Not so here.
I try to avoid speaking about materials and other inanimate objects as though they possess any sort of power beyond their own abilities as inert matter...but I have to make exception to the rule today.
I was gifted with an extraordinarily beyond-the-norm sum of funds exclusively designated for "project materials". What this most commonly means is leather.
I dug into theleatherguy.org with a fervor, hoping something would catch my eye or I'd come across a particular tanning style of cowhide that I covet, etc. And that's when I found it.
It looked great online, and I figured I'd be able to do a lot with it, but when its 23 square feet of gorgeous brown oily goodness was first rolled out on my living room floor, this hide, for lack of a better term, spoke to me.
It had character that all but required its eventual use(s), and practically overnight it planned out its own first project...as if I was simply a means to an end for this half a cow, which clearly had its own intentions long before it got hold of me. Sounds kinda like a certain loop of Gold we all are rather well acquainted with.
*Re-wind a few months.*
My bracers are old. They are stiff with years upon years of sweat, salt, and toil. They show minimal craftsmanship, and one sports a crudely burned rendition of the White Tree which I grow less fond of with each passing use. What I considered quite utilitarian when I made them now, to me, shows a stark and complete lack of planning on my part which could have saved me many a gripe since I began using them.
*Fast-forward to two weeks ago.*
Function is everything for me these days. There's a direct reference to Vambraces in Tolkien's work, so finding an excuse for them needn't be a priority...I just need function. I have an expansive and well-organized collection of photographs collected from this forum, my own experiences, and Andy's old site that I look to as a quick-reference guide, and that was where I was when I happened upon a file dedicated to Andy's bracers. For those of you who aren't familiar with Andy's work, he generated two simple hand-drawn patterns for left- and right-handed bracers which spread over two images per pattern. These bracers were something special, because they solved the problem of laces getting in the way of a bowstring on the left arm (assuming a right-handed archer) by moving the laces down to the lower edge of the forearm on the one bracer, while maintaining the centered lacing on the other to maximize the protected area.
I decided that since this year I've decided to step my kit up another notch, and since this gorgeous cowhide found its way to my workbench, this would be my starting point. You know, as though I had a choice...that dead cow knew what it was doing all along.
For starters, here are Andy's patterns, assembled into complete sketches from the originals, showing the basic outline. If you wish to make something like these, the real trick is to use his as guidelines, but NOT to transfer them directly to your leather. Make careful measurements of your own arms, generate the shape onto cardboard, cut it out, and use it to test-fit the pattern to your body before ever cutting material.
The right one is the basic bracer shape. If you look at it carefully, all the left bracer pattern is is the right one, cut and pasted back together to re-position the seam.
Andy's actual finished bracers are seen here, which are what I had to go on. The top one is the left, and sports a panel to aid its use as an archery arm guard. Note the differing locations of lacing between it and the right arm below it.
So if you take the pattern, sit down with it, a piece of cardboard, a pencil, and a measuring tape for the better part of four hours, you wind up with a pattern. Three solid days' worth of sitting around, second-guessing yourself, crossing your fingers and praying before cutting, and then stitching the hard way, you wind up with the following:
They're more flexible than my old ones, but are double-layered and feel much more protective. The allowances made for wrist movement make them insanely comfortable by comparison, and the method of lacing is so smooth that I can pull on the ties together and the whole thing cinches up in one motion. A quick round of arrows at a mere 15 yards showed marked improvement in consistency, so much so that I had to put on the old one to see if the bracer made the difference or if I was just having a really, really good day. Funny how expensive "good days" can be...two broken self-nocks on any other occasion would be cause for me to be pissed.
Shameless plug: New wool over shirt, now with sleeves that actually reach my wrists, and a neck hole in the actual center. Fancy.
