Armoured Combat:Inspecting Equipment

General

The standards which armour and weapons must meet are set out in Armour Requirements, Melee Weapon Standards, Throwing Weapon Standards, and Missile Weapon Standards.

Multi-day events

1. At events where there is fighting on several days, equipment inspections may be conducted once and recorded for the rest of the event. Usually this is done by putting a sticker on a mandatory piece of equipment. The Marshal-in-Charge may organise another method for recording inspections.
2. The Marshal-in-Charge must notify all relevant marshals, combatants and lists officers of the marking or recording system before inspections. Ideally, the system used should be announced before the event, as well as at the event itself.
3. It must be possible to tell which marshal carried out a given inspection, whatever the system used for recording it.
4. You must make sure that your equipment continues to meet the armour and weapons standards throughout the event. If in doubt: get it inspected again.
5. For long events, consider whether borderline equipment will still be in sufficiently good condition to pass an inspection at the end of the event.

Armour and weapon inspection

1. Each combination of weapons and armour you will use must be inspected.
2. If you want to use any item or equipment combination that was not checked at the time of your inspection, you must have that item and/or equipment inspected as appropriate (i.e. in combination with the rest of your armour and weapons) by a marshal before using it.. The intent here is not to require a re-inspection if you borrow a weapon compatible with your existing armour, but to ensure that someone inspected only with sword and shield who borrows a glaive and gauntlets is inspected wearing those gauntlets.
3. Each time you take the field, your equipment and weapons must be briefly inspected for missing items or obvious failure.
4. Your equipment must be inspected again after repairs or modifications.

Additional inspection requirements under public health orders

1. In Australia, while there are health orders in place regarding infectious disease, follow the mundane requirements for contact sports or community sports in your jurisdiction, whichever is more restrictive. SCA Ltd Australia also has the following additional requirements of marshals during inspections for combat:
   • Marshals must sanitise their hands before and after each inspection they conduct.
   • Marshals and combatants are welcome to wear face coverings during inspections, but no one has to wear a face covering unless mundane law requires it.
2. In New Zealand, at Alert Levels 1 and 2, inspections may be conducted as normal. Face coverings and gloves are not required. SCA combat activities are prohibited at Alert Levels 3 and 4.

Siege engine and structure inspection

Inspecting siege engines

1. Any event allowing siege engines for combat must have an engine inspection station. The inspection station must have a field with a firing line and range markers at 40 and 80 yards (36 and 73 metres) from the firing position.
2. Siege engine inspection has two parts, which are to be done before combat use: the marshal inspects the engine and ammunition, and the crew demonstrates the engine in action.
3. The inspection procedures must include at least the following:
   1. Before any shots are fired the marshal must check:
      • That engine is constructed in accordance with the Lochac rules for siege engines
      • The structural integrity of the components of the engine.
      • That there are no bolts or other projections that could intrude more than 13mm into a legal face grill in positions where someone could fall on them.
      • That the ammunition to be used in the engine complies with these rules.
   2. The crew must fire at least 4 shots with engine configured for the maximum power it will use on the field at that event. The inspecting marshal must check that:
      • All 4 shots deliver the ammunition between 36 and 73 metres, at a firing angle of between 40 and 45 degrees elevation
      • The path of the projectiles downrange is reasonably straight and stable, allowing for cross wind.
      • There are no mechanical failures of any part of the engine or the ammunition
      • The engine is stable during all phases of operation
   3. The crews of direct fire engines must be willing to receive a shot from their engine at minimum range, while in armour, should it be requested.
4. After the demonstration, the marshal must inspect the engine again, to check that it remains in good condition and compliant with these rules.

Inspecting siege structures

1. Siege structures must be inspected before being used at an event.
2. The inspecting marshal must check structural integrity, stability, condition of hardware, and condition of any safety devices (barriers, walls, etc.). If possible, inspect siege structures with a maximum load of armoured combatants on board.
3. If the structure is designed to move, the movement must be demonstrated during the inspection.