The Armour Archive

I've got this goofy idea running through my head, and can't seem to get it out...

Is there any historical reference to having maille over leather? I haven't found any one doing this yet, nor have I really seen it (historically) any where. At least not in this particular way.

I've got a vision of a leather vambrace, of perhaps 5-6 ounce, with a maile covering laced to the top. A little foam underneath for shock absorbtion, maybe? Kinda like a splint, just one "solid" piece of maille, leaving about a .5 inch gap around the sides.

Does this sound logical to any of you out there? Or am I completely out of my mind (as usual)?

What you are describing does not sound like anything I have read about. It has been speculated that in the 11 - 12 century that hardened leather was starting to be used over mail as a type of cuiras, protecting the body.

Ok, here is an over-simplifaction of what I'm thinking. Note that the maille is on the outside, and is kind of a decoration of the leather. MS paint can be fun!

I had a pretty good idea of what you were talking about, and as best as I recall, there is nothing similar to that in historic references that I know of in Western European armours. The Japanese did something similar to that, I believe, and maybe Islamic, but I'm not sure.

It's RenFair jewelry, Lance. Looks macho, doesn't actually do very much. Not even as an archer's bracer -- as the fastening for that goes on the outside of the arm, and there's no call at all for mail rings.

I read about people using hard boiled leather with Chain sewn to it in a Fantasy book...... It was so they could creep around with out it making a bunch of noise.... Yet again Fantasy book.

Or, lines written by somebody trying like hell for verisimilitude, but who has never tasted the rust knocked off the inside of his helmet by Duke Fortinbras Humongous' money shot to his shieldside temple.

Not a new problem, either -- way back about 1968, Michael Moorcock put Elric of Melniboné in a mailshirt with an "inner layer," not further described, that stopped a blow that cut through the mail links of the, um, outer layer. We'll leave Moorcock's incidental outrages upon metallurgy aside for now.