Main > The Armoury
Armor for SwordChick
Das Bill:
Yeah, I think the one Christian suggested to you would work nicely, but only if you've definately decided on the 14th century. I'll try to remember to bring in a couple books tonight that you might be interested in borrowing. They've got a lot of good "inspirational" pictures. (and by "inspirational" I mean "inspiring to make you spend money")
Das Bill:
So Pamela and I got together to pour over some books to start figuring out a plan for a harness. We've slightly narrowed it down to two potential pathways, depending on whether she goes for 14th c. or 15th. I think it will ultimately come down to cost and availability... mostly cost, actually.
I'll do two separate posts, one for the 14th c. plans, one for the 15th c. plans.
If we went 14th c., we'd do something similar to what Christian recommended for her above. (Yes, I'm saying "we", Pamela. Shut up!) So we're talking mid-14th c. Exact, 100% accuracy isn't necessary, but she still wants it to be within reason.
One of the "pros" is that she already has a 14th c. styled gambeson from Revival Clothing.
She would need a cuirass... preferably some kind of segmented cuirass, such as the famous Churburg type, such as this one:
http://www.bestarmour.com/pancir3.htm
And hourglass gauntlets, such as these ones that I own (possibly without the fingers):
(Made by Lewis Moore, whom is currently MIA from the armour world from what I hear)
She also is very likely going to get a set of legs from Revival Martial Arts:
http://www.revival.us/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=293
She's already gotten the chance to try the above legs on, and they fit her perfectly, so that's a definately plus.
And then finally the hardest part: The helmet. Some form of bascinet with aventail is what we're thinking. Something like this one below, though possibly without the visor:
http://www.bestarmour.com/slap2.htm
Not only will the helmet be the most expensive part, but it pretty much has to have the mail aventail.
This would give her a reasonably complete harness, and she can add further details to this later, such as a mail shirt, arms, etc.
Das Bill:
And now onto 15th c. possibilities.
We were looking at some ideas for an early 15th c. mercenary-type of harness that could be added to later. We came up with something that isn't too fancy.
First, we'd start with some sort of basic arming doublet, such as the one that Revival Clothing sells. Alternately, she can make a typical 15th century doublet and add points to it as necessary, such as this one here:
http://www.revivalclothing.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=225
From there we'd need some type of cuirass. Something like this would be very nice:
http://www.bestarmour.com/pancir1.htm
We probably either need to make sure the cuirass doesn't have a fauld (such as the one above), or else was made by an armourer who really understands a woman's physique, since women's hips are different from men's.
We'd use the same legs as the 14th c. harness (and these legs are technically more correct for this 15th c. one):
http://www.revival.us/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=293
We'd might skip the gauntlets initially, but eventually do something like this:
http://www.bestarmour.com/rukavice3.htm
For the helmet, we have several options. I was thinking the GDFB "celeta", since it looks pretty good, and you can't beat the price.
http://www.cashanwei.com/product_details.asp?id=AB0331&mg=1
(that helmet looks infinitely better in person than it does on their website photos.) If we go with that, we'd likely need to get a mail standard, but those can be found for $95 at Ice Falcon Armoury:
http://store.fastcommerce.com/cat_icefalcon-ff80818118cf3b000118e2443818053f.html
If Pamela decided to go for a closed face helmet instead, she could go with this GDFB one:
http://www.cashanwei.com/product_details.asp?id=AB0451
with this bevor from Windrose Armoury:
http://www.windrosearmoury.com/zc/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=336
(since the GDFB bevor from CAS is pretty poorly formed so as not to fit any breastplates, unfortunately)
And eventually we could add additional pieces to this one as well. Including a mail fauld, spaulders, etc. I could easily see it heading towards something vaguely like this:
Das Bill:
And the compare and contrast phase between the two routes outlined above:
14th c. harness pros:
-Already have the gambeson as the foundation garment, which is a big step
14th c. harness cons:
-Helmet plus mail aventail will be very expensive if Pamela wants it done right (and knowing Pamela, I'm certain she does)
-Will still need something to point the leg harness to (since the gambeson alone doesn't have this... she'll need a pourpoint underneath, or at least a belt, which doesn't work as well)
15th c. harness pros:
-The GDFB helmets are looking pretty good without breaking the budget
-Making her own doublet shouldn't be too hard, all things considered, and she can always use that temporarily until she can afford a more expensive arming doublet
15th c. harness cons:
-Don't already have any of the pieces yet
I can't think of any other glaring things at the moment. Despite the fact that the above list seems to favor the 15th c. harness slightly, that's only on "paper", not in reality. It obviously all comes down to which route Pamela wants.
Sword Chick:
And we will look terrific. :D
Seriously, thanks for helping me out. All my boys will be gone this weekend, so I'll have some unsupervised time to check out those links.
Another question: Shoes? Would Revival Clothing's ankle boots work for both looks? I feel the need to take advantage of their current sale.
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