A fair number of my friends are in the SCA. I was lucky not to get sucked in... it would have been a major time sump. Heather my landlady grew flax, harvested it, and pounded it into linen which she wove into a small neat kerchief. We still have woad growing next to the house (ever walk into a kitchen and smell sheep's urine bubbling on the stove?). The wool didn't take the dye that well in terms of depth of color, but it was permanent. When I was making icons for the AD&D Core Rules CD-Rom, the guys in the SCA were quite helpful about letting me see the insides of the armour and how the polearms were used (they only look like can-openers). ;^) But, yes, if you actually wear or fight in something, you get a lot better feeling for where the weight is or how it drapes... and why there needs to be padding under the helmet. Carolly