Wear and Tear

[scythius]

Andy wrote

my gear gets enough dings and scratches and rust just from packing, repacking, transporting, and wearing, so I don't bother adding more "battle wear"

Andy - the 'battle damage' that our gear acquires is mostly from honest use - things get hit, dropped, stepped on. My helmet has dings from swordplay with rebated edges (from film shoots) and wooden rudis from training days.

The first rule of IX Hispana is "Don't venerate your gear" - this stuff gets used, and used hard. If it breaks, we fix it. There is no sense in needlessly abusing it to make it 'look cool'- nearly all the dings and scratches in our gear happens to it during use (the same goes for the troops).

So I'd personally suggest to not ruff up your gear "artifcially", it will wear with regular use.

I think we put ours to pretty hard use, and the gear shows it...