The Armour Archive

valen

Seems my kids are now old enough to want to join me in fighting. They are 5 and 8. I was thinking of making them some armour out of aluminium (as it won't take a lot of punishment). Don't suppose anyone has tried making kids armour ? What styles work ? Maybe some coat-of-plates, some bracers, greave...

valen

I found a few painted helms here http://livinghistory.co.uk/forums/viewt ... 10&t=18591 - mostly crests though.

valen

Hey... I was at the reenactment of Tewkesbury this year, and was impressed at the number of people in beautifully painted armour. Some of it had magnificent starbursts etc. with interesting interpretations of heraldry. After eight or ten years of fighting in it, it looks really good; every thump & s...

valen

Has anyone tried to blacken stuff that already had leather straps attached ? I'd met a guy in Tewkesbury in 2008 who had used some mix of black boot-polish and wax, to make a reasonably hard covering. It waterproofed, and he applied it at the start of every season. By the end of the season, it looke...

valen

I think I'm slightly limited as to where to put holes - the visor overlaps considerably with the split...ventail (?) under it. Anyway, as I'm unlikely to get hit with a lance any time soon, I'll risk putting a few holes in (see marked) and if I still need air, I'll add more. Helm, with visor up; htt...

valen

I did notice a lot (not all) helmets had 'airholes' on just one side...there could be some sort of aerodynamics going on here, that I don't understand. I know from computer server airflow, that you can't just put in holes....there is a reasonable amount of science to it.

John

valen

I've a pretty new helmet, but when I put the visor down, I run out of air with about sixty seconds of vigorous exercise... http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2ALBVA40ojg/TO18U08VOhI/AAAAAAAAkDo/GtUwS3wBGQg/s800/IMG_20101124_205700.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2ALBVA40ojg/TO18jtcynpI/AAAAAAAAkDw/2B9bpAfKnYM/s800/IMG...

valen

Konstantin, here is an image I took when it was half-finished; http://www.livinghistory.ie/~valen/013.JPG It's a 1440's suit, mostly. At least that was my direction to my armourer, who is...eccentric with his idea of very fixed time periods. I think I've given up on my light doublet. At training tod...

valen

The doublet looks more like; http://www.matuls.pl/sklep_zdjecia/329.jpg - no giant puffy shoulders, but they are dropped shoulders. I think the problem is that the lining isn't tight, and the wool outer is stretchy.

I think I'll need to get a photo to get the point across

John

valen

Hey guys. I've recently picked up a suit of plate that I love to pieces. Everything works well, except the arm pieces. There is a nice wide pauldron that I've laced to my arming doublet (wool on the outside, 4 layers of linen on the inside). Below that is a piece that protects bicep, elbow and forea...

valen

I was looking through one of the osprey books, and they had an image of an early 14thC knight with mail overshoes, with a hard leather toe. Has anyone tried to make such a thing ? It's been my experience that non-flat mail working was a pain in the arse (like for coifs, I usually make a load of smal...

valen

Hey, I'm looking for some mid 15thC armour. Honestly, I've no idea what I want, though if possible I'd like something reasonably fast (as we do some energetic rebated steel fighting, so I need to be able to move and dodge, rather than stand and take a pummelling). I had thought of something like htt...

valen

I ended up reworking three of my wife's dresses when she was pregnant. I had a look at the only dress that I'd significant access to; the Irish "Shinrone dress". It's got cool lacy bits that you undo when you get pregnant, with a voluminous shirt under it. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00150XOL6/ref=asc...

valen

http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/images/maciejowski/leaf31/otm31vc&d.gif I have that book. I never noticed the spear stance before. It looks like a half iron-gate stance, if was dipped a little more down. http://www.ottawasword.com/docs/omsg_lanza.pdf has some interpretations that look very s...

valen

I've got a basic two-handed spear guide on; http://tutorials.livinghistory.ie/Home/irish-two-handed-spear-fighting-combat-guide - any changes etc. are more than welcome. I'm working on a single handed spear guide also, http://tutorials.livinghistory.ie/Home/irish-single-handed-spear-fighting-combat-...

valen

So, those who know me know I'm a nasty spear snob, so I feel obliged to try raise the profile of the noble spear! There have actually been some complete spear shafts found, though none from the viking period that I know of. At Vimose, a massive Danish bog find from maybe 350AD found 67 swords and ov...

valen

Actually, this is a better image; taken from St. Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny. http://livinghistory.ie/download/file.php?id=119&sid=8dce13b9ac3c1c96d0169902d8a04b53 In the above image, you can see the banding & rivets. http://livinghistory.ie/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=814&p=6951#p6951 had some interesti...

valen

I'd be more inclined to go with the cotun idea, if there wasn't mail obviously under the armour in question. Aketon/Cotuns were usually worn solo, or under armour, yes ? Just thinking about over-mail-padding; I've seen it drawn on some 12thC knights, where there is a light aketon under mail, then a ...

valen

This is an effigy of Christopher St. Lawrence, 1st Baron of Howth with his wife Lady Plunkett. He died in 1462. Does anyone know what this style of armour is called, or how it might have been constructed ? I'm quite confused, as it looks like iron bands, that could be riveted to a vertical leather h...

valen

However, when you compare Birka to other sites dated to the Viking age, you sometimes find yourself less than impressed. Look, for instance, at the dig report for Islandbridge and Kilhaim (sp): the report, published in 1910, is really only a catalog of objects. Is there a map of the graves? Is ther...

valen

Yup, I'm certainly a fan of the arm going across the shield, between 35-45 degrees, rather than straight across. I was just curious has anyone heard of a shield being held with the hand at the point of the shield. This would give complete protection to the left hand, as well as a lot of protection t...

valen

Hey, I'm making up a bunch of heater shields, and I was wondering if anyone knew how they were strapped & handled. I was thinking of a hard handle toward the point for my hand, and a soft leather handle toward the flat top, which would keep it onto my forearm. I've seen other shields strapped so whe...

valen

Oh - does anyone have any evidence (literary will do) for guige straps or similar on viking shields ? They add a huge amount to tear drop shields, but I've not used one on a large round shield. Where do people place them ?

John

valen

I cheated on my shield, which is a mix of authentic and indestructable... it's made with 8mm hardwood planking, but has a disc of 4mm plywood to protect the center You can just about make it out in this photo; http://picasaweb.google.com/john.looney/HistoricalPhotos/photo#5185319761252678898 It help...

valen

Actually, this is a great paper;
http://livinghistory.ie/~valen/reenactm ... _hill.html

I'm trying to dig up the images that went with it, and I'll beat them in if I can find them. It details shield boards of only 5mm around the boss!

john

valen

--I also firmly believe that shield manufacturing centers were literally everywhere. Its not a super advanced industry, and numerous time of pine or "soft" woods were fairly plentiful throughout Europe. Uh, were any shields made from pine ? That sounds ... unsafe. Any archeological papers I've read...

valen

I was in Norway a few years back, and had the misfortune to try seal sushi (well, it's cured more like Bresaola beef). It tastes like this; http://photofile.name/users/vlasta/1399545/30303016/ The guy who put us up in Norway *loved* Seal. He has a Sami wife, who brings down the shark from her family...

valen

Hey, for once Google seems to fail me... in a discussion of Irish helms from the 1300s, someone found a reference to them as similar to 'saracen'. I assume that this means they looked like those used by the Mamluks or some such. http://livinghistory.ie/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=938 An...

valen

There are a pair of Osprey books on the hospitallers, that show the differences between knights and sergents. Really good stuff; they have very detailed discriptions of what you need, from bed linens to leather armour. Highly recommended if you are going to make a real effort to do it properly. Ospr...

valen

Dangerous is a relative term. We've been doing unarmoured rebated steel a while. You get very careful over the first year, then you get accurate in the second year, then you get fast. Though in my initial training with the single handed spear, I didn't like the fact that it was too easy for a sword ...

valen

What would the 'long run' be ? My older one is five years old, gets a three hour work out twice a month, and still perfect (bar some staining from the historical mould attack that bleach couldn't fix).

The heavy cotton canvas is still perfect, if a little softer than it was off the roll.

John

valen

Washing a gambeson ? Wow. I'd never heard of someone volunteering to do that. Real men air it out, and let it build up...character. When we see someone in a clean gambeson, we dip our spear tips in mud, and try write our names on it... The only time mine has seen water other than sweat was when my b...

valen

Hey, I'm trying to find some details on single-handed spear fighting, in the style of the early irish/greek/assyrians. The intention would be to use a small shield in my left hand. I've been playing around with a 5 foot pole with a small counterweight at the end. It seems pretty good, but against an...

valen

You could do worse than have a look at; http://livinghistory.ie/modules.php?name=Documents&MODE=SHOW&PAGE=Spear%20Training%20Manual It's some basic spear training guides I made up for teaching unarmoured spearmen using rebated steel heads. All double handed stuff. What I would add is some training w...

valen

Er, when I mean 'quilted', I mean shirts made of two layers of light linen - not quilted gambesons. You can see a drawing here; http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/viktunic.html if you search for 'quilted'. Turns out I misremembered, and it was found at Viborg.

John

Kids armour

Re: Query about painted armour

Query about painted armour

Airholes...

Advice needed for attaching armour

mail shoes

Looking for a recommendation for a source of plate armour

query about gallowglass armour

Re: In Conclusion: A Caveat

Heater & round shields

Saracen helms from the 1300s ?

Single handed spear, Irish style