[Ansteorra-rapier] gauntlets and rapier

[Jay Rudin]

> I will correct a bit of my language from my previous post -- this
> is specifically a chain mail gauntlet, not any metal gauntlet. It is
> proof against CUTS, not thrusts.
   <snip>
> In answer to Rurik's query: No matter if the mail covers the
> palm or not, the palm can still be damaged if it grabs a blade.

So the chain mail gauntlet is proof against cuts on the back of the hand but not the front?  Or is it that a gauntlet is exactly like a buckler, and therefore protects against cuts, until the hand starts to grab, and suddenly the mail turns to cloth and gets sliced?

> In answer to Brian's question, yes, you can still grab the blade.
> I see no rule against it. However, given the rules I see little
> advantage to grasping with it rather than a leather gloved hand.

That's not a question that comes up, if I actually have a weapon in one hand.  I don't decide whether to use a gloved hand or a chainmailed hand to grab with -- I grab with the empty hand.  

If we are trying to simulate the sixteenth century, the advantage is obvious -- mail protects the hand from a cut.  That's what it's for -- to protect the hand when grabbing the blade.  Even under the weird rule about grasps, there's still a real advantage -- the mailed hand cannot be cut unless and until I succeed in grasping the blade.  Also, I could protect my hand by simply letting go and letting him do a real cut.  It's a completely unrealistic tactic, but it's forced by the unrealistic rule about a defensive secondary suddenly losing its defense when actually used for its only intended sixteenth century purpose.

> The purpose of this rule ... is to reduce incidents of fighters
> just hanging on to the blade and perhaps wrestling over it.

That seems backwards.  The only wrestling over the blade allowed in the rules, and the only wrestling I've seen, comes from the attempt to twist it.  Disallow that, and the wrestling is gone.

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin
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