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Post by legacyofthesword on Jun 23, 2016 3:31:28 GMT
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Post by gundy on Jun 23, 2016 3:44:09 GMT
Always wanted one, but they are very difficult to maintain due to all the overlapping plates. This ones seems decent enough though. Have you considered getting a stainless steel one?
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gandermail
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Bill, WEWolf, Slackitude...I need to settle on a name.
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Post by gandermail on Jun 23, 2016 6:56:00 GMT
I'm curious, why do you need it to fit you? When would you wear it? Not trolling, just curious. If you want to wear it and look at yourself in the bathroom mirror that's a perfectly valid reason, I'm just nosy.
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Post by legacyofthesword on Jun 23, 2016 20:18:56 GMT
Gundy - I wouldn't mind stainless steel, but I do prefer the authenticity of carbon steel. I don't mind keeping it oiled, or rubbing off whatever rust it picks up. Gandermail - Not a problem. I want it to fit me because I want to wear it, and I want to wear it because I want to know what it felt like to wear Roman legionary armor. I want to experience history - I've learned more about ancient Roman tactics from swinging my gladius then I ever learned from all the books I own. Actually... I wouldn't say more, maybe just that handling a gladius made all the tactics clear to me. Plus, I want to impress my friends.
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Post by legacyofthesword on Jun 23, 2016 20:59:27 GMT
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Post by legacyofthesword on Jun 23, 2016 21:18:55 GMT
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gandermail
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Bill, WEWolf, Slackitude...I need to settle on a name.
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Post by gandermail on Jun 24, 2016 12:56:11 GMT
Gundy - I wouldn't mind stainless steel, but I do prefer the authenticity of carbon steel. I don't mind keeping it oiled, or rubbing off whatever rust it picks up. Gandermail - Not a problem. I want it to fit me because I want to wear it, and I want to wear it because I want to know what it felt like to wear Roman legionary armor. I want to experience history - I've learned more about ancient Roman tactics from swinging my gladius then I ever learned from all the books I own. Actually... I wouldn't say more, maybe just that handling a gladius made all the tactics clear to me. Plus, I want to impress my friends. Thanks for answering, and for not taking offense. Hmm, now I think about it, if I owned some nice armor (or not so nice) I'd likely want to try it on, too. It would be interesting to see what it felt like.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 27, 2016 18:01:50 GMT
Gandermail - Not a problem. I want it to fit me because I want to wear it, and I want to wear it because I want to know what it felt like to wear Roman legionary armor. I want to experience history - I've learned more about ancient Roman tactics from swinging my gladius then I ever learned from all the books I own. I like wearing mine and have learned much with it. I don’t have plate, only a couple of gambesons, a maille mantle and coif, , leather kidney belt, padded leg protection to just below the knees, brigandine, demi-gauntlets, 4 bracers, and helmet. I enjoy about as much as my swords and would like more but due to the expense of importing plus the fact that I’ve about peaked out so far as heat build up (not hard to do living in Central America) and weight are concerned I don’t see any more in the near future.
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Post by legacyofthesword on Jun 27, 2016 19:59:00 GMT
Sounds like fun pgandy. How easy is it to move and fight with it all on? I'm working on a mail shirt right now; it's taking a very long time. Granted, I haven't been working on it as much as I should, but it's taken six months and I've only got to the point where the the front of the shirt is almost finished. Still, should be awesome when it's done.
Anyway, I think I'll just bite the bullet and get the lorica segmentata I was looking at. I think I should be able to fix any problems it has, and long as there's nothing wrong with the plates.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 28, 2016 2:37:48 GMT
I made my maille stuff and it took a long time even though it is butted. I did make an effort for the ends to line up well, increasing the time. I am glad now that I choose butted seeing what was involved. Bringing two subassemblies together especially when angled proved tricky and many times I had to disassemble and redo. At least with the butted stuff I could reuse the rings. Lining up the two ends in order to put a tiny pin through a tiny hole with the riveted maille must be a nightmare. As I am not into reacting or stage that cause abuse what I have should do fine.
As far as mobility and fighting with my kit(s) I have no real problem. However I do not use everything at once and many times only partially. In the end I wound up with basically two outfights. The first one uses the shorter, thinner gambeson made for me by a fellow in Canada. I can use the brigandine with that one. And can use two of the four bracers. One bracer is too small and my latest, the splint type is too large. The helmet with maille will not fit when using the thickest arming cap. Therefore I use the thinnest with an intermediate skull cap type for extra padding if desiring to use the maille and helmet. I never wear the maille coif without the helmet. Looks good in pictures and it will protect from a cut, but does nothing to prevent my brain from rattling around. I use a padded gorget and maille mantle with this one. And sometimes a leather gladiator belt between the gambeson and brigandine. Sometimes the padded trousers. Much depends on the temperature. Everything is well balanced distributing the weight making it not uncomfortable. However, and this is never mentioned by those doing the YouTube thing, while well balanced in an upright position if I lean I become top heavy and start becoming off balanced. When fully decked out with the above I can move alright but not as agile on my feet. If the temperature is in the high 70’s F I began feeling it which in short order saps my energy then my strength.
My second gambeson is of much more to my liking. It is made by Lord of Battle. It is much thicker and weighs three times the first one and gives neck and more leg protection. Oddly enough it is slightly cooler. I can wear it with somewhat higher temperatures and feel comfortable with a higher energy level much longer. With that gambeson I sometimes wear the padded gorget, although it is not as important to do so as with the first gambeson, for extra protection around the neck and shoulders and to keep the oils from the maille off the gambeson. With all of that and the maille coif my throat has the best protection. And in that case I wear the thinner padded arming cap in order for the helmet to fit. To me the helmet is a must. I also use the splint bracers as they are the only ones that I can get around the arms. It is tight with the gladiator belt underneath so if worn, not often, it goes outside and will barely fasten. The brigandine will marginally fit over the gambeson. It’s a stretch so I don’t use it. The air circulates better with this gambeson especially without the gladiator belt and is in part perhaps why I remain cooler. I feel well protected especially with the padded pants. This is my favourite and I am confident a blade will not cut through. In fact when I had it in the tailor’s for an alteration the tailor having never seen anything like it had questions and while trying to explain I pulled out my folder and made a slice without thinking and the knife just slide across the sleeve like water on a duck’s back without the least damage. The first outfit I described will work better against blunt force trauma as the metal plates distribute the force over a wider area. With the second, my favourite, I can last longer, move more freely, more agile, not as top heavy on a list, and in general more comfortable. I really like the second one. Enjoy the lorica segmentata.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 28, 2016 12:41:28 GMT
Here is my brigandine in action. I believe I would be knocked down before I would be disabled by impact. I can flex better in this than I could in plate making it more comfortable. I’ve been tempted to obtain a breastplate but stick with the brigandine for that reason. Besides the brigandine covers more area rather than a breastplate alone. I also believe it to be quieter. And with the sun beating down on it to be cooler.
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Post by legacyofthesword on Jun 28, 2016 20:01:14 GMT
Wow, that brigandine looks like it offers great protection. Cool stuff pgandy. I'm always interested by all the variations and factors of all the different armors: plates, mail, laminated, etc.. You've got to worry about weight, ease of movement, temperature, protection, flexibility... all that stuff.
Anyway, thanks for the good words. I'm looking forward to wearing a little piece of Roman history.
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Luka
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Post by Luka on Jun 28, 2016 22:10:39 GMT
I would classify that "brigandine" as "jack stuffed with plates". Brigandine has cloth/leather only on the outside and is made of many small overlapping plates. Plates in jacks probably overlapped too, but since they are not riveted but sewn in and sandwiched between layers of cloth, you wouldn't see that from the outside and the whole garment would look more like your "brigandine". P.S. Please, don't take this as me being a smartass or anything, I just wanted to propose a terminology more in line with period terminology. :)
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jun 29, 2016 18:29:31 GMT
I don’t see you as a smartass and stand corrected, if you are referring to my statement of me lacking plate armour. When I wrote that I was looking at laeacyofthesword’s post and looking at the segmentata armour via link he posted with my tunnel vision and thinking of that armour in its form around the 15th century, with its normally bright metal worn on the outside. I also have 3 bracers of exposed metal that could be considered plate, although I don’t necessary. I also have another, my first, of up to three layers of leather that I later added sheet metal to the inside. These are what I wear when working on or around my razor wire fence and have saved me grief.
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Post by MLanteigne on Jul 25, 2016 15:29:24 GMT
Darth, if you have the time why not try making your own? I made my own the first time. Wasn't too bad. Just need basic tools. Usually you can get te place where you buy your steel to cut the bigger pieces for you. www.larp.com/legioxx/lorica.html
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