I don`t like buckles on greaves, because the buckles will catch at anything. Neither do I like to lace them (too long). Sune are tied to the leg down at the ankle and on top of the calf. The himo (we use ordinary laces for that) are protected from your opponent`s blows because they go under the bamboo strips that are the actual protection.

Alternatively, you may use ties: pieces of string/lace fastened to both sides at the points where you would have buckles. Works pretty much the same on greaves - as long as you stay out of the undergrowth - but are less cumbersome, on braces, alas, they are as much a pain as laces; or button-tie: a single piece of string/lace on one side, that gets wrapped around a button on the other side, or - perhaps better - back and forth between buttons on both sides, before being tucked away under the leather. A quick, easy, and above all 'clean' way of tying braces, that`s actually more reliable than it may sound, and has the advantage that you draw the sided together while your tying them, so there`s no worry about sizing. You could use special buttons, like ball-headed buttons or the flat-headed kind they use on jeans, which may be pretty, but not very reliable in my experience, or just ordinary flat buttons sewn on 'on stalks'. (I.e. you sow them on loosely, so there will be some space between the button and leather, then wrap the end of the thread around the threads connecting them to the brace, to create the stalk.

One other possibility, that will take some time to put on, but may look pretty - largely depending on taste - is to fasten both like some boots were in early modern times: with two odd rows of slitted strips of leather, with each lower strip fitting through the slit of the one above it on the other side, and the last one fastened on a button. (You may have two or more buttons to give some variety in size, although I suspect it`s pretty much a tailor made solution.) A bit of a hassle to put on, though not in any way troublesome, but it will give more of a closed appearance.

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IRL: Edwin Hofstra

- mostly crewing at the moment