The Armour Archive

Hey all,
My wife wants to do archery and now is considering full on heavy combat. I think it's awesome and I want to armor her completely. I am having problems finding a good pattern for torso armor that can accommodate a DD size chest. What I'm thinking might fit Ren or fantasy, but we both want better than that. We are leaning towards 14th to 15th century mercs, however I will insist safety trumping historical accuracy for this project if needed.

Any help is welcome

Most women will fit into a regular BP with no problem. Worst comes to worst, you need to adjust to have a slightly bigger chest cavity in the upper BP.

You're heading the right direction, going for the 14-15th century. The globose breastplate, as Ckanite said, should actually work with little to no modification. It's designed to have a lot of empty space between the metal and your vitals. As far as total protection, both centuries work well...late 14th is completely encased in plate, and the 15th carries the tradition into the extremely flattering Gothic.

Remember that a breastplate is much shorter than you think it is! It covers the ribcage and floating ribs; no lower. Everything beyond that point, down to a couple inches below groin level, is covered by padded cloth, chainmail, and cuirass lames.

churburg 13, coat of plates, brigandine, globose and Corrazina all can be modified to accommodate many body shapes.
If you want to go earlier lamellar works well.
I would start with a ducktape body double or mannequin and pattern off that.

There is a forum/facebook group for female fighters and those that train them.

I like these ideas,

Question, would the globose BP interfere with archery? My love has a practical streak and would probably prefer one armor for both archery and heavy.

Not so much. What the difference between a hockey helmet and a motorcycle helmet? You could make it work but...

That said, a coat of plates would provide better compressive movement across the chest, as is needed when drawing a bow. The trade off is a less rigid protective cover for your wife's tender areas.

Later breastplates have additional sliding plates in this region (front of the shoulder/armpit, into the pectorals), but that's moreso covering areas once filled with mail, than allowing for extreme movement of the arms across the chest.

Keegan Ingrassia wrote:That said, a coat of plates would provide better compressive movement across the chest, as is needed when drawing a bow. The trade off is a less rigid protective cover for your wife's tender areas.

Later breastplates have additional sliding plates in this region (front of the shoulder/armpit, into the pectorals), but that's moreso covering areas once filled with mail, than allowing for extreme movement of the arms across the chest.

She likes the idea of a CoP, thanks for the ideas and suggestions. she also said she will not lob off one of her breasts, after her brother suggested it lol.

I've had a couple women wear my 7 piece Churburg and liked it. One medium chest, one... well stocked. Provided plenty of protection when properly worn as lung plates.

Payn wrote:I've had a couple women wear my 7 piece Churburg and liked it. One medium chest, one... well stocked. Provided plenty of protection when properly worn as lung plates.

How well does it fair with archery use?

Neither were shooting archery.