The Armour Archive

Hey all, not sure if this is the proper forum so let me know if it is not. I just got my Hist. Ent. arming doublet and it fits well. I'm just not sure how my armor is supposed to "feel" when its on. I have the doublet laced and fitted as the instructions say so there is no problem there (tight at the hips for load bearing etc). I have it pointed and attached the legs (merc.t. 15/16 cent legs) first, just so see how they felt. They have no greaves. I feel a little bit of down tug when they are pointed but i can still stand straight and don't feel like shrugging forward. Any help or suggestions?

I don't think you're going to get much response because it sounds like everything's fine.

Well I guess Im just wondering how the stuff is supposed to feel etc. If its fine the I will just continue & have fun.

Yea, sounds right. Mine also tugs a bit on my shoulders too. Arming doublet helps carry the load effeciently, but regrettably 15C tech had not yet achieved the level where the doublet could negate the gravitational pull on the leg harness itself

Sounds like its fitting as it should; it won't make the weight of your harness disappear, you will feel the weight, just not on a localized area.

If you have no greaves to help bear the load, make sure the strapping on the backs of the legs is reasonably snug. The weight of plate harness should be distributed through all its contact points and not just hang from the waist and bounce around SCA-style.

Thanks for the tip on the strapping. That helped a lot. I have excellent flex & mobility after tightening the straps more.

Ya, sure. Happy to help.

Hi Guy, I always like to suspend my legs from my sides, right over my hips. This alows the best movement for walking and moving, If they are suspended in the front they will pull down each step you take. The strap over your calf should be snug, and if you have no greaves just line the lower lame or demi greave with closed cell foam (black) and your legs will be comfy. Do you have a C belt? They are awesome for suspending leg armor. The one in the pic should have grommets in the belt holes but I just punched some in it for a fast picture.

Ty

Pitbull

Pit, a fitted arming doublet and a C-belt both do the very same thing in suspending legs. The belt would be awkwardly redundant.

If you are wondering if your leggs are fitting/being supported correctly....

Go for a jog while wearing it. That will tell you everything you need to know.

Hiya KtR, ohhhhhh, ok I missed that this morning, started typing before I got coffee. Ty ty.

Have a good week

Pb

Yeh. Don't you just hate that not-warmed-up-yet feeling. I've crawled into Starbucks like that before...

Klaus the Red wrote:If you have no greaves to help bear the load, make sure the strapping on the backs of the legs is reasonably snug. The weight of plate harness should be distributed through all its contact points and not just hang from the waist and bounce around SCA-style.

This, and loosen the top slightly. You shouldn't feel any strain on your shoulders from the legs; it's not just the leg straps that support it, and it's not just the points at the arming coat / pourpoint / belt; it's the combo of the two that makes it work best. Greaves will help, but aren't required. Greaves with the locking pin or strap holders, especially. I need to set the lock pins on mine tonight, and I'll see if I can get a picture or two; I have the same HE arming coat and MercTailor legs.

Sorry for the poor quality pic, and pardon the jeans/sneakers; still need to strap/buckle/hinge my sabatons. It's a quick cell phone mirror shot, "facebook" style, since I'm by myself this weekend...


(it's clickable for a big image)

For these legs, they're the ones I had first and generally would use with this arming coat. It's a little tough to make out, but at the bottom of the demi-greave piece, there's a small pin (just a rivet) that I set in the greave, and drilled a matching hole in the demi-greave. It's barely visible if you follow the front crease line of the greave up to the demi. This keeps the legs from shuffling around on the greave, and keeps the greave from shuffling around under the legs. I need to add a back strap retainer to keep the strap from slipping up behind my leg and getting loose enough that the greave can pop off the pin, but that's not really relevant for what you've asked. Just thought I'd mention it in case you're looking to do cased greaves eventually.

The front mounting points on the arming coat are directly where the top arming tabs on my legs are. MercTailor / AL's legs are great because they have the added side point holes. Use them. They keep the legs from trying to flop around sideways. They're set lower, and should have some "length" on the points coming off the arming coat, so they won't sit directly over top of the arming coat. On me, it sits a little below the bottom hemline of the arming coat.

The demi greave buckle should be tight. The cuisse buckle should also be tight, but not restrictive. For this, it's important you either wear period hosen, or have your pants pulled up enough that the "inner seam line" (crotch) area isn't interfering with the strap and trying to push it out of the place. The strap behind the knee is to keep the knee from "popping out" during straight-leg extension, where proper legs like MercTailor/AL's with the slotted rivet articulation will have a little compression to them; the compression can make it want to move forwards, away from your leg. So the strap keeps it in place, but isn't there to keep the legs from shifting around sideways. The strap should be looser than the upper and lower straps, but, not so loose it's useless.

I literally don't feel any weight at all on my shoulders with the legs and greaves like this. I can do jumping jacks, I can do a side kick or front snap kick, I can jog or jump in place. My first thought would be add just a little slack on the points in front of your legs, tighten the armor straps accordingly, and see how that feels.

Also, congrats on selecting a *fantastic* arming coat. If you haven't reinforced the points, you probably should. I had a pourpoint from Revival Clothing before and the points tore out the first day of use (outside the house). I researched and decided to do the "four hole" leather tab reinforcement points. It later met with an unfortunate incident where I shrank it by tossing it in the washing machine along with other garb, so I moved on from pourpoint/gambeson to just the arming coat. For reinforcing the points, this might be of help (pardon the fat guy in the pics):
http://james-anderson-iii.com/tutorials ... ing.points

I've since moved the leather patches to the inside of the arming coat, and traded out the white laces for black, but otherwise it's exactly as it came. I found the white points weren't long enough on the sides. Very minor. I also did the same for the arms/pauldron points. You can get the pre-punched and cut leather point reinforcements from Historic Enterprises for $1 each.

When I get the pin on the other leg finished and get the sabatons done, I'll do proper pics and post a walkthrough. Going to be at least a few weeks, though. Hope this helps for now.

Yeah that helped a lot! i dot have an greaves though. I bought a set of cased ones from Merc. tailor but they are WAY to big for me. So are pretty useless and will be posting them i guess. Would like to find a set of demis i guess. I will get the leather tabs as your suggested. I will try on my coat and re-point the less a bit lower & see if that takes some of the shrugging out. Where did you get the greaves you have?

Guy H. wrote:Yeah that helped a lot! i dot have an greaves though. I bought a set of cased ones from Merc. tailor but they are WAY to big for me. So are pretty useless and will be posting them i guess. Would like to find a set of demis i guess. I will get the leather tabs as your suggested. I will try on my coat and re-point the less a bit lower & see if that takes some of the shrugging out. Where did you get the greaves you have?

Glad it helped.

My greaves are MercTailor too, no problems with fitment at all.