using the bow. It simply became painful and very difficult to anchor the bow at full draw. Fortunately my shoulder issue has finally resolved itself due to my continued chiropractic care, my renewed focus on strength training and, probably, my retirement from being a ball hockey "runner" after I suffered a piriformis injury in September. This is a nice bow and a shame it was not being used so I decided to attempt shooting it again last month. Needless to say I was happy to be able to draw it without stiffness and pain. With a draw of 55 pounds it has some "pop" to say the least...especially in comparison to the 40 # Mongolian horse bow I had purchased (during my shoulder iss...