The Armour Archive

I see quite a few Churbourg styled breastplates in SCA use that appear to be extended long enough to cover the kidneys.

Anyone have any experience wearing one?
Going for the shorter, more accurate one is problematic if I want kidney protection..But a coat of plates or brig seems like overkill almost.

I will be on foot only, so the mounted length breast and back is a bit too short for kidney protection.
I am also left handed, so I get hit in the ribs and kidney area often enough to appreciate why the safety standards require good protection there...

I'm still very much in the planning stage of my kit for getting back on the field, so nothing is decided yet.
I am planning mid to late 14th century to match an existing helmet.

I have been thinking of a segmented Churbourg to avoid spending cash on two whole sides of leather to make a brig or COP- but does it work better than those styles?
Or is it more a matter of personal taste?
I suppose I could make the outer shell in fabric- but I'm not thrilled by that idea.
(I've done canvas armor before, and it held up okay...But I worry about long term durability.)

I also like the look of the segmented breastplate; though not the strapping on the back.
I might depart from the historic example if I go that route, and make a more solid backplate set.

Opinions?



-Badger-

Historical length will cover the kidneys.

Yeah, stop it at the short ribs so you can still bend over. The extended segs are really too long, have an inauthentic look, etcetera. If you still worry about your coverage, insert supplementary kidney plates beneath, within, even part of, your gambeson. Horizontally articulated as well, I think.

The original Churburg seg has a complete lining of leather holding the whole thing together, probably a defensive layer in itself against sharps. But against sticks, a good many people have put the segments on straps.

Konstantin is right, the Churburg #13 does have a full buff leather lining, but it's not necessary for a functional version. Strips work fine. You'll see many versions of it which extend well past the ribs in front, which wasn't how the original worked. It's not a big deal to make the side plates a bit larger each so it extends around your back. The original doesn't cover the back, so as you add width to each plate, getting each one to have similar proportions to the original gets a lot of guys making each plate taller too.

Just how far around the sides/back does the original extend?

Some inches past midline -- past where the side seams are on a shirt. I'd say it goes upwards of 3/4 of the way around. YMMV depending on your t-shirt size.

____________

Evil Denizen T Shirt Ser. No. 319

First - ignore me. I haven't fought more than a few times in a long, long time.

That said -

1. Don't extend it. It looks dorky. The goal should be to create a look that actually looks like the original stuff, not to 'improve' it in a way that will actually only make it not work as well.

2. It covers plenty for real protection.

3. Most marshals don't actually know where any part of your body is, so no matter what you cover they will/won't ask questions.

4. The kidney requirement is mostly based on the lack of understanding of the human body and likely damage exhibited in much of the rule making. Kidneys are inside. Mostly under the rib cage and they are toward the back where they are also covered by a huge band of vertical muscle. You are a lot more likely to have other damage in legal armour than to the kidneys.

5. If you are primarily worried about kidney damage because you plan to lie on your face in melee's and you are worried about people walking on you with pointy heels, then by all means add more.

When I did fight, I wore a one piece breastplate. It wrapped a little farther back than it should have, but not more than an inch on each side. That was enough to stop all real shots. I used to spend most of my time playing against a heavy-hitting lefty. Plenty of opportunity to get hit. Neither of us wore any back protection at all until they added this rule. Then we built some very, very lightweight brig backs that covered no lower than the breastplate. Never had a problem with protection or the marshals. The hip protection was a little lacking, but that isn't required.

Now you can go back to ignoring the old folks.

Wade

Wade, at 47 I think I qualify now as one of the "old folks".

I have fought before, and I used to collect way too many shots right about where the breastplate wouldn't cover.
So I wondered if anyone had lowered the line on a segmented in that style, and was curious to see if it helped or was no help.

All the comments have been helpful, so I think I have some ideas now on what to do when I am ready to start planning my body defenses.

Thanks to all for the input.

-Badger-

Gotcha by 2 years (almost, I hit 49 in May).

But the real thing that makes me old is that my real active period of fighting was the late 70's. Fought some semi-seriously in the early 80's, pretty much stopped in the late 80's.

Not the dark ages, but just afterward.

And getting hit on the hips was always annoying.

Wade

Mere children. I'm about to turn 55 in a couple months.