The Armour Archive

Hey Guys!
I've recently started fighting with a pair of Roman Type greaves, modified for SCA combat (small rounded wing on the outside of the knee, three articulations above the knee, yes I'll post pictures as soon as I take them). The Problem I'm having is that after extended wear the yoke (the part that rides on the top of my foot) starts to dig in and get uncomfortable. Now the edge of the yoke is rolled somewhat, but it still hurts like hell after wearing them for a few hours. They also seem to slide down and dig into the top of my foot really hard when trying to fight from my Knees. Any suggestions for modifications would be great help. My objective here is to fix the problem with out altering the look of the greaves.

Thanks
Chazz

Put some padding on the affected area.

Greaves are generally fairly uncomfortable. It's their nature.

Another option is to shorten the bottom edge and point the greaves to your pants if you've got any on.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

These are "gutters" in that they don't have back-side plates, right?

An upward-angled strap from the top of the greave into the back of your knee might help, if you don't have one of those.
Is the upper end fastened to anything? If you're wearing some sort of thigh protection, you might point the top lame to that.
They might just be a bit too long.

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<B>Gundobad,
Wise Ogre Armory
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A nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects that which has never been and will never be - Thomas Jefferson

A position worth taking, is worth defending.

i would try putting a strap behind your knee. it should ride on top of your calf and keep some of the weight off of your foot.

in any case ive never herd of those big honkin roman greaves ever being that comfortable.

late period case type greaves are usually more comfortable since they are smaller and float vs. most gutter greaves which are attached to the leg harness

I wear the same thing, except my mods are to wear a set of industrial kneeguards behind them. The wing is on the kneeguard, and it is articulated, so it covers the top of the knee when the knee is bent. The bottom edge rides on my boot, and I have a strap behind the knee to hold it up, and one at the ankle.

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Owen
"Death is but a doorway-
Here, let me hold that for you"

If the greaves are flat on the bottom, cut out a semi-cirlce on the front to conform to the arch of your foot, and roll/flare that edge out just a bit. I had this problem on my first set of greaves, and it fixed the problem.

My greaves do the same thing, even though they aren't Roman. They don't hurt me though - but they do scar my boot leather where they ride on them.

I think the trick to keeping greaves in place is the top strap should angle upwards and "hook" over the top of the calf muscle, almost sitting in the crotch of the knee. The bottom greave strap only keeps it from flopping around.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
The Riveted Maille Website!

Straps rivetted directly to the greave never seem to work out comfortably for me. But, I was turned onto a trick that REALLY WORKS:

Take a strap of leather and make a garter that fits above the bulge of the calf but below the knee. This will act as an anchor point that won't let the greave droop any farther downward.

Make a couple of loops of leather and rivet them to the inside of the greave. MAke these slightly higher than where the garter rides.

Pass the garter through the loops and buckle on the greave. Other straps on the lower part of the greave will hold the greave close to the leg.

If the greave still digs in, cut out and/or flare the bottom edge of the greave a bit more.

Hope this helps!

Trevor