The Armour Archive

A question for those who fight in lamellar.

I'm working on putting together my lamellar plates from the AA order. I want to be able to feel blows, so should I not wear lamellar with a gambeson ?

Thanks,

Bjorn the Bewildered

For what we do, a light gambeson is sufficient protection under lamellar. I strongly advise against fighting without anything to absorb shock under any semi-flexible armour. Bad things can happen.



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Robert Coleman, Jr.

The Noble Companie and Order of St. Maurice

Those who beat their swords into plowshares end up plowing for those who don't.

I wore a lightweight (two layers of cotton quilt batting between trigger and a muslin liner) version of a bambakion under mine.

The thing I loved about my lamellar was that I could easily call blows, but they didn't really hurt, even the hard ones.

A hard spear thrust would wake you up, though.

Um, Templar Bob, would the built in gambeson that I carry not be enough ?

Bjorn the Bulky

TB - what do you consider shock absorbing? I have fought in my lamellar for quite a while with just a thin cotton del underneath with no problems whatsoever.

As gaston said they arent the best at taking a direct thrust so a nice hard spear shot can knock the wind out of you. This is probably more the nature of the armour and I doubt wearing a heavier padded garmet underneath would fix that much. I wear just a cotton tunic under mine and every once in a while I will get a good bruise through it but nothing to really complain about.

i am almost done making japanse lamalar with laquered scale of raw hide ( very rigid and lighter than aluminum) any ideas how this will work? i have none just thought it would be fun to build

My early period archer's body armour is 8oz hardrolled horsebutts (no Beavis jokes, please, that's what Siegel calls it), water hardened and finished with boiled linseed oil.

No difference in it and the 14 oz wax hardened cowhide with lighter weapons, heavy stuff like greatswords hurt a lot more.

Block that shot.

not looking forward to that i am a plate fighter with a big stick, means i get hit a lot. oh well it looks pretty so i am a wearen' it

I wear a caftan made out of one layer of quilted cotton fabric under my leather lamellar and it is more than enough so I will assume that it should be more than enough under metal lamellar.

Gambeson? Your supposed to fight in a gambeson? I thought they were just for cold weather.

You could always do what they do with "bullet proof" vests and wear a trauma plate. It wouldn't have to be very large, and it could be worn underneath.

I've fought in laquered rawhide lamellar since about '87, with 5 years off for child-bearing. I like it. Once in a while I get an OOF shot that makes me consider a gambeson or something, but not often enough to do anything about it. It is now pretty chipped up and could use reworking. (I ran into a lot of people who assumed it was plastic.)

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">TB - what do you consider shock absorbing? I have fought in my lamellar for quite a while with just a thin cotton del underneath with no problems whatsoever.</font>

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2"><B>Um, Templar Bob, would the built in gambeson that I carry not be enough ?
Bjorn the Bulky
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Gentlemen:

What I mean is this: in the sometimes grueling combat that is Pennsic (where guageing up blow force is common), I can get hit with a glaive or spear shot strong enough to lift me off my feet without undue injury and (at most) a sting. A quarter-inch of cotton batting between two layers of heavy trigger should be sufficient for all but the skinniest of people.

Hope this helps,




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Robert Coleman, Jr.

The Noble Companie and Order of St. Maurice

Those who beat their swords into plowshares end up plowing for those who don't.

I fight in a gambeson under my leather lameller. I'm switching to a thinner gambeson, but I wouldn't think of not wearing one.

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<I><B>"Wulfgar spake, the Wendles' chieftain,
whose might of mind to many was known..."</I></B>

Wulfgar Ullicsson inn Gerpir

I wear the SS lamellar from the previous AA order. I wore it without a gambeson...once. Never again, the plates do articulate and can pinch you in odd places. The gambeson also helps to keep all your armour from shifting around to much.

[This message has been edited by Lord Jack (edited 04-16-2001).]

Lord Jack,

But wouldn't my trigger tunic keep me from the armour pinch you're talking about ?

Bye the bye, I have also found out that those plates can sure pull bread hairs. Maybe why there isn't more archeological evidence of lamellar in Scandinavia. :}

I will have to keep mine better trimmed.

Bjorn the Bearded.