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Post by Beowulf on Apr 20, 2012 20:38:20 GMT
So I have decided that others might want to benefit from my awkward foray into some armour purchases. Please forgive me, but for right now I am not going to attach pictures to anything I post here. I frankly don't know how to attach photos because I haven't tried to at all. I just don't have much time to figure it out right now. I will try to give you the literal name as it is generally known across the web in shops. I recommend popping the name and/or item number into a good store's (KoA!) search function to pull up pictures of what I am talking about.
Some background: I am a WMA practitioner that started about ten years ago. I've had sparring equipment and have used two reproduction helms in sparring sometimes, but both of those pieces had some problems. One was a Windlass Viking helm that was slightly too small, the other a Windlass sallet and bevor. The bevor actually was used constantly as lower face/throat protection with my sparring equipment (when I wasn't utilizing a fencing mask). The sallet ended up gathering dust on a stand.
A lot of the WMA crowd tend to emulate 15th century sources so their arms and armour reflect this. I have considered getting a German Talhofferian harness (suit of armour) for a long time now. But eventually I ruled it out for a couple of reasons. Firstly, such a harness is expensive due to the nature of plat armour. Some WMA people have had some success using off-the-rack pieces, but this is a hit-or-miss affair. Plate harness really should be custom made to one's body. That's cool and all, but the expense for me right now is prohibitive. Of course, the wait for such stuff is sort of a negative, I guess. The second strike against a plate harness for me is the custom fit aspect; I'm in my early forties. My career keeps me behind a desk and is unpredictable- I will often have to drop everything (birthdays, Christmas, vacations) to take care of emergencies from my office. So no matter how I've fought against it I've put on weight. I've never owned a plate harness, but I can just look at them and I intrinsically know that there is no way in hell at this point I could maintain a svelte enough physique to be able to own such things.
There are some people wearing and fighting in the late 13th to 14th century harness. The so-called "piece plate" era of armour evolution. This period presents all of the problems that the later period armours represent to me, though there is more "give" or "slop" in the fitting of some of these armours. This period isn't very appealing to me for some reason. I'll leave it at that.
I arrived at my decision to start to build an "Age of Maille" harness. The first appeal is that maille seems to be misunderstood. I don't know how many times I've seen someone cut through a sheet of butted maille laid over a pork shoulder or rump roast and declare that maille cannot withstand a longsword/sword cut. Butted maille is not historical for Europe, and was used in a limited fashion by the Japanese to bolster parts of their splendidly ornate armours. I am not an expert on how the Japanese utilized butted maille, but I know the medieval Japanese (or anyone else) were not stupid. I have read countless opinions on the futility of maille, of how inferior it is to plate harness. This may be true, but maille is literally the longest lived, most successful armour of our species, period. I have also read of Crusaders being pincushioned by the arrows of the Moslem defenders and not suffering enough trauma to even hinder them from continuing their activities. Maille is a mystery to me. Like so many aspects of Dark Age/Medieval life the misinformation and uninformed opinion of modern people vastly outweighs any hard won truths one might glean from books and the internet.
An "Age of Maille" harness affords me the opportunity to get "real armour" for half to a quarter the cost of a plate harness. I can also wear such a kit whilst "delightfully bear shaped" or even as my future re-svelte self. A maille kit also allows me to cover a large swath of time if I like. Maille based body defenses were not as fashion-prone as later plate harness could be. With many later harness you often have to be specific enough down to a thirty year period- sometimes down to a ten year period.
I decided to attack this equipment from two places. I would build a harness from the age of the Great Helm. I would also use the maille as the base for a Viking kit. The Knightly equipment would be my main thrust, because it is more expensive, more complex and (supposedly) better documented. The Scandinavian kit would be much easier and cheaper, therefore more fun. There is an appeal to the surcoated early knight. Part of it for me is the crazy three dimensional crest that is coupled with the always-menacing-regardless-of-period great helm. I know that when some people see an early knight all they can think of is "Bucket Head". I don't suffer from that inucurable insight. Whether it is the Black Knight from The Holy Grail or the Knight in Time Bandits bursting through the main character's bedroom wall, there is something sexy and menacing about the absurdly garish trappings of an early Knight. In a strange way to me the early knight and the fully armoured samurai seem to be different expressions of the same aesthetic.
My requirements for these harnesses might be interesting. I want to use stuff off-the-rack whenever possible- this narrows what I can do quite a bit, as some periods of harness have lots of off-the-rack choices to mix and match, while other periods aren't covered at all without going to a smith and getting custom things made. I am not concerned overly much about "absolute authenticity" IOW I don't need garments to be hand stitched, or armour made by long dead people resurrected by Super Science. I want something that will give me enough of an accurate feel to teach me something, to make me proud of my effort and things that I won't abandon to gathering dust on a shelf (too much). I am not going to teach the public at the Smithsonian Museum, but I would like things I could fight in using steel blunt weapons- even if I do not ever do such a thing.
I guess I should also mention nomenclature. I might not use the terms some people like to use in these posts. I won't ever say "chainmail" because the ancients did not use that name. I research stuff. I want to know ancient people's world. I have consulted on two books. Please, do not take as law or truth anything I might say, but I ask you to at least consider my ideas to be at least "somewhat informed opinions". I don't have a Medieval History degree, and I am not an expert in every aspect of everything. I'm just a guy who can halfway read some old dead languages and is stubborn. I still have a lot of suspicions and working theories. I am not done building the primary (knightly) kit. I expect this to be a slow process and these posts will probably get buried as time moves on. I'll probably necro-post in my own threads (which should be alright I guess?). I still have several pieces to document thoughts on at this time before I get to the point of having nothing else to post on until I buy and try other pieces. As of this point I am perhaps halfway to having a good basic starter early 13th century knight's array.
So let's talk about what I have experienced so far. I hope this will entertain and enlighten a few people. I hope everyone else won't be too bored.
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Post by Beowulf on Apr 20, 2012 20:40:18 GMT
Windlass Steelcrafts Medieval Heater Shield - 801204
My wife bought me a "heater" shield for Christmas. This gift is a little bit of what swayed me to try and put together an early knightly harness.
What is it?
A "heater" shield is the third post-Roman shield in Europe. It is the child of the Norman tear drop shaped "kite" shield and has been misnamed the "heater" due to it's silhouette reminding 19th century scholars of clothes irons. In period it is referred to as a triangle shield by the Germans. I have not uncovered any other names for it by other European cultures, but I didn't look. The first post-Roman shield was the round shield of the Germanic cultures, held by a literal handle spar and rarely perhaps never strapped to the arm. Early "kite" shields were of the same single hand-hold design and then quickly changed to an interesting and versatile strap system where the shield might be strapped to the arm. The triangle shield is one of the few objects of warfare that is obviously directly related to an older piece of equipment. It literally is a slightly redesigned version/child of the Norman "kite" shield. These are designed for use on horseback, just as their parent design was. But it would be misleading to think of it as an exclusively calvalry defense. It is often shown used on foot, and also shown used with the early longsword/greatsword/warsword. It's use and wear is a complex and interesting subject- if you like looking through boring old manuscripts like I do. The strap system can be complex and the shield is often portrayed as worn/hung on the shoulder via the guige strap (say "gweej" AFAIK). The guige strap is also to be found on the Round and Kite shield, and probably goes back a long long time and spans many cultures. Don't take my word for that- I haven't looked, but it wouldn't surprise me to see half naked Golden Age Greeks utilizing it, or ancient Africans or any one using shields in the Orient.
The wearing of the triangle shield on the shoulder like this is deceiving. The guige simultaneously takes part of the weight of the shield off your arm when it is strapped about the neck, and allows a rider to hold the reins solidly. On horseback it is logical that one might slip one's left hand into the handhold when ready to get to business right before a charge, thus is is perhaps shown in a more casual not-on-the-move sort of way in period art. Can you hold the reins with your hand in the front handhold? Yes. But you don't have to have your hand grasping the front strap if the guige is around your neck- the shield won't fall off you. Confused? The shield hangs from a strap around your neck and stays there- you have a strap across your elbow, then whenever you want or need to you can grab into the front hand strap to control/brace/bolster the thing actively. Err. With reins in hand.
On foot the triangle shield is used as a (wait for it) shield if using a single handed weapon. Strapped to one's arm. But if you're using a two handed weapon, you can slip the guige strap around your neck, cinch the guige snugly and put the triangle shield on your shoulder/bicep, using it essentially as another piece of armour. A giant "spaulder" or "pauldron"-a shoulder-armour piece. The triangle shield is often shown across the back as the kite shield and round shield are often shown in period artwork. The shield-on-the-upper-arm trend continues after this period and actually seems to become quite fashionable, but the shield in question they're affixing like this is not our friend the "heater" or triangle shield.
The reproduction.
Windlass Steelcrafts triangle shield is a good attempt. It is worth it's price. The thing is covered with white primered canvas front and back. Strangely there seems to be some foam padding beneath the canvas facing the front of the shield. I don't know why anyone needs padding on the FRONT of a shield- but it isn't too thick so it doesn't detract enough from it to make me perform surgury to remove it. The back has a canvas covered forearm pad. This might need to be thicker, I think it is acceptable since anyone using a shield like this should be wearing some form of armour. The straps are well done simple leather thongs that are thick enough and seem strong enough. When I recieved the shield there was a 3 foot long strap attached to the elbow straps (literally the word for all these is "enarme" or "enarmes"). I still have no idea what this long strap is supposed to do, so I took it off and attached the two elbow enarmes directly to each other. My lack of understanding isn't that surprising, I have not found a triangle shield documented that still has all enarmes intact. What we have is intact shield bodies with the traces of where the enarmes attached to the back of the shields. It's easy to guess as to the strapping method these artifacts employed, but there are multiple possibilities with most of these shields. It is possible Windlass Steelcrafts has some info I do not about such a thing. They certainly have more of a library than I do I am sure.
The front handhold enarmes are in an 'x' pattern. Period artwork shows both an 'x' pattern handhold and a 'II' pattern handhold, so this is acceptable. The only two things I might nitpick about with this shield is that almost all surviving examples seem to be covered in leather (at least one layer is leather out of multiple layers sometimes) instead of canvas, and that the weight might be off. Germanic round shields were much thinner than most people realize, almost shockingly thin, and therefore lighter than almost all 'fuzzy' or inaccurate reproductions. I suspect that "kite" shields and triangle shields are also the same shockingly light construction. I have weight and dimensional data of eight or more triangle shields here somewhere, but I haven't gotten around to looking at it yet, sorry.
The guige strap might be the most glaringly wrong bit on this shield from a functional standpoint. Real triangle shields had adjustable guige-straps fitted with buckles like modern belts, or were of a sliding cinch-strap design like some ancient baldricks. For such a strangely adaptable shield this guige might need to be changed out. It would be a simple affair to do so however.
All in all a good enough basic triangle shield that did suprise me a bit. I've looked at other "heaters" and most are overly heavy wallhangers. I'd try this out with steel blunt weaponry, but do so cautiously at first because I value the bones in my left arm!
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Post by Beowulf on Apr 20, 2012 20:42:59 GMT
GDFB Crusader Flat Top Helmet - AB0351
So I had decided to start slowly buying stuff. The best way to go about this I thought was to purchase a great helm. The choice of a great helm would dictate what exactly the rest of the armour would be. As I said before I wanted to be as accurate as I could without freaking out or going custom. I looked far and wide at a large variety of great helms. Frankly a lot of the stuff wasn't accurate enough during the exploration process, but I wanted to get a good look at everything available. I then excluded all inaccurate designs based off of three criteria. Firstly, inaccurate overall design. Secondly, inaccurate material thickness or composition- I didn't want something of too thin of stock because I wanted the option of being able to use this helm (and all other equipment) in sparring with blunt steel training weapons. I also threw out anything of stainless steel.
Stainless isn't bad I guess for a lot of purposes, like SCA, or for someone who doesn't want to risk the potential to have an ever-rusting collection of stuff, heck, it works for WMA too. For me though it is a no-no. I have a lot of high carbon weapons and I do not have a problem with rust. Helms in period art are often not of shining polished steel (historical term is white armours) but are often apparently painted, browned, heat blued, etc. Stainless might allow painting, but browning seemed an impossibility since it is essentially a process where you purposefully let the thing rust uniformly and then stop the rust permanently. The rust, or browning (or russetting and other processes) actually protects the object from further fresh rusting. Weird? Yeah, but logical once you can see it first hand. By doing something, anything, to the steel object to treat it, embellish it away from the "shining steel" you create something more durable and also more historical.
Thirdly I tossed out any helm with occulars or sights (eyeholes) that were inaccurately too large. I was still left with a sizable amount of choices that ran the gamut of pricing from one hundred fifty dollars to eight hundred dollars. These were all obviously good looking helms. Next was to consider what these helms "went with" historically. A lot of helms required plate armour pieces over maille or complimented with maille pieces. I wanted cheap, so I didn't want a helm that created more problems trying to secure other harder to find armour pieces to go with it.
The way to go was simplicity. I decided on the GDFB Crusader Flat Top Helm AB0351. I purchased it online and quickly had a medium sized box at my door stuffed with a heap of biodegradable packing peanuts and a bonus prize of a Great Helm.
What is it?
One thing to straighten out immediately since my Inner Geek won't let it go: A "helm" is head armour that protects the whole head, a "helmet" is a little helm, head armour that does NOT protect the whole head. Boba Fett obviously is wearing a Helm, even a Great Helm, Darth Vader is wearing a Helm and Bevor, a modern American soldier is wearing a helmet. Anyways, this is probably best called a "topfhelm" which is German for pot-helm. This seems to connotate that the helm is flat-topped like a pot or saucepan. Though the term is often applied to any Great Helm. In Monty Python's The Holly Grail, Graham Chapman plays King Arthur, he is wearing a flat topped helmet that has sides that flare out, IOW the top of the helmet is larger due to the sides flaring out than the bottom of the helmet where Mr. Chapman's head was (R.I.P. Graham). This, in helm form, is generally called by armour-geeks a "saltshaker helm" due to the flaring top resembling a... saltshaker. Ahem.
I have no doubt that this is a good representation of a helm from say 1190 A.D. to 1210 A.D. However I have heavily researched this helm design for two months and I have only come up with a single example of it in period artwork worn by three knights on one panel of Charlemagne's Silver Shrine in Aachen, Germany. People have come up with diagrams illustrating early helmet and helm evolution. This helm is never illustrated, instead the logic seems to be that this is a 'transitional' design between two more popular forms. I have to agree with the popular part. I have several written references describing such a helm, but that doesn't help documentation too much for me ultimately. Many will say that this is a proto Great Helm. I have a problem with this as I have already stated in the definition of what a "helm" is. It protects the whole head... barely... but it does get the whole thing. This helm seems to lie between the earlier (yet still probably in use at this time) "face masked" or "hockey masked" partial Norman/Italo-Norman helms (essentially a viking helmet cap with a scary face protector) and the great helms illustrated in the Maciejowski Bible (a.k.a. the Morgan Bible) which seem to be bizarre-yet-cool fully developed great helms
Forgive me for being overly wordy, but Great Helms, especially early ones like this one have a lot of unnecessary baggage attached to them. What is the "Great" in Great Helm? It's big- big enough that there is space between the user's noggin and the helm itself. Look at a good reproduction (or the original) Sutton Hoo Helm. It's essentially the same thing in a functional way. The S.H. Helm is like a giant crash helmet. Space between the wearer's face and the faceplate/mask, space all around the user's skull. Look at a Viking Gjermundbu or "spectacled" helmet- the mask or spectacles don't sit against the face, of course not, they're off and away from the face. The great helm is big on purpose. It doesn't reinforce the bones and muscle of the wearer's head by laying against them- it protects the head by 'floating' as a wall of steel between the head and the violence as a partition.
Flat Topped?
This is, as nearly everything I've said conjecture, but "somewhat informed" conjecture. Many people with often repeat the tired ill-thought out mantra of "the flat topped Great Helm went out of style when armorer's REALIZED that a round topped or pointed helm glanced blows better than a more vulnerable and primitive flat topped great helm". The Egyptians used round topped helmets, the Greeks, Persians, hell, everyone used round topped helmets, but not the Great Helms from the medieval to high medieval period. Vikings had round topped and pointed helmets and then suddenly armorers forgot how to do such a thing and eventually figured it out again? Look at a flat topped great helm design and you'll notice there are usually more rivets affixing the flat top to the sides of the helm than anywhere else on the helm. I don't think it is too out of place to say that the top-to-side join of most flat top helms have more rivets in that seam than in the entire rest of the helm combined. Why were they making that riveted seam so strong? The flat top presents a right angle that is backed by empty space. Human heads are egg shaped or round, not cylindrical with a right angle. There is either nothing, or padding behind that right angle where side of great helm joins flat top and one's skull. This is a crumple-zone for lack of a better term. Remember- many knights wore TWO plate steel armour defenses on their head in addition to maille coif and padding. A Great Helm over a skull-cap or cervelliere, which was a close fitting ROUND helmet. This is the only period I know of where TWO helms/helmets were often worn at the same time.
One might say that yes, it might be easy to pierce the flat top of an early great helm. But with what? This is before the heyday of the warhammer with it's wicked backspike. A sword blow is difficult to land properly on the very top with power, especially when the other guy is also trying to kill you back-or your on horseback as many knights were. More than likely you'd chip or outright break a sword blade if you tried such a feat and missed, hitting that super-strengthened right angle where flat met vertical sides of the helm. Why did the warhammer become popular? Look at that right angle defense on those early great helms. What defeats such a defense? A right angle weapon, something shaped like a pick-axe or a draftsman's T-Square... a warhammer. When did the flat top go away? It survived the longsword and the great axe (though I suspect the great axe not too well) It went away with the popularity of the warhammer. If you did pierce the Great Helm? There's quite often another helmet under there... and it is always quite round.
Another conjecture about the flat top of early great helms...To me it seems they changed to round or pointy topped at the same time the faces of the slightly later helms became angled or prowed. An angled face sure does help glance a lance tip, or a swordblow. But I wonder if part of the reason for the change might be the perhaps deadly annoyance of arrows. With a flat sided/faced Helm arrows are not presented with a glancing surface. Arrows won't pierce a great helm, but with the early bucket-like design they would smack right into your head, maybe momentarily deafening you when the arrow shaft folds under force of impact and shatters, maybe staggering you, hell, perhaps stunning you with a longbow shot or a light crossbow shot that connects. Imagine a knight on a battlefield, perhaps during a siege being bruised and painfully though slightly pierced by arrows sticking into his maille coat (if those links do not fail and let a bodkin pointed arrow in to grievously injure or kill him) but he has his head knocked about as arrows hiss and SNAP! explode on his bucket-like Great Helm. Early tanks had flat noses and the tank crew were deafened from the constant barrage of light munitions slamming straight against the flat wall-like surface and flattening in the noisiest of possible ways. Later tanks had noses that were angled, and while still rattling their operators, did not "catch" every single non-breaching projectile. The angled noses arose not out of complaints about the noise, but to glance off truly bad potentially-big-or-fast-enough-to-breach projectiles, but it has been noted that the later angled fronts were merely deafening, not stupidly jarring. Hopefully I have made some possible points in the complex problems of early great helm design.
The Reproduction.
I was worried that the narrow nose piece made this helm look a bit silly and cross-eyed. but when I got it and tried it on it just looked intimidating. There is an impression (or maybe fact) that there is more helm above the eyes than below them. The face-plate just comes down to cover my chin and jaw, and the little angled backplate likewise just comes down far enough to cover the base of my skull. The effect of these lower edges is nice and sort of elegant in a cool and unusual way. I am used to the more traditional great helm look of an even, uniform wrap-around of the lower edge. So this was an unexpected plus aesthetically. There are high peaks of unprotected area on each side right below my ears. I'll wager I can hear better in this great helm than in some later more protective ones. I think the scant lower face protection makes it easier to breathe too. Everything was symmetrical and the 14 gauge steel is reassuringly thick without being stupidly heavy. My previous Windlass helms seemed too thin being of 18 gauge steel. I have no doubt this helm could stop a sword blow. Though there are many differences between this and the helms in the Maciejowski Bible, it does remind me of them.
Suspension is a thin leather liner, often called a 'spider' consisting of many trianglular flaps gathered by a thin leather thong through grommeted holes. The period liners seem to be similar, based on studying effigies. It seems that the flaps of the 'spider' in some originals might have been stuffed with padding. The liner could be done better, it is awfully thin leather. I could tear it out, as there are other known ways to secure a great helm on the head. I'll leave it for now. There is no padding in this helm. The inside of the helm seemed spacious, which is good because I still needed a maille coif, arming cap, cervalliere and perhaps an 'orle' a stuffed headband worn over the above other items and meant to bridge any gap left between outer helm and inner head defenses. By the way, a 'torse' is often seen outside of great helms, a twisted headband at the base of the crest- this seems to be related directly to the orle and is a decorative outer version, usually decorated with colors derivative of the knight's coat of arms.
The tip of my nose tends to touch the face plate, but I am not done adjusting the other head defenses and making a good orle. It is possible I can counter this. I hope so, it is unsafe and unusable to have my nose put in harm's way obviously. Point of note: I have a 24.5 inch diameter head so I ordered the large helm. The breaths (breathing holes) are symmetrical. The outside is in good enough polish for me, though others might complain about it, this will most likely not stay shiny, AKAIK it isn't done in this period and is a movie/theatrical thing.
More fitting of other head defenses is needed, but so far I am satisfied with this purchase and it has fallen within the range of the simplest and therefore cheapest knightly "age of maille" kit.
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Post by Beowulf on Apr 20, 2012 21:59:28 GMT
GDFB Teutonic Surcoat - Wool - GB3945
GDFB Wool Teutonic Cloak - GB3944
So the Shield and Great Helm were secured. I shopped around for a while, looking at off-the-rack surcoats. I was a bit doubtful about buying one, I thought surely with some coaxing my wife might make me one. After all, a surcoat was about as simple as a paper grocery bag in design. However, what would it be made of? Wool? Linen? Cotton? I knew cotton was most likely ahistorical, and I didn't relish the dual thoughts of my manly surcoat shrinking in a washing machine, or having the emblazoned and much-overwrought home made thing get ripped on a tree branch. I rejected cotton. I looked up prices of wool and linen by the yard. I gulped, it wasn't THAT expensive, however the expense coupled with the time to make it seemed to really equalize it with the cost of those GDFB surcoats I had seen. Snazzy, not too expensive, and available in a choice of linen or wool. But at this time I had no color scheme, no heraldry in mind. I'm a WMA guy. I'd like to dress up and adopt a persona, but I never have done that. Thinking about heraldry and color at this early stage, and being locked into it for a long time before the kit was done sort of turned me off. Hmmm.
I remembered the old black and white Alexander Nevsky movie and the evil Teutonic Knights. There is always something very striking about their outfits. Very frightening looking, which I always think is an odd juxtaposition considering their decked out in all white. Well, I thought, I am of Saxon, Danish, German and Flemish origin. I would look the part of many of these guys back in the day wearing just such a get-up. What the hell. I decided on the Teutonic surcoat and I also got the cloak, because while I've never gotten a chance to dress up in a costume outside of Halloween if I was to do a Teutonic Knight I have to have the cloak, damnit. This was a good arrangement, because as I said in an earlier post, part of this period's appeal to me is the helm crests, and I knew that the Teutonic Order early on were allowed such crests before they were forbidden outright.
I could always have more than one surcoat.
I ordered both pieces in wool. I have no justification for that decision, and perhaps it was a bit short sighted, I probably should have gotten the linen pieces as I live in the midwest of America where the summers are quite hot.
I won't do a run-down of the history of the surcoat because there isn't any way AFAIK to prove or disprove what it's true function is or whether the Europeans were inspired by Middle Eastern garments and borrowed the concept or we already had surcoats before hand. My own opinion on the surcoat is, yes, it's a place to put your heraldric device, it keeps the sun from heating up your armour a bit and the early ones with the closed front could on occasion disguise the defenses beneath it thus keeping someone from "aiming" for a less protected spot with a weapon thrust or dagger attack. It looks snazzy.
They arrived and fit pretty well. I am six foot three inches tall and they fit me nicely. The cloak was long enough for me- I hate the look of cloaks and capes that are short, without being so long as to get soiled in the ever present yet charming mud that apparently permeated many parts of the medieval world.
Of note I found out that while they are generally advertised as being completely "wool" they are mostly wool with some modern additives. Not a problem for me. I am sure the modern stuff mixed in helps with shape retainment and maybe a touch with durability? The cloak's hood was an actual full voluminous hood replete with a pointed though not overly long tail.
I immediately thought about ordering two more cloaks in brown for scotch-guarding (waterproofing) and adding to the clothes portion of the survival/emergency kit I've been building for my wife and myself. I figure these would be a little bit better than warm blankets, since they can be worn on the body. I haven't done this, I am not sure if I will, but it is a testament to the warmth and probable durability of these things.
The cloak has a nice heavy rope tie. I have thought about adding a brooch, but I have decided that this tie is the best solution possible. Both surcoat and cloak are lined with linen. This is a nice touch. These were worth the money, though you may want to opt for the linen surcoat.
Eventually the surcoat had to be split up the back and home made linen ties added to it, but this belongs in the future section on the gambeson/aketon I plan on writing.
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Post by Beowulf on May 2, 2012 8:43:47 GMT
GDFB Maille Coife Wedge Riveted- AB2550
GDFB Maille Mitten Gauntlets - Riveted - AB2753
I finally got my first pieces of maille: a GDFB wedge riveted flat ringed coif and a pair of GDFB round riveted, round ringed maille mittens or "mufflers". The coif and mittens arrived, they both stank of mysterious packing/machine grease. They were both covered in it. The grease wasn't the stinkiest I've been around, thank goodness. I cleaned the coif up with turpentine and the mittens I brushed down with rags.
The Maille Coif
The coif was a substantial, weighty thing. The rings were acceptable, about ninety nine percent of them seemed good. Most of the bad ones were riveted, but the overlap of the two ends wasn't done very well, creating rings with slight tails. Of course I tried it on, sacrificing an old hooded sweatshirt to keep me from stupidly pulling out head hair. The mantle of the coif drapes slightly over the ends of my shoulders- and I'm not a little guy. Someone diminuitive might want to trim off some rings on the mantle perhaps. This coif is "square faced" and frames in my face well without any draping beneath my chin. After some experimentation with other equipment I decided to cut a slit in the back of the coif running from the tops of my ears down to the end of the neck proper. I did not cut through the mantle. This was needed because with underpadding in place on my head the coif sometimes scraped my nose and face while putting it on, and caught on my nose everytime I tried to take it off. I was only able to get the coif off with difficulty. Now the coif goes on quite well, and I can keep it nicely aligned while putting it on. Closing the back-slit is easy with a leather thong threaded through the maille on each side like shoe-laces-as long as you have an assistant.
The coif is worth what I paid for it, and might be a good buy for harvesting maille for another project. If this was split and laid out, there would be quite a bit of maille for something else.
The Maille Mittens
Oh boy. These are big, almost oven mitt sized. Now if you have hands that can palm a basket ball, gigantic H.R. Giger Alien or Nosferatu hands, these are perfect. The maille is round riveted, round cross-sectional rings. The weave is tighter than on the flat wedge riveted coif. There seems to be less bad rings. Due to a mistake I have ended up with two pairs of mittens. Both exhibit better riveting than the flat ring maille. The palms of the mittens are thin black leather (as thin as the helm liner) and the stitching of the maille to the glove is good, though I suspect that this will fail eventually and need to be redone. Between the maille and the back of the hand is a patch of "gambeson" padded fabric. The protection seems good. The thumbs are not too large. Your going to scratch the hell out of sword hilts while wearing these, so be warned. I have taken some leather thongs and threaded two of them into each maille patch on each mitten. One thong behind the first knuckles of each hand, and one behind each thumb halfway to the cuff. Knotting these cinched the mittens tighter to each hand and made the fit better, this also shrunk the size of the mittens a bit and now they are merely biggish. These were a good buy, even though they are so large. If you want some riveted maille just to have some get these, they're cheap. I will most likely be lacing these to the ends of the hauberk's sleeves for now. Eventually I may replace them, as they are a different maille style than the hauberk I have.
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Post by Beowulf on May 3, 2012 12:24:01 GMT
GDFB 14th Century Secret Helmet - AB0371
Great helms were often worn over the top of smaller helmets, known commonly as Cervallieres. One of the often misunderstood aspects of Great helm use is this double-helm protection system. People are also baffled by the maille coiffed knights portrayed in contemporary art, not realizing that many times these men are not solely relying upon only the flexible maille and under-padding that is shown, but beneath the coif of maille lies a small, close fitting plate iron or steel cervalliere.
The cervalliere is often cited as the evolutionary parent of many later bascinet helms. This seems like a fairly logical assumption, though as is often the case, thinking of things in an 'evolutionary line' might be a too rigorous modernism. I have no qualms with thinking the little cervalliere might be the grand-daddy of many later period forms of head protection, I am just cautious about restating and regurgitation the same old inherited ideas.
After much trepidation about which size to buy I ordered and received a nicely made GDFB cervalliere, or 'secret helmet' as they like to call it. It consists of a 14 gauge steel helmet shell lined around the outside three-quarters of the lower rim with rivets. The helmet had a 'spider' liner in it consisting of leather triangles held together at the crown of the head with a single leather thong threaded through grommets. Standard fare GDFB liner, thin leather, seemingly glued to the inside of the lower rim and also held in place by the many rivets punched through it.
Of course I couldn't look at it forever, and about two minutes after freeing it from the shipping box it was time to pop it onto my head. It didn't fit! The rim stopped about an inch above my eyebrows, refusing to slide on any further. This wouldn't work. I looked at it in a mirror and noticed while I had run out of space front and back, on the sides above my ears I had enough room to put my index finger between my head and the helmet. I grabbed my trusty rubber mallet and after several rounds of hammering and fitting I managed to shape it a little bit better for my skull. It was now one half inch above my eyebrows, yet the inner liner had not been engaged by the top of my head. I put the cervalliere down for the day, as I am apt to make rash decisions if I fixate on stuff like this.
The next day I picked up the cervalliere again and went at it with the mallet again, a little progress, a slightly better fit, but I had run out of room to reshape it. It was so close- if I had another one or two millimeters of space inside of it, it would go on fully. I realized that I might be able to remove the liner to gain the space I needed. I was off to the internet and my books, searching for evidence of what actually was inside of artifactual cervallieres. After two days of searches I had come up with nothing.
I could not say that physics-wise I needed a suspension inside of a close fitting helmet like this, but I couldn't rule it out either. I was going to use the cervalliere as the base foundation for the great helm. If I was going to be using the cervalliere on it's own over or under a maille coif I would want an inner 'medieval hard hat" style of suspension. But this helmet was intended to protect my head in case of a 'breach' of the great helm. Having a steel skin over the top of one's skull -sans suspension- as a last failsafe seemed somewhat logical to me.
I could always exchange this medium cervalliere for a large one. But checking the great helm I had the medium barely fit inside of it. The large size wouldn't work. So I had at least learned something; GDFB does not always make sure their wares are sized for proper intended historical use. Someone else with this identical GDFB great helm might be able to fit a large cervalliere inside of it, such is the nature of handmade products like armour. But the tolerances were so close that I was sure they didn't intentionally design the large helmet to go within the large helm. Maybe it's silly to fault GDFB on this, I mean, I was trying to do something that as I have already said apparently many people are unaware of- wearing two helmets at once. Though the literature advertising this cervalliere on many websites states that the little helmet was often used in conjunction with a great helm. Is this GDFB's ad-copy, or is this website vendors knowing their stuff? GDFB makes whole suits of armour that are intended to play together and the suits can be purchased all at once or piece by piece. I had suspected that with only a handful of GDFB great helms that they too might be designed to play nicely with the single cervalliere they manufacture. Not so in my experience.
I could always rip out the suspended liner and install a padded liner.
So while marvelling at the horror of modern television I sat on my couch, busily destroying a perfectly good helmet suspension. It would work. I just needed a little more space. I would make due. I have pulled rabbits out of my ass before.
I got it to fit, but the fit is so close it is concerning to me. I finally tried fitting the cervalliere within my maille coif on it's own. I should have checked this as soon as I unpacked it. No way, the cervalliere was too large in circumferance to fit. So I couldn't wear it inside my coif if it did fit my head, and obviously, it wasn't big enough to fit over my head if I was wearing the coif under it. Let me be plain: this GDFB one-size-fits-all maille coif doesn't go over this medium GDFB cervalliere. Your experience may differ, as I have said, these are handmade pieces. Some day I'll sell it to a friend who has a smaller head, and they can happily pack it full of padding.
The cervalliere sits on a shelf in my office. It tells me when it is time to dust instead of being part of an ancient armour system designed to protect the human head during a heavy cavalry charge.
It is a good helmet, it could have been worth the price. Live and learn. Though I had hoped I would have learned by now.
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Taran
Member
Posts: 2,621
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Post by Taran on May 6, 2012 3:14:10 GMT
Need pictures...
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Post by Beowulf on May 9, 2012 17:31:01 GMT
The coif with helm in place. The helm is not strapped. Not for the large nosed. The maille mittens. Use my hand for scale, not the game controller. The Cervalliere refuses to play nice with the coif, or anything else for that matter. The white hoodie piece is just that. A temporary solution for fitting. Slit and (partial) lacing of coif. Notice I didn't totally split the coif, it isn't needed. This is to help with donning the piece. Hauberk in place. Notice the mantle of coif covering my shoulder tips. The hauberk sleeves are not fitted and are hanging loosely. Mittens are huge and not laced or linked to hauberk. (Vienna Sausages sold separately) Most of current kit on. Belt is not cinched tight due to residual nasty oil on hauberk. I do not have on leg defences, nor proper shoes. I'm wearing viking "boots". Cloak not shown due to residual oil nastiness.
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Post by ineffableone on May 11, 2012 1:41:16 GMT
Looks great, thanks for sharing your experiences putting your kit together.
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Post by Gaufried on May 11, 2012 4:57:30 GMT
That all looks great! Thanks for sharing.
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Post by Beowulf on May 11, 2012 7:55:29 GMT
GDFB Cuisses- Upper Leg Padding with Steel Knee - Black - AB0298
Gamboised cuisses with dished, rivet attached disk poleyns
Cuisses are generally seen in their most primitive forms in 12th and 13th century manuscripts. "Cuisse" or "cuish" is the French word for 'thigh', perhaps related to the Latinic "coxa" for 'hipbone'. Cuisses are shown in one plate of the Maciejowski Bible as padded, vertically quilted "thigh-tubes" with no evidence of poleyns (plate defences for the knees). The poleyns attached to cuisses rapidly change shape and are generally pointed (laced) or strapped around the back of the knee. The cuisses themselves seem to be replaced by plate armour, and do not survive in the fully developed all-plate armours of the later centuries. Cuisses seem to generally be worn over maille chausses, they might also be worn on their own by a lower class warrior/armed person without maille, I have seen no evidence of this, but I have not looked for it. It is also entirely possible a type of cuisse was worn beneath maille, but armour research is fraught with lack of sculptural or painted/drawn media of the subject. There are instances of the mention of armour pieces in literature of which we have no pictorial or sculptural evidence of. Effigies and sculptures are not done as exploded technical diagrams, unfortunately, and often the pieces in question would be visible on an effigy, except for all that other armour and clothing in the way.
As before, these cuisses are a GDFB product. It was never my intention to almost solely buy GDFB gear, however it is accessable, off the rack and has been mostly decent enough. The cuisses are thick padded "gamboised" (gambesoned) thigh pieces, reaching up to just below the hip joints and ending below the knee. Each has a primitive steel poleyn attached directly through the cuisses with steel rivets. There is no leather backing to pad the poleyns from the inside, or to bolster the rivets. The poleyns are gently dished, or convex, and they thankfully have a subtle center and vertical bend to them to facilitate molding a bit to the knee. Without the vertical bend to them a strike upon them might drive a poleyn's edge into the knee-cap or surrounding knee/leg processes, resulting in much hopping and screaming in my opinion. The cuisses are worn by pulling up the leg, running a belt through a leather loop at the top-front of each cuisse and wearing the belt on the hips- tightly cinched. Adjusting can be accomplished by tightening the laces that close/bridge the back vertical split of the gamboised material so they can be tightened and grip the thigh. This leather loop attachment is most likely ahistorical, but it works well for me, and for now I will not modify them. The poleyns actually work, as I have had to kneel numerous times on one knee while my assistant (my short but kind wife) has helped me with bits of gear. Kneeling was surprisingly comfortable, but each body is different. You may hate them.
The wearing of the cuisses is strange, but really no more bizarre than any other piece of equipment I have. The feeling of stiff and heavy "chaps" is odd to me and I react by walking more like a Frankenstein monster for now. I will be happy when these have broken in or I get used to them. I might add some lacing a few inches up from the bottom of each cuisse to snug them a bit.
What were they for?
I can only add impressions. I would say they help snug the maille chausses to the legs, add more projectile/lance protection, keep the knees from being rapped by polearm hafts in a possible tight press of battle or charge on horseback. One should also consider the brush and tree limbs a mounted knight might have to navigate while upon a battlefield. I would also wager that these made riding in the saddle a bit more comfortable and kept the maille leggings from quickly tearing up the possible aesthetics of a knightly saddle.
The one possible bad thing I might say about these is that the disk poleyns are riveted directly through the gamboised material. I can easily see the poleyns leaving rust stains on the nice white cloth of the cuisses outer shells. I'll have to keep them oiled or devise another way to keep air and moisture from them. Thanks for reading.
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Taran
Member
Posts: 2,621
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Post by Taran on May 13, 2012 1:43:33 GMT
Very nice pics.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2012 3:44:14 GMT
The kit looks really good and time, effort and the money that you have put in shines out.
so constructive criticism: the helm should be just a bit longer to the neck. I would also like to see a shot of the inside of the helm as well as what you are wearing under the mail and skull cap, ( your smaller helm )
some leather thongs through the sleeves at wrist, just below the elbow and just above the elbow will make working and moving in them more functional. Make them snug not tight
please please keep in mind 'constructive criticism, over all you have done an outstanding job with your harness.
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Post by Beowulf on May 15, 2012 10:26:51 GMT
onemoresword: Thanks for the criticisms. The helm should be longer to the neck? You mean it should sit lower? Keep in mind this isn't much different than the late Norman/early crusade "Saltshaker with Mask" or "Flat Top with Face Mask" helms. To me this seems like the next step after those: a short back plate for the back of the skull, and a flattened face. IOWs the next change would be joining the back plate and mask into one continuous lower edge. This would still be an early great helm, because they were short and cylindrical with a flat face, but really probably the first "complete" great helm.
It won't sit lower without making it impossible to see out of the sights. Though I can probably coax another quarter inch of lowering out of it.
I don't have a functioning inner helmet right now. It's not unheard of to not have an inner helmet, though I'm not happy about it. I need to modify my crappy cervalliere further or get another one.
My next fiddling will be with the thongs you mentioned. I had already planned that, but I haven't gotten around to it. I'm going to try something to cinch the forearms to me and create a below elbow cinch in one go. I have a set of 12th-13th century clothing garters I might try on the above elbows location. I might also use those on the maille chausses.
I'm fiddling with building an orle right now and a simple white linen mantling without all the fancy decorative bling. Just a straightforward fighting knight's sunscreen. Also looking at carving a crest from basswood.
I'll try and take some more pictures soon. Thank you for your reply!
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jhart06
Member
Slowly coming back from the depths...
Posts: 3,292
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Post by jhart06 on May 15, 2012 14:16:48 GMT
Very nicely done!
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Post by Kataphractos on May 19, 2012 3:07:13 GMT
More and more I'm regretting buying the maille haubergeon (the short sleeved one) rather than the hauberk. Your pics only make me believe this more. (I'm thinking of trimming a few inches off the bottom and triangling the ends of the sleeves and bottom and going for a more Viking look)
I'm planning on getting the same coif you have, and we seem to be about the same size, so my question to you is, how does the face opening for the coif work for you (the backslit notwithstanding)? My main concern is that I have a larger head than most people, so I'm worried about the maille digging into my chin or cheeks where an arming cap can't reach. True, I can trim rings off as needed, but I want to avoid that as much as possible.
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Post by Beowulf on May 19, 2012 16:47:06 GMT
Thanks for the question, Kataphractos.
I got my coif from SoM a while back. I seem to remember at the time SoM had several different coifs, if I remember correctly they were all "Code 2" or wedge riveted, flat ring linked. I think the choices were triangular faced or square faced. I just checked SoM and they only carry square-faced Code 2 now. KoA never has described more than one Code 2 coif as far as I can recall, and I don't know what "face" it has. Mine is a square faced Code 2 (the codes are confusing).
I have no drape or gape underneath my chin, my coif sits on my chin, about one quarter inch underneath my lower lip. The coif lays between my ears and my eyes, basically in the middle between them- so, the edges all around are laying on my face. But looking at effigies and artwork it seems that this is correct for a maille coif, almost regardless of period or culture. In the period I am dealing with the coifs usually have flaps to cover their lower faces like Hollywood ninja.
I will be making a custom arming cap. I don't have a choice in this, since I don't want to cut away any rows of links. For now I am using a cotton hood I cut off a hoodie. I cut it so I would have a shoulder mantle to keep the coif off my skin when I didn't have a hauberk yet. I still use this hoodie beneath anything else for now, since I can cinch it close to my face with the drawstring. This might be a solution for you. My custom arming cap will be more of a hood that covers my neck and runs up over my chin and cheeks. I have also considered lining the maille coif with a couple of layers of linen and sewing the links to the lining every two inches or so all over the coif. This would work better than my solution of a custom arming hood, but might need some maintenance periodically to keep stitches from breaking free of the maille.
Ultimately I have to line the mantle portion of the coif with probably a single layer of linen. This is to make it play with the hauberk, which it can snag on right now sometimes, keeping me from fully turning my head.
I think your best bet is to adapt some middle layer to the coif to protect you from it, but that's just my opinion. I would bite the bullet and make something rather than modify the maille too far. I'd rather give myself the opportunity to try something out long-term and consider a solution long-term than quickly go for broke on something like this. There was no uniform, universal way to wear armour in Europe. Alternately, you could say that there were many stylistic solutions all at once all the time for the same problems.
I have to buy a habergeon too... But it is for cutting maille chausses out of. That is the best solution I have came up with. Pre-made maille leggings are too expensive.
Good luck!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2012 22:47:18 GMT
you can not really lower your helm, and it is a very minor detail. As I said it is a very well put together kit.
On the note of very well put together, I love your avatar photo, the 'cans' are very funny
onemoresword
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Post by Kataphractos on May 20, 2012 0:32:47 GMT
Yeah, figured that. I do like the idea of lining the inside with linen though, hadn't thought of that.
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Post by Beowulf on Feb 3, 2013 5:45:05 GMT
GDFB Flat Ring Wedge Riveted Hauberk AB2528
There is not a lot to review with a Hauberk. It either fits or not, falls apart or stays together. So I have decided to review as much as I can about such a thing and tell of my general experiences with a Hauberk.
The Hauberk is a great-shirt of maille. It is long sleeved and long hemmed. Generally the length is to the mid thigh or knee, though some early Norman artwork shows hauberks occasionally to the ankle. A "Haubergon" is a little Hauberk, a shirt of maille that is shorter sleeved, sometimes to the elbow, sometimes sleeveless that generally stops at the waist or top-thigh. The Hauberk is usually split between the legs front and back, the splits stopping at the crotch. This is generally thought of as for ease of use on a horse. There are a few illustrations showing another split variation at the sides. Modern scholars often equate this variation as a maille shirt for use by infantry.
My Hauberk was manufactured by Get Dressed For Battle. I got mine in the sixty inch chest variety since I am a larger guy. Upon opening the package I was presented with a small challenge. The Hauberk was coated in a rather foul smelling grease. This did it's job in protecting the armour in transit from ultimately who-knows-where to me, but now it had to come off. I grabbed my turpentine and an old mop bucket and took the shirt outside. I liberally rinsed the shirt as well as I could, considering that it filled the bucket and that as I worked it began to lightly rain.
Point of note: I smelled of this grease for two days after this initial cleaning. I also washed my hands probably fifteen times in these two days and took multiple showers trying to get this infernal and nasty stuff off my skin. I do not think I will soon forget sleeping with the all pervading smell of Evil Alien Grease filling the room. My wife is a saint. Enough said.
The Hauberk itself fits me quite well. At this point I should probably mention that maille garments such as this were custom made for the upper classes. It is conceivable that an off-the-rack version was available, but in general these fit their wearer quite well. The reasoning, besides the obvious advantage of class and money for a custom fit? Weight. If you have extra inches of maille dragging at your arms or waist it will help to exhaust you and slow you down. There is also something intangible and unproven as to the true potential of maille as a protective layer: it is possible that the fine tuned tailoring of a maille shirt actually might help in it's protective capabilities. I do not know of any real testing that has been or could be done to substantiate this.
What would tailoring of a Hauberk look like? First off the sleeves are split and links are removed to make the original parallel/columnular sleeves taper to the wrists. Of course the splits are relinked closed after the alteration. Also triangles of maille are inserted at various spots to loosen the fit at certain areas. Often the waist-to-hemline of the skirt has large triangles of maille inserted to cause the skirt to be flared out more. Finally, and as important as the rest of these subtle-seeming modifications diamonds or triangles of maille are inserted in the armpits to allow the user to raise their arms overhead without the rest of the armour moving/dragging during the motion. This armpit configuration is seen in almost any arming garment from Roman period through to the end of hand weapon use in every culture that develops the Arts of War to a high discipline. These tailoring patterns can be seen in any haubergon or hauberk on display in museums but it really takes a trained eye to spot.
As of this time my Hauberk has suffered none of these modifications. Or rather I don't know if I can suffer doing these modifications. It seems to allow my arms to raise quite well, and perhaps I am shaped like an Indian-made Hauberk, but the lack of the other modifications has not bothered me too much yet.
Wearing a Shirt of Steel
After the Hauberk had dried and after the sacrifice of five cheap beach towels to scrub the remnants of grease off it was time to try it on. I actually had looked online to get some idea of how to put this on. Believe me, you want some hints. First thing I had noticed is that I was pretty sure I would not be able to get my giant head through the smallish neck hole. So after a few links were removed from the front of the neck, it looked possible. Donning a Hauberk requires a slight bit of bravery and strength. You worm both arms up into the waist portion of the shirt putting your hands into the beginnings of the sleeves, then you raise the whole shirt overhead and wiggle while you hold your arms straight up. If your lucky the shirt will come crashing down over you and your merely have to aim at the neckhole with your head. Generally I have found that the shirt comes crashing down, and my head becomes trapped somewhere next to the neckhole. This requires more wiggling, cursing, but hopefully you are smart enough to try this out with an assistant who can help keep you alive.
Seriously. You need someone to help you if something goes wrong at this point. You also need to protect your head. I put on my arming hood before my Hauberk to protect my hair and face. DO NOT try this without something to keep your hair away from the maille. You don't want to get your hair stuck in some links at this point- or ever really.
This Hauberk weighs 22 pounds. Does this seem light? I didn't think it was particularly light but I was unsure how fatiguing it really was. Initially I noticed that my feet compressed the soles of my shoes a slight bit more, that movement was slightly hampered, but not too much. I can only describe the weight as carrying a case of beer, or a sack or two of potatoes. That sort of strain. However, after a half an hour I started to notice that my shoulders were becoming quite fatigued. The little muscles were unhappy, like after a game of tennis or after a long teaching/learning session with a longsword. Though this was only mildly unpleasant I realized that if I were to wear the Hauberk like this for an extended period it would make me quite sore. I was prepared for this, having been warned by other people. I raised my arms up over my head, reaching for the sky as my wife gird my waist with an old belt tightly. Instantly the weight lessened considerably, to the extent that I sighed in contentment. Wow, the belt makes a world of difference. Now it felt right.
Apparently this is how you wear a Hauberk. That belt is mandatory.
The next session with the Hauberk I decided to try it with everything I owned on. This was Hauberk, Coif, Surcoat, Cloak, Helm and all other arming clothes and pieces. I put on the Hauberk. No trouble there. After the inner belt was in place it was time for the Surcoat. I was a bit worried that the Surcoat would be a tight fit, but I was unsure as to just how tight. So on went the Surcoat over my head, my arms raised to find and fill the arm holes in the Surcoat. In order to do this I had to kneel so my assistant could get to everything since I am tall.
Then I got stuck.
We knew the Surcoat would go on, but the problem was it had bunched up and rolled up on itself. I spent fifteen minutes on my knees, my arms pressed against my ears, raised straight up over my head, the Surcoat stuck from my chest to my hands. While my face was buried in the thick, unbreathing wool of the Surcoat. My assistant pulled and yanked on me and the Surcoat as I tried my best to not fall over. In the end we got the Surcoat on me. As soon as it was down and in it's proper place I could finally breathe. I was red faced and exhausted. Then the wool of the Surcoat really began to heat up.
Having almost drowned once as a child I knew the feeling coming over me as soon as it began. It had taken fifteen minutes to get the Surcoat on and then in less than three minutes it had become such a stifling oven that I was close to a panic. I am not claustrophobic at all, but this was I am sure how that feels. I looked at my wife and said "I need to get this BLANKing thing off of me now." I told her that if it got stuck she should cut it off of me.
We got it off, no problem. The Surcoat was modified with a full length slit down the back and some linen ties to keep it closed. Now it is a simple affair to get on or off.
A word here again on having an assistant when putting on armour such as this. I have learned my lesson. On several occasions I have put on my whole kit by myself and in the end, right after it was all on I was red faced, overheating and tired from all of the bending, twisting and struggling. It isn't worth it. It makes no sense to put on a suit of armour and then sit down for five or ten minutes to take a break. Also since the heat you've built up won't easily dissipate unless you're doing this in the wintertime and can step outside to have the atmosphere leech off your excess heat. Another thing is the possibility of getting stuck while putting it on or taking it off while you are alone. Worst case scenario I can think of is being stuck halfway in or out. You might not have use of your hands really, and you probably would not be able to see very well either. I cannot imagine pleading with a neighbor in such a position. It is an entertaining thought, as long as it happens to someone else.
Taking off the Hauberk is an interesting exercise perhaps worth mentioning. You cross your arms at the wrists as you grab the collar in both hands. Then you lift the shirt up with a heave as you bend acutely at the waist as if you were trying to touch your toes. Then you violently wiggle and shake while staying in that position. The Hauberk will slide off of you and land between your feet with a crash. Every time I do this my back audibly pops. It feels great, especially coupled with the very real sensation of suddenly being twenty-two pounds lighter and the realization that the air around you is nice and cool.
The Hauberk was well worth what I paid. There was only one link on the entire thing that was questionable and that link later broke. My only problem with it (or anything like this) is to figure out how to get used to it. Really, as strange as it might be to talk about, I try and wear it regularly so I can get used to it and I try and do physical things while wearing it. I really wish there was someplace I could go that was secluded so I could take a jog or otherwise workout regularly while wearing this. Although jogging through the neighborhood with this on would give me some protection from dog attacks, I don't think the stares would be worth it.
I have been cut slightly on my hands several times when handling the Hauberk. Always when trying to get in position for putting it on. I really need to look into my tetanus shot history I guess. The issue of overheating while wearing this is probably more worrying to me than the weight, but both are managable with time, training and good equipment like proper arming clothes. I am now of the opinion that bulky gambesons were NOT worn with a Hauberk in this period. We have no period artwork showing anything more bulky than perhaps long shirts (maybe thick ones) being worn beneath such armour. But this is another discussion for another forum, and a very controversial subject.
I hope you've enjoyed my experience with my first Hauberk. If you too get to own a good replica Hauberk someday please get an old waistbelt and get an assistant!
Cheers
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