deaderafterdark:kyssandrith:deaderafterdark:little-jimmy-the-drummerboy:hamsterloki:faidame:Ever wea
deaderafterdark:kyssandrith:deaderafterdark:little-jimmy-the-drummerboy:hamsterloki:faidame:Ever wear a suit of plate armor? A full one? I have, in a few different styles too (Japanese is amazing to wear and super light, the only metal is the helm and sword). A suit of armor doesn’t weigh a “fuck ton”. The over all weight is spread around your whole body, making it pretty easy to carry and function - its not like the full weight the armor is just sitting in one spot like a a heavy backpack on your back. Suits are around 50 to 75 pounds in weight on average, that’s not a lot.Also, different suits of armor have different mobility. Parade, and tournament armor is more flexible and light weight while cavalry / jousting is the most heavy and rigid. Notice the joints are very open, as are typically the backs of the armor sets: all for flexibility. I think part of it is, if the armor isn’t fitted to your body, the weight can be very unevenly distributed. So people who put on a suit of armor to get a feel for it (such as if they want to write about it) might get a very wrong impression of what it is like. Even people who try to train in it. If they’re wearing an ill-fitted suit (which most commercially made suits will be), then they think it’s a lot harder to wear plate than it actually was.For the most part, to own a suit of armor meant that you were wealthy. Your suits of armor was made for your body, tailored to you. Additionally they did have some allowances for things like some weight gain. Suits of armor demanded flexibility and a wide range of motion if they were for foot combat, less flexibility was demanded for mounted combat.-Most- modern suits of armor, are custom made IF they are actually intended to be functional and actually used in combat. Costume, and ‘parade’ armor is not tailored. People who are wearing armor that isn’t tailored, will encounter problems but -normally- nothing so significant that they resemble a turtle on their back. Armor is held in place by straps, buckles, and more, all of which is adjustable.Over the years, I’ve had a few battlefield situations where I help men dress in armor, and have had to emergency strip a few guys out of their plate armor due to overheating on the battlefield. Every suit of armor was different in some ways, tailored to accommodate the individuals armor style and body type. In terms of modern armor thats made for sport use and actual function Ive prolly worked with around 50+ suits.If you want to know more about some of these modern groups check out: http://usaknights.org/ or http://battleofthenations.ua/ or http://www.sca.org/ - these groups are NOT perfect, but they do come pretty damn close for a modern experience. The Japanese suit of armor I wore was a historical piece from the early Edo period. -- source link
#armour#middle ages