[MR] curiosity plastic armor question

[Gorm of Berra]

OKay, time for the lone voice in the wilderness to step up...

Assuming you count kydex as plastic (it's certainly discriminated against 
in the new rules, so it should count, IMO), I always have, and still do.

And I like it, and I intend to continue using it.

Some would say it goes against "The Spirit of the SCA", I would say 
hogwash.  The wonderful thing about the SCA is that members (up until 37 
days from now) have never been required to be put in the position of saying 
"Your effort isn't good enough to compete" before.

If I want to enter my metalcasting in an A&S competition for castings, even 
though the sprue is roughly cut, the pattern I copied is from 1850, and my 
documentation amounts to "I saw this on DiY", noone will say "I'm sorry, 
Gorm, you can't enter".

I won't win (almost certainly), and the comments I get might be harsh, but 
I *can* enter, I *can* learn, and it is possible that the experience will 
motivate me to get better.

Now, however, our Marshals are being forced to make that 
decision.  Admittedly, the rule is allegedly easy to comply 
with...*now*.  What will tomorrow bring?  Duke Logan himself admitted that 
he chose to do this because it seemed to be low hanging fruit in an area 
that offended him.

I'm offended by lousy Heraldic display...if I win Crown, can I ban all 
nonregistered Heraldry?

My armor isn't the prettiest on the field.  At one time, I had gauntlets 
that were, to put it mildly, butt ugly.

I don't focus on heavy fighting, I do it as exercise and to learn.

People say that we should give newbies slack, but those who want to stick 
around should get better stuff.  That's fine, but when do you stop being a 
newbie?

Alternatively, why not say "Anyone can fight, but if you want to get 
recognized for fighting (say, becoming a Sea Stag, or a Knight) you need to 
not only be the hot stick, but also have kit that is decently period".

Or have the Knights (where apparently this entire thing developed) say 
"Hmmm, you're squire material, but your kit needs to be upgraded to show 
you're serious before I take you as a squire"

Or award the prizes for the tournaments not to the person who can throw the 
hardest shot, but to the person who exemplifies period fighting styles 
best, including his/her kit?

Heavy fighting has almost nothing to do with Medieval combat.  The 
predominant style on this Coast was invented in the 1970's.

Or, start doing rules that use "Armor as worn".  Got full gothic 
plate?  Cool, you're immune to singlehanded sword blows that strike the 
plate.  Got boiled leather and chain?  Alright, you're protected against 
the first blow, but the second one kills you.  Got SCA minimum made out of 
kydex?  Sorry dude, no calling blows "light" for you, you're effectively 
fighting in a tunic and pants, any contact will cut.

(These would take tweaking, certainly, but it's an idea, as opposed to 
"Everyone has to throw a tunic over it")

Okay, I understand the desire to make things better, but there were *so* 
many other possible ways this could have been done.  The way that was 
chosen is, to put it mildly, ill-chosen.  It won't do anything to boost our 
numbers, and if anything, it may reduce them.  It won't result in better 
armor, just more metal, or more swede covering kydex.  That isn't helping.

I only hope I'm wrong.

At 10:31 AM 10/24/2003 -0700, Becky McEllistrem wrote:
>For those people who started with plastic armor, how
>many tourneys did you actually fight with it before
>you decided you wanted something stronger?