horsehair-msg - 3/9/09 Obtaining and using horsehair for helmet padding and other purposes. NOTE: See also the files: helm-padding-msg, horses-msg, Horse-n-t-MA-art, horses-lnks, horses-bib, horse-recipes-msg, Sadle-Blankts-art, Stirrups-Hist-art. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: David Friedman Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: sources of horsehair Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:13:08 -0800 "Ewan (Carolingia, EK)" wrote: > I'd like to pad my helm with something other than closed-cell foam, and a > quilted horsehair-padded coif is something I'd like to experiment with. > > I seem to recall that Duke Cariadoc has attempted such a thing in the > past. Your Grace, where did you obtain your horsehair from? Would one > need mane/tail hair exclusively, or would the lighter fibers from grooming > work? I still use the helm I padded with horsehair and have been happy with it. As best I recall, I got my original supply from an old horsehair sofa someone was throwing away and later got fresher horsehair from a friend who kept horses. I think some of what she gave me was from grooming, but it was quite a long time ago and I'm not sure. My padding consists of cloth tubes stuffed with horsehair run vertically up the sides of the helmet; I think I also have a long tube horizontally at about my forehead level. But there is a pamphlet somewhere describing a much better version, based on an actual surviving helm padding. My memory is that the "tubes" in that one are elongated triangles sewed together along the bottom half of the long sides, and that the tips have holes, perhaps grommets, with a thong going through them. It works as a suspension helm--tighten the thong and the helm rides higher. I don't have a source for the pamphlet; hopefully someone else can offer more detailed information. -- http://www.daviddfriedman.com/ http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/ Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic. Published by Baen, in bookstores now From: littleredeft@bluefrog.com Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: sources of horsehair Date: 5 Mar 2007 09:28:10 -0800 > I would love to have some sources where folks could buy horsehair for > stuffing items such as helm padding or for other A&S projects. www.rochfordsupply.com sells 25 lbs. for 200something dollars. Shipping, when I asked, was around 20 bucks. Maybe a group or household would like to go in together to try it out. You can also get it on e-bay from a seller in england but the price was quite a bit higher if I'm remembering correctly (although you may be able to get smaller quantity) Averill From: David Friedman Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: sources of horsehair Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:09:59 -0800 littleredeft@bluefrog.com wrote: > > I would love to have some sources where folks could buy horsehair for > > stuffing items such as helm padding or for other A&S projects. > > www.rochfordsupply.com sells 25 lbs. for 200something dollars. > Shipping, when I asked, was around 20 bucks. Maybe a group or > household would like to go in together to try it out. You can also > get it on e-bay from a seller in england but the price was quite a bit > higher if I'm remembering correctly (although you may be able to get > smaller quantity) > > Hope this is helpful :) > Averill I believe Tandy used to sell horsehair, although I've never bought any from them. I think it was long straight hairs for ornamental purpose in leatherwork. The best solution might be to check either Goodwill or the equivalent or things left out for furniture trash pickup to see if you could find a mattress or sofa with horsehair stuffing. I'm not sure how easily one could identify that--I believe the one I used was already partly split open. -- http://www.daviddfriedman.com/ http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/ Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic. Published by Baen, in bookstores now Edited by Mark S. Harris horsehair-msg Page 3 of 3