Indian kit supplier

I’ve gotten a couple of emails from these people. They’ve been a little spam-like, but I think it’s genuine.

malefosse.com

Cheapish gear, I get the impression. No idea of the quality.

Can someone in the know tell me if the gambesons look any good and if the price is reasonable? I’m vaguely in the market, want something that will go well under mail with attachments for pauldrens.

Hello Ryan
I’m Fred from Malefosse
Sorry for the feeling of spam, we try to advertise but without soft and so.
About the quality, we are working with german tailor woman for the costumes and french for leather. The chainmail are product in a “chainmail dedicated town” in India since 1200 years !!!
So yes the qualiti is there. But we fully understand your doubt ( website, in India,… ).
Our gambeson are the cheapest of all the sites we know and the foam is thick, cover with heavy cotton and well stitch. I weared a chainmail with one of them, is was fine.
Concerning attacments, we don’t have specific things for pauldrens but is it a good idea, give us ( mail@malefosse.com ) some details and we will do it if you want.
Hope that we were not “heavy” ’ like we say in france ! ) to answer to your post.

Fred, who come in NZ in 10 days and is REALLY happy !!!

Hi Fred, I was hoping you might post here and answer any questions people might have. So no, not heavy at all.

How long are you in NZ for? If you’re here in Jan or Feb there will be some larps on.

Of the three gambesons on the site, the only one that looks like a gambeson is the top one. I can’t tell if it actually has front openings or not, but if it does, then it looks good for the money. I like having front openings on a gambeson so you can get it off when you’ve been sweating in it.

If you’re looking for excellent gambesons, and are prepared to pay through the nose, then check out Revival Clothing. They produce the the best commercial gambesons money can buy.

Failing that, I have patterns for several gambesons that will fit you if you feel like making one for yourself.

The first Malefosse gambeson photo is so dark it’s hard to tell what it is. But the text says “jacket”, which I guess implies that it opens at the front. Can’t see how it’s joined.

Revival looks a bit beyond what I’m looking to spend.

Don’t see attachment points on either. Do you generally add them yourself?

Revival’s Low Boots seem well priced at $75. I’m assuming that’s USD.

Hi Ryan and Derek and every larpers.
Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures. We made it again tomorrow or wenesday for sure.

Ok the first one can’t be opened in front, actually the term"jacket" is bad, you are right Ryan and we will change it definitely.
The other ( 2nde one ) is a gambeson ( with foam ) and can be opened for sure, we have put leather straps. THis one is a jacket !
The third one is a gambeson , but thick already so if you want to be a monster in your larp, take it and a chainmail !!!

Derek, you are right, it is good to open when we sweat !!
The second one is a gambeson: thick and designed for help to wear a chainmail. But the picture is bad too, we will do it again !!

THanks for your comments, it is precious for us.

By the way, we will sell ( when the webmaster will have fill his duty ) chainmail, really well designed and in our range of prices.
If you are intersted i can send by mail some pictures and prices.

Ryan, i’m going with my wife and daugther so no larp possible !! But i would love that so much !!!

Best regards
Fred, for Malefosse

These are excellent boots. I know many people who have them and I have requested some from my wife for Xmas (don’t ask, don’t get!)

Fred -

If you’re going to be in Auckland, and you have a bit of luggage allowance free, it might be a good idea for you to bring a (small) sample of the work so people can eyeball it directly. We can arrange a short group meeting with people interested in placing orders, and with the NZ LARP Society Gear Librarian. Let the family explore the city while you do the boring business stuff :slight_smile: If things go well, and you’re interested, it might be mutually beneficial to work out an affilliation agreement with NZ LARPS (like the one with Paddywhack for LARP weapons) - but that would be in the future.

I’ve checked out the web site, and there’s a good range of costumes at affordable prices - of course there’s no way to accurately judge quality online, though. I particularly like the full costume ensembles - makes it much easier. It would help, though, to have some indication as to what sizes S/M/L/XL correspond to – such as shoulder width and waist for guys, and corresponding dress size for ladies. I’ve noticed that I can be anything from M to XXL depending on manufacturer (I’m an M in the USA, and an XXL in Taiwan)

If you’re able to have a short meeting, let us know when you’d be in Auckland and we can arrange a venue and time, and get interested parties together.

Steve

Without the optional rubber soles I assume? Although for larp, those could be very useful.

Brighter photos would help a lot. When you’re buying something over the internet you really want a good at it. Have a look at ttp://www.lrpstore.com for the kind of photo quality you need.

No offense intended, but your website is also rather hard to navigate. The side menu is unclear (both the colour of the text against the background and the way the sub-menus appear when you click the main menu), and it takes too many clicks before you get to see the photos.

Check out a something like diy.com for good shopping site navigation. Notice that you can link directly to all the product categories straight from the home page, in one click. You could do this, and it would make the site much faster to navigate. As you’re solely a shop (you’re not offering other services) it’s best to cut to the chase and have links to all your product categories immediately, rather than making the user hunt for them. Having multiple pages within your categories also slows down navigation - 5 items per page is pretty minimal, if you made it 10 then everything would fit on one page. Within two clicks from the homepage your customers could be looking at a page dedicated to any one of your products. That’s the kind of useability you want.

For some reason, the site also loads extremely slowly for me (especially the product thumbnails). Probably a hosting thing.

They last though. I know people who train twice a week doing SCA combat and they’ve had them for years without them wearing out. The lining is also natural and breathes properly…

Yes. The style of your armour will dictate where they go. My 15th century gambeson has about six sets of points up the front (in place of buttons) and one one each shoulder, elbow and forearm to lace on my arm harness. Eventually, it’ll have six more sets around the bottom edge to lace on the hose.

In contrast, my 14th century gambeson only has one set on each elbow.

If I were to wear a gambeson that regularly I’d be willing to pay more. But I’d probably only use it a few times a year, so how well it lasts isn’t my main concern.

What’s the deal with the front openings? Is it just easier to put on that way, or breathes better? Again, given that I’d probably just wear it for an hour or two (or maybe a day if I was a player in some game or other) a few times a year it might not be worth worrying over.

EDIT: oops, just read that you gave your reason for front opening in the first place, Derek. Never mind. I think it wouldn’t be a main priority for me.

HI everybody

Ryan: sorry for the menu, i can’t change it now, the webmaster is in France and very busy / you can view the pictures without enter shopping. For example : men’s clothes - shirts and that’s all, only 2 clicks !!! You are right, we need to have 10 products on the page

Steve: it is a great idea indeed ! I will bring with me some samples of our works. But we won’t stay in Auckland ! We arrive the night of 28/12 , 1.00 am, we sleep in Pacific Inn ( hotel close to airport ) and the morning on the 28/12 , we leave to Matamata ( Broadway Matamata hotel ). Can we meet in the airport hotel, i will offer you the breakfast !! Or we come back the 05 and 06 january in Hamilton, perhaps it is also possible to meet ??
Anyway thks for the proposal , i can’t change the schedule now as all the reservations are paid.
Concerning the remarks about the size:

  • in the cart ( when you click on add for a prodcut ), you have a link where you have some informations about size, please see that and tell me if it is sufficient.
  • In all case you can always ask for stuff fit to your size: the tailor asks for some measures specifications, you give and the stuff is adapted ! We have done this already and people are hapypy !

Derek: good luck for Xmas !! Hope you will get the boots :slight_smile:

Thanks again for all the comments. We will try to improve the shopping experience. Now, we are concentrate one two things: enlarge the range of choice with proper quality and answer to our orders, who goes bigger with Xmas !!
But we will definitely change the site in the months to come.

Happy day in your so nice country.

Fred

OK i know at whom i speak now !! i saw ryan on tv :=)
Very nice you had this tv cover
what was the purpose on this meetng in a church ?
an inter-larp ?
your cathloics are more tolerant than ours in France or Germany
Fred

Fred - I could manage the morning of the 28th Dec, if you give a definite time. I don’t know how many other people can make it, though. If you’re going to Matamata, then you’re probably going hobbit-hunting…

5th/6th Jan is harder as I work those days in the City, but making it to Hamilton for an evening may be possible. If you can do an evening, and several other people want to come, then that might be better, though. I will contact people here.

I suggest we meet up 28th Dec in the morning, if you can give me a time. I hope you won’t be too jetlagged! I can meet you at the hotel reception, let me know what name to ask for. If more people are interested in seeing things then maybe we can find a time on the evening of the 5th in Hamilton, also.

Ryan - can you make an early meeting at the airport on the 28th? If not, I will at least get much info, photos and examine stuff.

[quote=“malefosse”]what was the purpose on this meetng in a church ?
an inter-larp ?
your cathloics are more tolerant than ours in France or Germany
Fred[/quote]In the game in question, a religious group called the Order of Erana had called a big meeting to discuss some issues that had come up lately. It was a totally awesome site to play in - I think a deal was done with TV3 who were doing the filming to get us the extra special site.

This is Steve, by the way,
and this is Derek (on the right).

The church isn’t Catholic, it’s Anglican. According to their website they are “progressive”, and in person I found our contact at the church to be very easygoing and open to ideas. Apparently people even do medieval feasts there.

The game we held at the church wasn’t an inter-larp. It was a small Mordavia scenario set in a church, that was arranged as a film-opportunity for the TV crew. It was a real game.

I don’t think I’ll be in Auckland on the 28th, I’ll be up north at baches after Xmas. Sorry, but if you do see the gear Steve I’ll be interested in hearing about it.

I imagine a gambeson would be a bit of a bulky thing to bring over, but if you were inclined to do that Fred then I could give Steve some money to give you for it. Would save me some shipping, and you wouldn’t have to carry it around or take it back… :wink:

Ryan, we are wenesday today and i leave friday in Singapore before NZ
I can try to do it but it will be hard ! Please tell me the size and the color you wish.
Do you wish the first one ? the second ( with front opening ) ?

I can ask the tailor to fix some laces according to Derek guidances but i fear we will be out of time. It is taking time to properly developp a new product , ok less time to upgrade on existing product.

As soon as i get your mail ( mail@malefosse.com ) i contact the tailor and tell you.

Steve: wen can meet the 28 dec at 9.00 am ( ask Fred Hervieu ) for BKF or ok for the 5 jan , for us no trouble any of these. And don’t worry the hobbits will wait for us the 28 dec ! I imagine for you it is a little “tourist” but i think we will all be happy !!

Fred - OK, I will see you at 9am on the 28th, along with anyone else who decides to join me. I will meet you at the recpetion of the Pacific Inn. If there is a lot of interest I’ll try to schedule a second meeting for the 5th, but in that case I will talk to you about it when I see you. Hope you have a good time in NZ, there’s so much to see here and you’ve only a few days.

Cheers Fred, I’ve sent my order through.

Like I said in the email, if you don’t have time then don’t worry, it’s not a big deal to me.