What's the most comfortable body & hip protection?

[Bob H]

I'm still on my quest to design and build some hidden personal protection for a Viking persona. Ideally it would give good protection and have such a low profile that it can be worn under a tunic and narrow pants without showing. Since it's completely hidden, I have no problem using kydex or similar modern materials.

What's stumping me is body armour. I've worn a hardened leather lamellar full-length klibanion. Great protection, especially for the hips, but way too heavy and bulky for my purposes. I liked my 14thC coat of plates, but there's no discernable waist for that and it's bulky, too. I'm thinking that something based off a corrazina would give the right profile and protect well. Again, it need not be any recognizable armour style, and will likely end up a hybrid.

What's the most comfortable body harness you've worn?

[Graedwyn]

Mail.
Cool, light and flexible.

-Graedwyn

[marcus the pale]

My C.O.P. is low profile, to the point that I have had people ask me if I am wearing anything under my surcoat. It all depends on how you make it.




marcus

[Angusm0628]

Why not mail and some Davis hex pads? The mail is obviously early period and the hexpads are fairly unobtrusive under this.. You can get a shirt and the padded biker shorts which have pads on the hips as well as the thigh.

[Graedwyn]

Those hex pads are great.
I cannot afford them right now,
but I know several people who
swear by them.
They look good, and work well.
-Graedwyn

[Bob H]

Why not mail and some Davis hex pads? The mail is obviously early period and the hexpads are fairly unobtrusive under this.. You can get a shirt and the padded biker shorts which have pads on the hips as well as the thigh.

If I were in better health I'd chance mail-over-padding, but I have rheumatoid arthritis and my joints aren't likely to heal well if badly injured. I also have but one lung now, so I'm going to have to cut weight where I can just to get on the field.

Right now my plans are:

1) Put together a protective, light kit with no restrictions on style or materiel, and keep it low profile so I can cover it with a kyrtle and winingas. I can't help the bargrill on the hat for now. I may have to stretch the idiom to include a fur over the shoulders to hide them.

2) Add mail, and start replacing the plastic (yecch! ptui!) with spring steel and splinted leather. Since I'm portraying one of Harald Hardrade's boys, I could include lamellar carefully made in the Byzantine style and not be too far into the Creative part of SCA. Thank heavens for Egfroth.

3) Put together a coherent, historic kit that represents (one of) my view(s) of the Society - medieval men at arms, portraying characters at a tourney a' plaisance or deed of arms. This would be c1360 spring steel cap a pie, covered with Viking clothes. I could go either way with the helm on that kit.

For now, I need to build a kit I can afford and can carry, just to see if I can pull out of these health inconveniences. It's very questionable that I can, but I'm going to make a hard run at it. If I can, I'll progress along the path I described unless I get some other bright idea. I'm pretty sketchy on phase 3, need more research.

Rest assured that I am not doing this to gain a competitive edge. No Kingdom's Crown is in danger, I'm just trying to get back in the game. I miss it badly.

[hrolf]

Why not mail and some Davis hex pads? The mail is obviously early period and the hexpads are fairly unobtrusive under this.. You can get a shirt and the padded biker shorts which have pads on the hips as well as the thigh.

ding ding ding ding! give the man a cookie.

i'm doing lamellar over hexpads right now - it's awesome.

[Bob H]

i'm doing lamellar over hexpads right now - it's awesome.

Not to sound like a broken record, but - which hexpads? They make a shitload of different garments.

Right now I'm looking at this for elbows & knees:
<a href="http://www.gobros.com/gc/customer/product.php?productid=20487&classM3193=0">link</a>

If they wrap around the side points enough I'll use them to measure for spring knees and elbows. Anyone own a pair?

The Thudd shorts with extended side thigh pads look like a winner too, but I don't know if that's the model people are praising.

[talaananthes]

Ditto . . . I just found out about these from this thread. Right now I'd like to try out a shirt to see how it goes, but which one? What has the best coverage in the right areas?

[hrolf]

i'm doing lamellar over hexpads right now - it's awesome.

Not to sound like a broken record, but - which hexpads? They make a shitload of different garments.

Right now I'm looking at this for elbows & knees:
<a href="http://www.gobros.com/gc/customer/product.php?productid=20487&classM3193=0">link</a>

If they wrap around the side points enough I'll use them to measure for spring knees and elbows. Anyone own a pair?

The Thudd shorts with extended side thigh pads look like a winner too, but I don't know if that's the model people are praising.

right. sorry.

i wear:
#7720 Lacrosse Shirt : padding on shoulders, sternum, short ribs, biceps, 9mm each. Under a tunic and lamellar.

#6442 Knee/Elbow pads: under bazubands

#7588 Thudd Dual Density w/extended thigh pads : by themselves, or sometimes under crash pads. ( I hypothesize that with a haubergon, i won't need the crash pads.) Doubly useful because it's now impossible to forget the cup - and that tailbone pad is righteously useful if you fall down. Bruised bones *hurt*.

you get neat honeycomb surface bruises. I haven't had any blow penetrate to leave more than that - and i have had blows turn my thigh into meatballs through crash pads. They machine wash fairly well, though i've taken to misting them off with a 1:5 mix of vinegar:water and letting them dry in the sun. They are ridiculously low profile, and they move with you more than most modern padding does, so you're scarily mobile - I used to wear lacrosse padding and i looked vaguely like a linebacker in a tunic.

[Bob H]

i'm doing lamellar over hexpads right now - it's awesome.

Not to sound like a broken record, but - which hexpads? They make a shitload of different garments.

Right now I'm looking at this for elbows & knees:
<a href="http://www.gobros.com/gc/customer/product.php?productid=20487&classM3193=0">link</a>

If they wrap around the side points enough I'll use them to measure for spring knees and elbows. Anyone own a pair?

The Thudd shorts with extended side thigh pads look like a winner too, but I don't know if that's the model people are praising.

right. sorry.

i wear:
#7720 Lacrosse Shirt : padding on shoulders, sternum, short ribs, biceps, 9mm each. Under a tunic and lamellar.

#6442 Knee/Elbow pads: under bazubands

#7588 Thudd Dual Density w/extended thigh pads : by themselves, or sometimes under crash pads. ( I hypothesize that with a haubergon, i won't need the crash pads.) Doubly useful because it's now impossible to forget the cup - and that tailbone pad is righteously useful if you fall down. Bruised bones *hurt*.

you get neat honeycomb surface bruises. I haven't had any blow penetrate to leave more than that - and i have had blows turn my thigh into meatballs through crash pads. They machine wash fairly well, though i've taken to misting them off with a 1:5 mix of vinegar:water and letting them dry in the sun. They are ridiculously low profile, and they move with you more than most modern padding does, so you're scarily mobile - I used to wear lacrosse padding and i looked vaguely like a linebacker in a tunic.

I sent a query to the Crashpads folks asking whether the Thudd pads had a cup pocket, and they replied:

Hello Glenn,

We do not offer the girdles to include the cup pocket but it is a possibility to get them made. You would have to order them from a local retailer or distributor, our web site is limited to items we offer because of billing purposes we cannot make changes to orders.

Please look at dealer locater link from our home page, please contact and request the girdle with a cup pocket.

Regards.

----------------------------
Sincerely,
McDavidUSA.com Customer Service

So, in case I haven't aggravated everyone enough with questions ... do your Thudd pads have a cup pocket? Are the 7442 joint pads the same as the 7440? (I haven't found the 7442, only the 7440). Did you buy your pads online, and if so, where?

My principle concern is joint protection, especially the upper end of the femur and the iliac crest of the pelvis. I seem to have separated my pelvis and spine in that little fall I took a year or so ago, and I'd be foolish not to take extra measures to protect those areas. I may be able to form and attach some Kydex hard protection on those points if the padding is already there. From the pictures, though, I think the Thudd shorts may be enough without augmentation, but I can't imagine trying to add a hard-cup jock over or under them and it working well.

Also, I'm accustomed to steel plate, and without it I'm a big pussy. Just so you know. Also, I'm a picky little shit about how a kit works, I don't need extra obstacles like trying to keep my pants on while I'm fighting.

PS - Thanks for the help so far. I think I may be able to get back in the game.

[hrolf]

So, in case I haven't aggravated everyone enough with questions ... do your Thudd pads have a cup pocket? Are the 7442 joint pads the same as the 7440? (I haven't found the 7442, only the 7440). Did you buy your pads online, and if so, where?

My principle concern is joint protection, especially the upper end of the femur and the iliac crest of the pelvis. I seem to have separated my pelvis and spine in that little fall I took a year or so ago, and I'd be foolish not to take extra measures to protect those areas. I may be able to form and attach some Kydex hard protection on those points if the padding is already there. From the pictures, though, I think the Thudd shorts may be enough without augmentation, but I can't imagine trying to add a hard-cup jock over or under them and it working well.

Also, I'm accustomed to steel plate, and without it I'm a big pussy. Just so you know. Also, I'm a picky little shit about how a kit works, I don't need extra obstacles like trying to keep my pants on while I'm fighting.

PS - Thanks for the help so far. I think I may be able to get back in the game.

I find that a belt over my tunic works fine to hold my pants up. It may be a body geometry thing - in which case you may do what i've seen others do, which is steal a pair of suspenders from ski pants and use those.

if you have random body parts getting seperated, I'd reccomend rigid protection regardless of what padding you have underneath.

my thudds do have a slot for the cup - I got them from an amazon affiliated merchant who no longer sells them. Amazon does sell McDavid gear still, though, and they're my current supplier. I have seen McDavid stuff in places like dick's sporting goods, but never their entire product line.

[Bob H]

Yep, it may be my shape, which is like unto the post of a fence. What's that movie line, "look at the assless man. My man has no ass!" I was thinking about the difficulty of putting on a pair of slick hexpads over a pair of slick compression shorts with cup pocket, and figuring that was too much slick to manage. I'll look around some more and see if I can find the pocketed Thudd shorts, they look like a good idea otherwise.

[^]

I didn't read this but I'd recomend a brigandine, you can get 23ish ga 1-1/4 spring steel banding/strapping for a reasonable price. If you live in an area along the the gulf or east coast you might be able to find it at Lowes it comes galvanized there. You can also order it from McMaster Carr where it comes black I believe. You can cut it with a tin snips and you'll likely want to get a metal punch cause drilling tempered steel is tough on bits.