Lamellar Time

As mentioned earlier in The (hopefully) Great Lamellar Project I'm organizing a lamellar purchase.

Thorbrandr, Philip, Turgeis, Ragnar Ribcracker, Jurgen and I are all in, and I think one or more of the UVa students is too. Still room for others, if we can all come to an agreement about what we want. Conservatively, we're now in the 1350 plate order range, assuming no one wants shoulder plates. And if I haven't radically underestimated the number of plates needed per person.

Like the old saying in IT ("Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two.") we have a three dimensional decision process:

Cost, Performance, Appearance.

Cost is more or less directly related to the following two. The more suitable and better looking it is, the higher the cost. My ballpark

Performance reflects how protective and durable it is without being too heavy. Plastic wins here, then aluminum, then titanium, then thin gauge heat treated stainless, then thin gauge stainless. Anything else is an also-ran.

Appearance means two things: the material finish and the shape of the plate. Plastic looks like plastic. Aluminum without a finish on it looks like aluminum, and the only ones I've seen that really look good are the anodized acid washed ones from a vendor Bryce sent me, and those run over $1 a piece. (Bryce--I can't find that site. Please send it again.)
So far, I am the only person who has mentioned a preference for a specific style of plate. My intuition is that ordering all of one type and size of plate will be cheaper than mixing and matching, but I have yet to confirm this with a vendor. The more rectangular the plate, the less waste, but as long as we don't go for any huge amount of curve, that should be negligible in the price issue.
So, for appearance, a "non-bright" stainless would be best. After that, titanium, then the acid-anodized aluminum. Everything else is an also ran.

Of course, titanium costs a fortune. Heat treated stainless is probably also expensive. As mentioned, so are the acid-anodized aluminum ones. My guess for the sweet spot between Cost, Performance and Appearance is 20 gauge stainless. White Moutain Armory has them for .60 a piece in stock, and they have a reputation for quality. What I don't know is the weight and durability of his steel stock. (Durability as in "doesn't get all bent up" not "wears out.")
Polar Bear Forge has attractive pricing and has gotten good reviews as well, but again I wonder about the alloy. Though the guy at Polar Bear has been very open to questions.

Since I know the people at Darkwood Armory, they naturally came to mind. In particular, I'm sold on their knowledge of alloys. As an example, look at my or Kit's helmets, which are stainless steel but don't look like stainless steel. So I know they can find us a great durable and light stainless alloy for the plates. Doesn't mean I'm sold on them, but I want them in the evaluation process. If they can be cost competitive, we'll probably get a better product.

That's where I am right now. This post needs to trigger any last minute thoughts people have about the whole thing. I'll email it to those who don't read this stuff.