One of the games my re-enacting group plays here in Perth is called Combat Archery. It's like paintball but with maximum 30lb recurve bows, wooden arrows with rubber tips, and body armour required.
We adopted it from the SCA, and if you're into archery, this is the game for you! Like bowhunting, but with targets that shoot back.
This page is to share a basic intro, not so much to the rules and regulations of Combat Archery, but more of a visual explanation, showcasing the different types of combatants who take the field. There really is a great amount of variety at any given bout, so don't think that CA armour is boring or uniform. We are still a historical based group, but some of us like to use CA as a chance to make and use some more fantastical designs, away from the public eye. So we might mix dark ages with 15th century with Lord of the Rings.
The official rules of Combat Archery within Grey Company were originally adopted from SCA regs, but have since been changed by Grey Company to suit our needs. As with everything, they are an evolving item.
Rusty's page of essential Combat Archery info can be found here: http://members.iinet.net.au/~rmine/temp ... tials.html
A lengthy overview of what CA is and entails can be found here: http://members.iinet.net.au/~rmine/temp/ca_intro2.html
Here's a pic of 3 different types of combatants - archers (1), crossbowmen (2), and infantry (3):
Combat Archery - Archery Paintball (500K of pics)
Moderator: Moderators
Combat Archery - Archery Paintball (500K of pics)
- Attachments
-
- 1.jpg (30.51 KiB) Viewed 4352 times
Last edited by Mububban on Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
When I tell people I shoot my friends with arrows, they usually ask "Does it hurt?" Usually not if you get hit in an armoured part 
We don't allow bare skin, fabric is the minimum, plus a kidney belt, knee and elbow pads (or vambraces), a foam neck brace, groin protection, and a minimum 1.6mm steel helm with a steel reinforced, steel mesh face grill are the minimum requirements.
The arrows are Tasmanian Oak 8mm dowel from Bunnings (we banned 10mm recently as they pack more of a whallop), maximum arrow length is 28 inches to limit power and momentum, and 30lb bow max power, and only recurve or longbows. No compounds.
Here is one of our specially designed blunt rubber arrow heads.
We don't allow bare skin, fabric is the minimum, plus a kidney belt, knee and elbow pads (or vambraces), a foam neck brace, groin protection, and a minimum 1.6mm steel helm with a steel reinforced, steel mesh face grill are the minimum requirements. The arrows are Tasmanian Oak 8mm dowel from Bunnings (we banned 10mm recently as they pack more of a whallop), maximum arrow length is 28 inches to limit power and momentum, and 30lb bow max power, and only recurve or longbows. No compounds.
Here is one of our specially designed blunt rubber arrow heads.
- Attachments
-
- 2.jpg (6.93 KiB) Viewed 4350 times
Last edited by Mububban on Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I've played paintball, and let me tell you, that hurts more than combat archery. But they're both not too bad. Kind of like a really hard flick - unless it gets you in an unprotected area, it stings for about 10 seconds, then goes away. Bruises happen, but I've seen worse playing cricket than I have doing archery and fighting with swords.
Archers and crossbowmen need to be relatively light and mobile. Chain mail gives good protection, but a knee to elbow hauberk weighing 16kg limits running ability. So archers usually go for lighter options.
This is me and my kit. Short of not wearing body armour (besides the minmum requirements), padding is the lightest (but hottest) option:
1 - Helm - 1.6mm spun steel bowl with close wire mesh face plate
2 - Shield - 2 ply chipboard, painted and fitted with straps. Worn over my 3mm leather vambraces
3 - Hood - Fabric or leather, to foul arrows in the neck region
4 - Neck brace - foam neck brace from the chemist. I've reinforced mine with a layer of 4mm leather over the top (you can't see it from behind)
5 - Back quiver - This thing rules. Holds ~15 arrows and is super fast and smooth to draw from
6 - Hip quiver - holds another 25 arrows
7 - Kidney belt - heavy leather weightlifting kidney belt with copper plates for extra protection (and aesthetics)
8 - Gambeson - 8 layers of synthetic quilting fabric, in cotton and stitched in a diamond pattern. Basically a big blanket, so it's hot as hell but light and stops arrows surprisingly well
9 - Leg armour - knee to ankle plastic baseball catcher's leg armour
I'd just like to say that back quivers aren't just a wanky Hollywood thing. They really work! I used mine for the first time when these photos were taken, and it's the first one I've seen in my group in my CA experience. And it rocks! It is super fast and really smooth to draw from over the shoulder. Pity it only fits 15 of the big blunt heads, coz I can fire reasonably quickly, hence me lugging around 40 arrows. Also, if your quiver gets hit, the arrows can't be used in that bout until they're rechecked for possible breakages, so having a backup quiver is a big plus if one gets nailed.
Archers and crossbowmen need to be relatively light and mobile. Chain mail gives good protection, but a knee to elbow hauberk weighing 16kg limits running ability. So archers usually go for lighter options.
This is me and my kit. Short of not wearing body armour (besides the minmum requirements), padding is the lightest (but hottest) option:
1 - Helm - 1.6mm spun steel bowl with close wire mesh face plate
2 - Shield - 2 ply chipboard, painted and fitted with straps. Worn over my 3mm leather vambraces
3 - Hood - Fabric or leather, to foul arrows in the neck region
4 - Neck brace - foam neck brace from the chemist. I've reinforced mine with a layer of 4mm leather over the top (you can't see it from behind)
5 - Back quiver - This thing rules. Holds ~15 arrows and is super fast and smooth to draw from
6 - Hip quiver - holds another 25 arrows
7 - Kidney belt - heavy leather weightlifting kidney belt with copper plates for extra protection (and aesthetics)
8 - Gambeson - 8 layers of synthetic quilting fabric, in cotton and stitched in a diamond pattern. Basically a big blanket, so it's hot as hell but light and stops arrows surprisingly well
9 - Leg armour - knee to ankle plastic baseball catcher's leg armour
I'd just like to say that back quivers aren't just a wanky Hollywood thing. They really work! I used mine for the first time when these photos were taken, and it's the first one I've seen in my group in my CA experience. And it rocks! It is super fast and really smooth to draw from over the shoulder. Pity it only fits 15 of the big blunt heads, coz I can fire reasonably quickly, hence me lugging around 40 arrows. Also, if your quiver gets hit, the arrows can't be used in that bout until they're rechecked for possible breakages, so having a backup quiver is a big plus if one gets nailed.
- Attachments
-
- 3.jpg (37.46 KiB) Viewed 4348 times
Last edited by Mububban on Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Second example - leather lamellar. Individual lames are cut from ~4mm leather, holes are punched in the lames, then it's all laced together with round leather lacing to form the armour.
1 - 30lb recurve bow. No compounds allowed, only recurve or longbow
2 - 28 inch wooden arrow with rubber blunt head. Aerodynamics aren't that great as you'd imagine, so long range kills are a real bonus. Still possible though, and extremely satisfying
3 - leather glove and leather vambraces for hand and forearm protection
4 - mesh faced helm, incorporating steel around the back for neck protection
5 - thin leather hood
6 - leather lamellar body armour, no kidney belt required with this armour
7 - sword carried in sheath. Note, archers usually wear thing gloves so they can shoot better, but to fight you must wear our minimum 2-layer sword fighting gloves. How this guy manages to wear chunky gloves and still shoot so well is beyond me
1 - 30lb recurve bow. No compounds allowed, only recurve or longbow
2 - 28 inch wooden arrow with rubber blunt head. Aerodynamics aren't that great as you'd imagine, so long range kills are a real bonus. Still possible though, and extremely satisfying
3 - leather glove and leather vambraces for hand and forearm protection
4 - mesh faced helm, incorporating steel around the back for neck protection
5 - thin leather hood
6 - leather lamellar body armour, no kidney belt required with this armour
7 - sword carried in sheath. Note, archers usually wear thing gloves so they can shoot better, but to fight you must wear our minimum 2-layer sword fighting gloves. How this guy manages to wear chunky gloves and still shoot so well is beyond me
- Attachments
-
- 4.jpg (79.53 KiB) Viewed 4344 times
-
- 5.jpg (4.86 KiB) Viewed 4344 times
Last edited by Mububban on Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
3rd option - padding and metal lamellar.
1 - cloth hip quiver. Buy old jeans from thrift store, cut the legs off, sew the wider end shut to give the blunts room, stitch on some belt loops, and you've got a quiver!
2 - lovely Mongolian (?) style bow
3 - arm guards made from thin leather, with thicker leather lames over the top
4 - metal lamellar. Individual metal lames laced with round leather lacing
5 - short gambeson only goes to hip length. Combined with lamellar, no kidney belt required
6 - pants have bright blue high density foam padding stitched in them for leg protection
1 - cloth hip quiver. Buy old jeans from thrift store, cut the legs off, sew the wider end shut to give the blunts room, stitch on some belt loops, and you've got a quiver!
2 - lovely Mongolian (?) style bow
3 - arm guards made from thin leather, with thicker leather lames over the top
4 - metal lamellar. Individual metal lames laced with round leather lacing
5 - short gambeson only goes to hip length. Combined with lamellar, no kidney belt required
6 - pants have bright blue high density foam padding stitched in them for leg protection
- Attachments
-
- 7.jpg (8.69 KiB) Viewed 4341 times
-
- 6.jpg (53.48 KiB) Viewed 4341 times
This is an action shot taken from long range, showing an infantryman stalking the fort of a lone archer.
Fighters carry large shields, swords to kill us with, plus they'll generally wear all their cool gear. Chain mail, 15th century plate armour, metal fish scale lamellar, even steel "gladiator muscle armour" bought from online.
We can't shoot them within 5 metres for safety reasons,a nd as they're charging us down, we onyl do half draws for safety again.
1 - large Saxon oval shield. Curved 3-5 ply covered in calico & glue, then painted
2 - chainmail hauberk - about 16kg/35lb of butted mild steel rings. Obviously not up to real combat standards, but for our purposes, works very well
3 - scale - tombstone shaped scales, rivetted onto 3mm butt leather. Roughly 12kgs/26lb
4 - chainmail mitten on sword hand. Obviously makes the sword arm much heavier, but gives great hand protection. Requires arms like this guy's to use
5 - sword is 3mm edged spring steel, properly heat treated for combat. Don't let anyone tell you 3mm swords are slow and clunky.
It's very hard to shoot past a big shield. Legs and tops of heads are about it, unless you can flank them and shoot them from behind.
Fighters carry large shields, swords to kill us with, plus they'll generally wear all their cool gear. Chain mail, 15th century plate armour, metal fish scale lamellar, even steel "gladiator muscle armour" bought from online.
We can't shoot them within 5 metres for safety reasons,a nd as they're charging us down, we onyl do half draws for safety again.
1 - large Saxon oval shield. Curved 3-5 ply covered in calico & glue, then painted
2 - chainmail hauberk - about 16kg/35lb of butted mild steel rings. Obviously not up to real combat standards, but for our purposes, works very well
3 - scale - tombstone shaped scales, rivetted onto 3mm butt leather. Roughly 12kgs/26lb
4 - chainmail mitten on sword hand. Obviously makes the sword arm much heavier, but gives great hand protection. Requires arms like this guy's to use
5 - sword is 3mm edged spring steel, properly heat treated for combat. Don't let anyone tell you 3mm swords are slow and clunky.
It's very hard to shoot past a big shield. Legs and tops of heads are about it, unless you can flank them and shoot them from behind.
- Attachments
-
- 8.jpg (37.15 KiB) Viewed 4340 times
And here are a handful of other action shots, courtesy of my girlfriend:
Note the muscle armour on the left. It looks great on the field combined with a costume and all the other bits of armour. It makes a great sound like a ringing bell when you nail it too
Note the muscle armour on the left. It looks great on the field combined with a costume and all the other bits of armour. It makes a great sound like a ringing bell when you nail it too
- Attachments
-
- 9.jpg (110.6 KiB) Viewed 4335 times
-
- 10.jpg (30.78 KiB) Viewed 4335 times
-
- 11.jpg (29.36 KiB) Viewed 4335 times
-
- 12.jpg (54.08 KiB) Viewed 4335 times
Great costumes and nice looking bows.
We're the largest single group in Australia, we've got about 80 members on the books, maybe half that are what I'd call "active members."
Grey Company is 22 years old this week, but archery is relatively new in the group. We have normal training every week but we never really practise archery due to space and safety constraints, so the only practise most of us get is when we actually play CA.
That said, on a normal combat archery day we'd probably have two teams of 3-6 archers, complemented by 1-3 swordsmen per team, and we normally have 2-4 sideline archers, who are unarmoured shooters who are usually assigned teams. They stand outside the boundary area and lob arrows at their opposing team. To "kill" them you have to knock over a life object, usually a branch or tree stump that's set about 8-10m right on front of them. So in order to take them out, you've got to march right up to them and hope they don't ping the top of your helmet above your shield
We used to cross pollinate with the local SCA for combat archery days, but their main driving force in archery went back to uni so their interest in CA kind of died off. Sad, because we used to have up to 20 people on the field which is just intense.
I love paintball too, but at least we can pick up our arrows and use them again
Grey Company is 22 years old this week, but archery is relatively new in the group. We have normal training every week but we never really practise archery due to space and safety constraints, so the only practise most of us get is when we actually play CA.
That said, on a normal combat archery day we'd probably have two teams of 3-6 archers, complemented by 1-3 swordsmen per team, and we normally have 2-4 sideline archers, who are unarmoured shooters who are usually assigned teams. They stand outside the boundary area and lob arrows at their opposing team. To "kill" them you have to knock over a life object, usually a branch or tree stump that's set about 8-10m right on front of them. So in order to take them out, you've got to march right up to them and hope they don't ping the top of your helmet above your shield
We used to cross pollinate with the local SCA for combat archery days, but their main driving force in archery went back to uni so their interest in CA kind of died off. Sad, because we used to have up to 20 people on the field which is just intense.
I love paintball too, but at least we can pick up our arrows and use them again
Combat Archery - you need your head read 
Then again there are all those maniacs swinging blades at each other
Then again there are all those maniacs swinging blades at each other
Grahame.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
GrahameA}Combat Archery - you need your head read
Then again there are all those maniacs swinging blades at each other
Hehe, it's the best fun ever. And people always think sword fighting is dangerous, and they go nuts when I tell them we shoot each other with arrows
But with the training stages we have to go through, and the mandatory armour requirements, it's as safe as we can make it. Eastern states clubs have a reputation of being a lot crazier and hard hitting than us "soft" westerners
However, whenever a contingent of us head over east for the 2 yearly medieval group conference, we tend to clean up. I've seen waaaay more injuries and blood and broken bones etc in cricket, basketball, fotty etc than swinging a sword or firing a bow!
Being a previous GC member (one of the founding members) I can vouch for their safety record during the time that I was there.Mububban wrote:... But with the training stages we have to go through, and the mandatory armour requirements, it's as safe as we can make it.
....
I've seen waaaay more injuries and blood and broken bones etc in cricket, basketball, fotty etc than swinging a sword or firing a bow!
It was one of the reasons that I wanted to get a horsebow and do trad archery.
It certainly was a lot of fun.
Happy shooting all
We have this thing that our group does called a bear hunt. One member dresses up in as much armour as he can manage, and is then dressed in a brown blanket overcoat. He is the 'bear'. The other members use colored electrical tape to personalise their arrows, which are tipped with either mechanical small game heads or feild tips. They are the 'hunters'.
The aim of the game: to have as many of your arows sticking out of the bear at the end of whatever specified time. The bear, of course, is evading as much as possible this end.
No piccies though, I'm afraid.
Mububban, I've almost finished my own steel spangenhelm, next is a gambeson and maybe a hauberk.
On blunts, if you go to your local archery shop and ask for small game rubber blunts, you'll find they are very nearly the same thing as what you use.
Dave
The aim of the game: to have as many of your arows sticking out of the bear at the end of whatever specified time. The bear, of course, is evading as much as possible this end.
No piccies though, I'm afraid.
Mububban, I've almost finished my own steel spangenhelm, next is a gambeson and maybe a hauberk.
On blunts, if you go to your local archery shop and ask for small game rubber blunts, you'll find they are very nearly the same thing as what you use.
Dave
https://www.instagram.com/armworks_australia/
Bow making courses, knife making courses, armour making courses and more:
http://www.tharwavalleyforge.com/
Articles to start making bows:
http://www.tharwavalleyforge.com/index. ... /tutorials
Bow making courses, knife making courses, armour making courses and more:
http://www.tharwavalleyforge.com/
Articles to start making bows:
http://www.tharwavalleyforge.com/index. ... /tutorials
-
danceswithdingoes
- Posts: 567
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 5:48 pm
- Location: Kyogle NSW
Man I thought paintball was cool but that combat archery has to be the coolest thing ive seen for a long time.
If they had it in sydney id be starting to prepare my combat suit already.
Do they have it in sydney?
Imagine if you had a couple of hundred archers all doing big clout assaults. That'd just be so much fun. Can you wear motorbike helmets?
Me and some mates had slug gun fights once when we were young wearing motor bike helmets and body armour etc until one guy got shot in the lip somehow. That pretty much ended it.
If they had it in sydney id be starting to prepare my combat suit already.
Do they have it in sydney?
Imagine if you had a couple of hundred archers all doing big clout assaults. That'd just be so much fun. Can you wear motorbike helmets?
Me and some mates had slug gun fights once when we were young wearing motor bike helmets and body armour etc until one guy got shot in the lip somehow. That pretty much ended it.
Look up historical re-enactment groups in the Sydney area and you might find a group that plays CA. The NVG (New Varangian Guard) are one group I know of that do CA, but I don't know if they're in Sydney.
I doubt that a motorbike helmet would be allowed. Seeing as we are all historical groups, we don't allow camouflage suits or perspex face shields. Being safe while looking as historical as possible is our aim.
The SCA have a huge annual event called Pennsic, they have to limit it to 10,000 people a year because any more and you officially need a post office etc. They have huge contingents of archers who can then obviously do arrow storms. Now that would be worth going back to the USA for.
I doubt that a motorbike helmet would be allowed. Seeing as we are all historical groups, we don't allow camouflage suits or perspex face shields. Being safe while looking as historical as possible is our aim.
The SCA have a huge annual event called Pennsic, they have to limit it to 10,000 people a year because any more and you officially need a post office etc. They have huge contingents of archers who can then obviously do arrow storms. Now that would be worth going back to the USA for.
Mububban
You will have Jeffro salivating at the mere thought of it.
You will have Jeffro salivating at the mere thought of it.
http://users.tpg.com.au/gpost/index.htmCombat Archery 1(Shooting Shields), Combat Archery 2, Javelineers
Nemas enjoyed 2004s demonstration of combat archery in the forest and so welcomes all combat archers to bring their gear. We envisage The Barlin/ Gapps Archery in Combat (Shooting at Shields) will be trained for on Saturday morning during the phalanx scenario and exhibited on Saturday after the markets and lunch. NVG rules will then follow and almost simultaneously a feat of arms exhibition of javelineers. Nemas invites folk with fustiballs to also bring them with appropriately “authenticised” ammo.
Grahame.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
Dusting off an old topic, here's a group photo from a recent combat archery event, and one of my in my kit, sans helmet - back quiver, hip quiver, cheapo fibreglass 25lb bow, arm shield, baseball leg guards peeking out from under my pants, and my lord of the rings Faramir armour with Rohan inspired leather shoulder pauldrons. Normally the gambeson is enough to soak up any arrow hits, but the leather armour over the top makes it even better, and mobility doesn't suffer either. All that strapping for the quivers and belts etc is another story :
:- Attachments
-
- group.jpg (106.07 KiB) Viewed 3574 times
-
- faramir armour.jpg (47.06 KiB) Viewed 3576 times
Mububban, mate, this stuff looks awesome. It is like my dream to do that kind of thing. Damn Tassie doesn't have anything like that. I love the whole medieval theme and even more the idea of battles.
I did go paintballing once and that was a blast but would be nothing compared to having battles doing ARCHERY !!! I am so pumped to do some of this. I'll have to start up a combat group in Tassie.
What would starting up one of these clubs involve ?
How do I get in touch with the national body ?
Also, Can I order some of the rubber blunts online at all ?
Is it possible to post movie clips on this site ? You know what I'm thinking.
Thanks for sharing Mububban. Even though it has made me more jealous than I've ever been in my life.
Keep the pics coming.
Oliver
I did go paintballing once and that was a blast but would be nothing compared to having battles doing ARCHERY !!! I am so pumped to do some of this. I'll have to start up a combat group in Tassie.
What would starting up one of these clubs involve ?
How do I get in touch with the national body ?
Also, Can I order some of the rubber blunts online at all ?
Is it possible to post movie clips on this site ? You know what I'm thinking.
Thanks for sharing Mububban. Even though it has made me more jealous than I've ever been in my life.
Keep the pics coming.
Oliver
"Archery may not be the sport of kings. But it is definitely the KING OF SPORTS."-Howard Hill
Slightly Off Topic
Mub
Last Sunday I was shooting longbows and i was doing a little bit of teching with a new chap using a 30lb glass bow and Flu-flus with blunts.
The blunts were punching their way through 3/4" of Cardboard at 20 metres every now and then. Crikey they would hurt.
(BTW The Flu-flus have six full height fletches on them.)
Last Sunday I was shooting longbows and i was doing a little bit of teching with a new chap using a 30lb glass bow and Flu-flus with blunts.
The blunts were punching their way through 3/4" of Cardboard at 20 metres every now and then. Crikey they would hurt.
(BTW The Flu-flus have six full height fletches on them.)
Grahame.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
Slightly Off Topic
Mub
Last Sunday I was shooting longbows and i was doing a little bit of teching with a new chap using a 30lb glass bow and Flu-flus with blunts.
The blunts were punching their way through 3/4" of Cardboard at 20 metres every now and then. Crikey they would hurt.
(BTW The Flu-flus have six full height fletches on them.)
Last Sunday I was shooting longbows and i was doing a little bit of teching with a new chap using a 30lb glass bow and Flu-flus with blunts.
The blunts were punching their way through 3/4" of Cardboard at 20 metres every now and then. Crikey they would hurt.
(BTW The Flu-flus have six full height fletches on them.)
Grahame.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.
"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.
Most bows are under 28lb to be safe, and remember most of us as you can see are wearing body armour And most of our bows aren't that expensive so they're not that efficient either. Except one guy who found a beautiful Hoyt takedown recurve in a Cash Converters for about $100, and that damn thing hits like a freight train.
I got nailed in the back of the leg on Sunday, baggy trouser really help to foul arrows but this one still got through mostly, and it didn't really hurt. Paintballs through your overalls hurt more.
I've been shot in the adam's apple and the basic foam neckbrace from the chemist soaked it up. But after that I stitched some 4mm leather over the top of it. I got shot in the side of the neck a few games ago and I felt it but it didn't transmit any oomph into me.
One woman wearing the steel lamellar got shot by the guy with the Hoyt right at the outer edge of her armour, so there were no additional lames to spread the impact. They're only mild steel lames so one of them got bent inwards and the term Stinging Nipple Syndrome was coined.
This is the same lady I've also shot in the groin a few times seeing as the blunts tend to drop more than you think. Guys wear cricket protectors, girls usually cut out a girly-bits shaped piece of mouse mat rubber, 2 or 3 layers thick to protect the pubic bone.
I did shoot on girl in the unprotected arm and gave her a bruise the size of my entire hand. I should have taken a photo, it had every colour of the rainbow after a few days Now she wears leather arm guards hahaha. But she bruises easily anyway. I saw one girl at paintball get pegged in the inner thigh and in 5 minutes she had a fist sized purple/green/red/yellow bruise spreading from the impact point.
Other than the odd minor bruise or someone slipping on the pea gravel, we haven't had any major injuries. Hooray for safety precautions!
And most of our bows aren't that expensive so they're not that efficient either. Except one guy who found a beautiful Hoyt takedown recurve in a Cash Converters for about $100, and that damn thing hits like a freight train. I got nailed in the back of the leg on Sunday, baggy trouser really help to foul arrows but this one still got through mostly, and it didn't really hurt. Paintballs through your overalls hurt more.
I've been shot in the adam's apple and the basic foam neckbrace from the chemist soaked it up. But after that I stitched some 4mm leather over the top of it. I got shot in the side of the neck a few games ago and I felt it but it didn't transmit any oomph into me.
One woman wearing the steel lamellar got shot by the guy with the Hoyt right at the outer edge of her armour, so there were no additional lames to spread the impact. They're only mild steel lames so one of them got bent inwards and the term Stinging Nipple Syndrome was coined.
This is the same lady I've also shot in the groin a few times seeing as the blunts tend to drop more than you think. Guys wear cricket protectors, girls usually cut out a girly-bits shaped piece of mouse mat rubber, 2 or 3 layers thick to protect the pubic bone.
I did shoot on girl in the unprotected arm and gave her a bruise the size of my entire hand. I should have taken a photo, it had every colour of the rainbow after a few days
Now she wears leather arm guards hahaha. But she bruises easily anyway. I saw one girl at paintball get pegged in the inner thigh and in 5 minutes she had a fist sized purple/green/red/yellow bruise spreading from the impact point. Other than the odd minor bruise or someone slipping on the pea gravel, we haven't had any major injuries. Hooray for safety precautions!
More info about shooting people.
Hi All,
As Mububban poninted out in his initial post, this world-of–fun is based on the SCA combat archery rules.
For those who don't know, the SCA has about 1000+ members in Aust & NZ and manages to put a few hundred combatants on the field each Easter with lots of archers (about 250 authorised for combat as of Jan this year) in the mix.
The wars are a genuine target rich environment for the archers – especially the fort battles. Imagine firing out of 15' towers down into a swirling melee of infantry trying to force their way through a heavily defended gate - turkey shoots have never been this much fun, it's better than anything Hollywood can come up with.
There are a lot of groups around Australia (all capitals except Darwin AND including Tassie, oliver!), as well as NZ and the world. The Sydney group is the biggest The home page for the Australian chapter is here;
www.sca.org.au
There is a group guide on the page and the info about archery is in the Marshal section on the left-hand side of the page. If you are interested in having a go and there are no other groups near you then why not get in touch and have a go. Hell, even if there are other groups, why limit yourself, shooting people is fun no matter what flavour they are!
FYI. The SCA also runs an Inter-Kingdom Archery Competition (IKAC) with various divisions up to fully period, so you can pit your skill with a longbow & period arrows against folk from all over the world if that's your thing.
Hope this is of use to those who are interested in this kind of thing.
Cheers,
Armbruise.
As Mububban poninted out in his initial post, this world-of–fun is based on the SCA combat archery rules.
For those who don't know, the SCA has about 1000+ members in Aust & NZ and manages to put a few hundred combatants on the field each Easter with lots of archers (about 250 authorised for combat as of Jan this year) in the mix.
The wars are a genuine target rich environment for the archers – especially the fort battles. Imagine firing out of 15' towers down into a swirling melee of infantry trying to force their way through a heavily defended gate - turkey shoots have never been this much fun, it's better than anything Hollywood can come up with.
There are a lot of groups around Australia (all capitals except Darwin AND including Tassie, oliver!), as well as NZ and the world. The Sydney group is the biggest The home page for the Australian chapter is here;
www.sca.org.au
There is a group guide on the page and the info about archery is in the Marshal section on the left-hand side of the page. If you are interested in having a go and there are no other groups near you then why not get in touch and have a go. Hell, even if there are other groups, why limit yourself, shooting people is fun no matter what flavour they are!
FYI. The SCA also runs an Inter-Kingdom Archery Competition (IKAC) with various divisions up to fully period, so you can pit your skill with a longbow & period arrows against folk from all over the world if that's your thing.
Hope this is of use to those who are interested in this kind of thing.
Cheers,
Armbruise.
The SCA is a good start if you're near one. However if you're not interested in the historical side of things (costume etc) then you'll need:What would starting up one of these clubs involve ?
How do I get in touch with the national body ?
Also, Can I order some of the rubber blunts online at all ?
Is it possible to post movie clips on this site ? You know what I'm thinking.
You'll need:
- a bunch of likeminded people
- non-penetrable armour for groin, neck/throat, face, head
- blunt arrow heads (I can give you the contact of the "official" blunts we use if you like - PM me if you're interested)
- low poundage bows
- a large playing field, preferably with some obstacles to hide behind (playing on a footy oval is boring) and preferably away from Joe Public who loves to wander right through the middle of whatever you're doing
- agreed rules of play, including equipment strength, size and weight limits to make the risk of injury or death as low as possible
- body armour of some sort is highly recommended, unless you dig pain and bruises
I totally 100% recommend seeing how an established group plays the game if you can. You are firing projectiles at another human, so you need to be confident that you or they aren't going to get hurt or killed.
And if I had a video camera I'd definitely post some clips. Alas, I do not.
I would love to take part in something on that scale. Although I imagine arrows would have a much shorter life with so many heavies stomping around?Imagine firing out of 15' towers down into a swirling melee of infantry trying to force their way through a heavily defended gate - turkey shoots have never been this much fun, it's better than anything Hollywood can come up with.
How do those tin cans even hear it when they get hit with all the commotion around them? I imagine you'd score a few kills that wouldn't get noticed in all the ruckus?
Do you guys have to use fibreglass shafts as in USA so they can survive being stomped? Or do Aussie rules still use wood shafts?
We used to get maybe 6 SCA archers coming along to our shoots but mnot for the last year or 3, their main enthusiast moved away so it kind of died. But it's just got stronger in our group, and I've got a new SCA Perth contact who's also a rabid CA fan so fingers crossed we can cross pollinate
As you said, doesn't matter who they are, a target is a target!
You can get in touch with the national body via me, I'm a subcommittee member.Mububban wrote:What would starting up one of these clubs involve ?
How do I get in touch with the national body ?
Also, Can I order some of the rubber blunts online at all ?
The rules used vary depending on the location and host group, I don't have the Grey Company's rules but would like to link to them. Links to the NSW, Victorian and Queensland rules are at http://www.geocities.com/legviiii/combat.htm. Let me know where you are and I'll put you in touch with the nearest club.
Rubber blunts are available from Canberra, the link is in http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/histor ... message/14, unit price was $1.10.
Cheers, Wayne