HiiFeuer Medieval Studded Faux Leather Bracers, Vintage Mercenary Arm Guards, Knight Archer Gauntlets for Ren Faire

I've been LARPing for about 15 years now, and these sort of affordable products are really quite new to the market, at least in the UK. I bought this mostly out of curiosity.First up, these are cheap and they look fine, for the money the visuals are nice.There are some issues though. Firstly, this fake leather is never going to last as long as the real deal, that just isn't how it works, and the saving you are making here is not all that massive. How big a deal that is probably depends on how much you are expecting to use them, but I still own every bit of leather LARP kit I have ever bought and it is all still in good order. I do not expect to say the same for these.The really big flaw with this item in particular though is the lacing. Any sane vambrace will be laced like a shoe, with the laces overlapping down the vambrace then tied off at the end. This can be awkward to tie yourself, but it's just one knot and with a bit of practice you will have to down fine. These things do not do that, they have 4 individual laces which makes putting them on yourself and absolute nightmare, you will need help. Now, on most LARP fields you will get help no problem, but this is still a really bad design that a real understanding of the hobby would have avoided. This issue absolutely merits the loss of the two stars I knocked off for it.I would be a little suspicious of the companies bigger ticket items based on the existence of these lacing issues, it suggests a lack of attention to detail and understanding of how to make this stuff properly. The prices for their armour and very attractive, but if you are getting a messy product then it may not be worth it. The folk out there making real leatherwork armour are very skilled and the products are worth all of the (admittedly high) price they demand, seriously consider investing in the good stuff rather than this mass produced alternative.That said, this stuff does look the part, and if you don't want to be using it long term and have folk to help get it attached, then this may be the option for you.Also, I can't let the incredibly janky, clearly AI based marketing images for this stuff go uncommented on, it's an awful look.