Jeepman

Vibram Fivefingers work just fine for me. Those chainmail shoes wouldn't last if you did much running on pavement.

Kevlar treated with Shear Thickening Fluid (STF) is completely puncture proof. I've made some and it does work. Four layers of conventional Kevlar treated with STF is more than enough to stop a knife attack. You do need to think about how you are going to sew it into the garment, because once treated you can't get a needle to pass through it. You have to plan ahead.

Thanks so much. No rush, just whenever you get the time. I'm very appreciative of your willingness to share your experience with the rest of us on the forum.

Nemesis, I was searching for Vipersheet and found this thread. This might be asking a bit much, but could you do a picture tutorial of how you weaved your Vipersheet? I've tried linking two strips of Viperscale and its not working so well. I thought this was going to be easier than this. How hard could it be - right? Any help you could provide will be greatly appreciated.

Please do. I'd love to see how you do this.

If you are very close to said person, then you should be able to size the triangle based off the size of your hand, no?

This might seem like a dumb question, but I've never seen anyone talk about it before. How much noise does it make as you move arond in it?

From a protection stand point you need the scales on the top of the forearm to point toward the hand. The scales on the soft under side of the forearm should point toward the elbow. The two seams should be ran down the thumb and pinky lines on either side of the forearm. The guys that are into the heavy combat LARP all have their scales like this. If you think about it, most blows come in with a downward motion. If you're holding your arm up in a defensive manner you want the scales pointing down toward the elbow to deflect the blow. If you are in a normal posture, you want the scales pointing toward the hand to deflect the incoming blow. If you don't have the scales like this, then your opponent's sword or axe will catch against the grain of the scales.

Thanks Mac, that is exactly what I wanted to see. Thanks for your contributions! You're doing a great job.

Mac, can you post a pic that shows us where you put the contractions in?

About the only coating that might stand up is Cerakote. www.cerakoteguncoatings.com

I'll go if some other folks on the forum want to meet up somewhere. I think it would be fun to put some faces with the names on the forum.

I've experimented with soaking both large and small scales in apple cider vinegar for 2 days. It did dissolve all oxidation on the scales. However, a black slimly film also developed on the scales. Most of it would come off by washing the scales with soap and water. This black slime is very sticky and gets into your finger prints and kind of stains your finger tips for a couple days. I'm guessing this slime is actually the quenching oil used during the tempering process. I'm thinking the vinegar is softening the cooked on quenching oil resulting in a slimly film. What do you guys think? Is this what is happening?

Just got back from a short vacation and ready to start some work on this project. Got several hundred scales of each size to experiment with. I first wove a little bit of the large scales and also the small scale to get a better sense of their perspective size. I like the appearance of the small scales much better than the large ones. The next step is to start on the surface prep of the scales. The tempered carbon steel scales will rust without some kind of protection. I'm just about 100% set on parkerizing them. Since these scales have been tempered, they have some surface flake on them, a little bit of oxidation, and some black film that appears to be from the quenching oil. I need to address the surface oxidation first. I'm trying a trick I've used to restore old iron skillets in the past. I have a small hand full of both large and small scales soaking in apple cider vinegar. The acetic acid in the vinegar normally does a good job of dissolving the rust without harming the underlying metal. I'll check them once a day for the next week and see if this will be enough to remove all the rust. If it is not, then I'll have to use a mechanical means to remove the rust like a sandpaper wheel, or sand blasting. I hope the vinegar does the trick because it would be much easier.