WR - Patrick and April Woolery <fspfw at aurora.alaska.edu>: marshals and substandard armor

[Dennis J Dolan]

I'm just as guilty as the next person (maybe more so due to the belt and
age)
doran
Fight downhill; do not ascend to attack
Sun Tzu
--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: Patrick and April Woolery <fspfw at aurora.alaska.edu>
To: the-armory at Ansteorra.ORG
Subject: marshals and substandard armor
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 23:53:20 -0900
Message-ID: <l03130300b13fc37fdb12@[137.229.8.54]>
References: <679a4390.3519f010 at aol.com>

>> I have
>>encountered the idea that "he knows what he's doing, if he gets hurt
it's his
>>fault" as an excuse for letting substandard or illegal equipment on the
>field.
>>Please do not think your marshal is paranoid if he insists on the
letter of
>>the rules.  Nothing is more frustrating for a marshall than arguing
with his
>>friends about their equipment.


I have to share this:  one of our local fighters had just finished his
armor in time for a demo.  The marshal of the barony inspected all of us
before we could fight.  Turns out the new armor somehow was without a
gorget.  The marshal told the fighter "just don't get hit there" and let
him fight!

I am often surprised at how some people will try to use equipment that
just
barely fits the standards, or doesn't quite measure up.  These same
standards (at least in West) say that two layers of carpet is adequate
knee
protection, so I sure won't count on the stated minimums being enough for
my kidneys, neck, or other body parts.

I recently recieved some excellent advice about dealing with such a
situation: if I would not feel safe in that person's armor, I won't fight
him.  On a personal level, I will feel compelled to tell the other
fighter
why I am refusing to fight.  He may be new and honestly think that he has
enough protection.

Also, for all of you who do armor inspections, check the tip of the sword
for adequate tape.  I had a real fright when I got a piece of rattan in
my
right eye a couple of practices ago.  The sword was not properly taped
and
a tip shot skipped accross my eye slot, scraping a piece of rattan off of
the sword.  While I was slowly removing my helm, another guy tried to
help
me by giving the helm a good upward yank, without me knowing he was
there.
It just happened that the chinstrap was tight accross my right eye when
he
pulled.  Don't help a fighter who does not need or request help with
removing gear!!

I have to agree with Ulf about the cohones needed by any marshal.  Also a
thick skin that won't let another person's grumping get to him.

-Patrick



--------- End forwarded message ----------

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.