"Cheater" Bracers - Take 2

 I previously posted an experiment in "cheater" armor. I made a splinted bracer using cardboard, velcro straps, and paper fasteners.

Poking around the internet, I found a better construction technique. I decided to try it out. Here is the result.

This time, I put the straps on the outside. It makes it easier to strap it tight to the arm.

Another change is that I did not cut out individual splints. Instead, I cut out a single piece of cardboard then scored lines on the back. I was then able to fold the cardboard to shape.

Here it is on my arm. I have it strapped on the inside so that I could take the picture.

This was a very simple way to make a splinted piece of armor. I want to try it with greaves.

"Cheater" Armor

I know, a paladin should never cheat, and actually I am not advocating it. 

However, there are some LARPs that will allow armor that is made of non-period materials (such as aluminum or plastic). I jokingly call this "cheater" armor because it is a lot lighter than the real thing. Even so, I am a big advocate of such armor if it looks good. Here is an example:

In general, I think the game looks better if people wear armor. To this end, I have long pondered how to outfit people in inexpensive, lightweight armor. This leads to some problems.

• You can buy inexpensive armor, but it tends to be metal
• Leather and plastic armor is lightweight, but tends to be more expensive (go figure)

Therefore, I have long pondered how to construct plastic armor. Recently, I have been acquiring a lot of cardboard boxes (thanks to COVID). I decided to use some to experiment with armor templates. If successful, I can move the design to plastic.

Here is my first build - a splinted vambrace (bracer). Yeah, it's ugly. Remember that it's a template.

I have made a single-piece plastic bracer before, however it required heating the plastic with a heat gun and then shaping it. I was looking for a design that could be built using simpler techniques.

I borrowed the concept from this page of the Armour Archive. For my test, I used a canvas backing with velcro straps, cardboard splints, and cheap paper fasteners.

Here is a picture of it on my arm.

I learned a few things in the process. Primarily I think it will work better if I have the straps on the outside.