The Armour Archive

If you have fought in both CoP and in a cuirass, which do you like better and why?

If I were doing this for real, I'd prefer a solid steel plate cuirass.

Since the SCA is the only local outlet for Medieval Combat-related interests, I'm going to have to go with...

..a good brigandine. It affords better mobility than either the coat of plates (at least the coats of plates with which I'm familiar...) or the cuirass. Moreover, the excellent protection the cuirass provides is unnecessary in our stick-tag game, as none of the weapons we face is likely to actually penetrate anything. Therefore, I feel that SCA combat is something best approached clad in the best compromise between protection and lightness/mobility.

I prefer a well-made breastplate (like Churburg #14). I find them lighter and more comfortable than coats of plates.

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Hugh Knight
"Welcome to the Church of the Open Field, let us 'prey': Hunt hard, kill swiftly, waste nothing, make no apologies"

I too am a fan of breastplates.

Brasswork, piercework, fluting, etching.....1480's-1490's high gothic...oooooooohhh, gives me shivers.

Can't get any of that with a CoP.

VvS

lamellar...

mine is both light and flexible while providing more than adequate protection

Most Cop's i've seen look very boxy. everyon looks like a big rectangular tube.

Breast plates look better, but you don't really need one for reasons Joaquin stated.

What is it that Tom is making you J?

A properly made CoP is extremely flexible, protective and easy to make. I made my first one when I was seventeen. All it took was a sewing machine (not necessary if you use leather, though), a jigsaw, a file and my knee to bend the aluminum plates.

I like the ones that have a front half and a back half, with plates running horizontally. This arrangement allows the torso to move in any direction, yet still have great protection.

The only disadvantages are difficulty in putting it on/taking it off (you need a buddy to buckle you in/out) and yes, it is not as flashy as plate.

Beats the snot out of a T-tunic, though.

Curiasses are heavier-that's about it. Never had a big problem with mobility. Oh, and you have to polish them...

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All bleeding eventually stops.

[This message has been edited by Trevor (edited 02-06-2002).]

You're so right about polishing, Trevor...

Park...

Go to the following web sites:

justus.pair.com/JDW

The first few pictures are of my new cuirass. The rest are of me playing in Wade Allen's collection.

That's the strangest looking brigandine I've ever seen, J. Can't wait to see it finished.

Ive fought in both, I liked them both. I have come to think that a good Brig/cop just might be the ideal armor for SCA combat. Its light, easy to make, looks good, and is a good compromise between protection and flexability. It was also easier for me to get more coverage with a cop, I have spine plates, and clavicle plates that I added, and I popped grommets and laced my spaulders right to the cop. Now I have full torso and shoulder protection in one piece. I also think for a do it yourselfer, that it is easier to make a good looking cop that it is to make a good looking breastplate. They are also more forgiving in terms of sizing.

I made a cuirass and found it actually a little too effective for SCA use; I couldn't tell when I got hit on the body unless I saw it. Great in real life, bad when you have to call blows. You might not have that problem, of course, and probably don't get hit in the torso that often anyway. (I've read that the 14th century development of the breastplate was more in response to the longbow than anything else; I'm sure that's worth a whole nother topic.)

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"Come, winds! Blow, wrack! At least we'll die with harness on our back!"