Improving my kit for Days of Knights.

[Sir Ulrich]

This is my current kit minus the helm as I got my new helm. Considering I am going to days of knights I want to improve it to be better than it already is. Not sure what to add to it but I dont think I will be able to find chausses that will fit me without me cutting them apart and making them smaller to fit my stick legs. Dont want butted maille either cause I heard butted chausses come apart easily. I been considering getting GDFB stuff and just sending it to a tailor to get resized to fit me. I got a templar knight surcoat by them that needs tailoring to fit me properly but I been thinking of doing Teutonic knight instead as Ulrich is MUCH more of a teutonic knight name but considering I already got red belts maybe I should just stick with templar.

[Ian]

Keep in mind that you probably won't want to be in armor for 72 hrs straight, where are you on your soft kit?

As far as chausses go, I think you really may just have to bite the bullet and resize a pair yourself.  Plenty of people here can guide you through it, you just have to be willing to do the work.  The alternative is to skip chausses, and just go for some padded cuisses perhaps?

A surcoat like you mentioned should be high on the priority list because that will really tie it all together, and it would even hide a lack of chausses if you decide to go that route.  Accessorizing your kit can really help sell the impression as well. Pouches, a pater noster... little things like that make a kit look more 'real' and authentic.

[Sir Ulrich]

Yeah I need a surcoat though I DO have one I just need it resized as it's WAYYY too big on me

With that new helm I got it should look good along with my maille, only issue is my maille is blackened and I dunno how good that would look with this and my coif, though my coif is a dark grey thanks to the oil blackening. Now If I can find a place that sells padded chausses for a good deal and in my size I would be thankful. Just want them in black so it doesn't show the dirt. Maybe I'll just get the GDFB ones and take em to a tailor though I wish they covered the shins too. Maybe I should get a new surcoat that fits me but I want to tailor the one I got to fit me better.
Soft kit wise I got an underwear kit from Historical Enterprises and I just need an outer tunic for the 13th century and I will be all set for a soft kit as I got almost everything else. I don't want the gown tunic they offer I want something shorter so yeah.

[Sir James A]

There's quite a few places that sell the GDFB chausses. Having them tailored should be very easy, since they're laced, and not "tube" fit.

MedievalCollectibles.com sells some very cheap padded forearm / lower leg black padding. Like $15 cheap. I doubt it's high quality, but at $15, certainly would work to get started with, especially considering it would probably be under chausses anyway.

If you get mail chausses, it's also acceptable to cut off the excess in the back and lace them together with some leather cord. Early chausses didn't cover the entire leg, and were open in the back. That could be a good 'interim' point between getting them fully tailored and closed in.

Butted mail will work, and will lose rings. Riveted mail will lose rings too. The main difference is, all things equal, the riveted mail should lose less rings, less often. If you get butted, get galvanized steel, not aluminum - the aluminum is too soft and will stretch even more. Beyond that, they seem to really frown on aluminum mail for Days of Knights - even says so on the site/facebook.

Only other thing I can think of is to have a period drinking container.

[Lord Dane]

There's quite a few places that sell the GDFB chausses. Having them tailored should be very easy, since they're laced, and not "tube" fit.

MedievalCollectibles.com sells some very cheap padded forearm / lower leg black padding. Like $15 cheap. I doubt it's high quality, but at $15, certainly would work to get started with, especially considering it would probably be under chausses anyway.

If you get mail chausses, it's also acceptable to cut off the excess in the back and lace them together with some leather cord. Early chausses didn't cover the entire leg, and were open in the back. That could be a good 'interim' point between getting them fully tailored and closed in.

Butted mail will work, and will lose rings. Riveted mail will lose rings too. The main difference is, all things equal, the riveted mail should lose less rings, less often. If you get butted, get galvanized steel, not aluminum - the aluminum is too soft and will stretch even more. Beyond that, they seem to really frown on aluminum mail for Days of Knights - even says so on the site/facebook.

Only other thing I can think of is to have a period drinking container.

Butted Stainless Chausses ($64.99) on ebay.com. Perfect for you. I posted this previously with comments under another topic.

[Sir Ulrich]

They have them here but I am unsure if they got them in stock for now, last time I ordered from him it took almost a year to get them. http://store.fastcommerce.com/icefalcon/steel-chainmail-chausses-regular-ff808181179c9ac201179d91716b368f-p.html
 This is the only place I can find riveted ones besides by the sword, and they cost a bit too much for my price range and I doubt they'll fit me. Butted is a bit heavy thats the reason I dont go after it. Also not sure if it would rust due to being close to the ground so I sorta want ones without feet cause putting them on and lacing them properly is a big pain. Think I may just go for full blown padded chausses or do what Sir Nathan did and have cheater chausses made from a bit of riveted maille with the thighs hidden under the GDFB upper leg padded chausses. I cant really go for galvanized maille  because it will look terrible with my dark grey/black armor and oil blackening it like I did my coif would be impossible due to the zinc fumes. They DID sell blackened ones on amazon but they're now out of stock. Looks like I'm out of luck then and I might just buy the icefalcon ones but my current budget is only 500 bucks max.

[Lord Dane]

They have them here but I am unsure if they got them in stock for now, last time I ordered from him it took almost a year to get them. http://store.fastcommerce.com/icefalcon/steel-chainmail-chausses-regular-ff808181179c9ac201179d91716b368f-p.html
 This is the only place I can find riveted ones besides by the sword, and they cost a bit too much for my price range and I doubt they'll fit me. Butted is a bit heavy thats the reason I dont go after it. Also not sure if it would rust due to being close to the ground so I sorta want ones without feet cause putting them on and lacing them properly is a big pain. Think I may just go for full blown padded chausses or do what Sir Nathan did and have cheater chausses made from a bit of riveted maille with the thighs hidden under the GDFB upper leg padded chausses. I cant really go for galvanized maille  because it will look terrible with my dark grey/black armor and oil blackening it like I did my coif would be impossible due to the zinc fumes. They DID sell blackened ones on amazon but they're now out of stock. Looks like I'm out of luck then and I might just buy the icefalcon ones but my current budget is only 500 bucks max.

IceFalcon Armory is expensive but quality stuff. You sure you want to spend that much money for chain-link pants???

[Ian]

Andre, the proprietor of Icefalcon is currently at Pennsic so he's out of the office for a bit, but normally he returns emails very quickly regarding whether or not he has things in stock, you just have to ask him. I just asked him about stainless wedge riveted aventails last week and he got back to me in a day about what he did have, didn't have and when he expected it.  You just have to ask him.

[Sir Ulrich]

I'm gonna email him about it when he returns from Pennsic

In all honesty I don't want to spend much but I really want my first living history event to go as a knight Templar. I am tired of the whole "foot soldier" deal I been doing for years and think it's about time I go as a crusader knight for once. Maybe I should tone down my kit and go as a knight from the first crusade? But then I wont be able to use my new helm in that fashion which is period for about 1210. I just really need a list of things to get for this and I have like 2 months to prepare for this and I am really looking forward to it and I really want to be satisfied with my kit for this. This isnt just a casual ren faire outfit like I normally do this is living history event. Just need a list of things I'd need for it. Not sure of the kit requirements to be considered a knight and not just a common foot soldier. If someone could find me a set of cheaper chausses that are BLACKENED as well I would like that. Only reason is I want it to match my coif and hauberk and not have that blue galvanized finish that I sorta dislike on butted maille.

[Sir Brian]

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Not sure of the kit requirements to be considered a knight and not just a common foot soldier.
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Gilded spurs should be considered the primary requirement to make the distinction between these two. 

[Sir Ulrich]

I ordered a pair of maille chausses from Icefalcon. This will cost me a bit but I think it would be worth it, so all these teenage idiots at ren faires wont start going "oh I'd just hit you in the legs". Getting a C belt from Viking Leathercrafts as well to hold them up. Now to get padded chausses to go under them as well as a new aketon for my hauberk.

[Sir James A]

You made a good choice. Icefalcon is worth the money for the chausses. I have a pair and they fit me great out of the box (didn't even tailor them) ... though I did get the "large" ones. If you got the regulars, you should have a pretty close fit. If there's a little slack, well placed lacing will fix that, and still look period.

[Sir Edward]

I'm pretty sure I got the size-L as well, and I didn't need to modify them either. They worked just fine. IceFalcon is one of the better ways to go for mail these days.

[Sir William]

I'm pretty sure I got the size-L as well, and I didn't need to modify them either. They worked just fine. IceFalcon is one of the better ways to go for mail these days.

You guys with your big legs...guys with skinny legs like me and Ulrich, always need to tighten things up a bit to get them to fit. 

[Sir James A]

I'm pretty sure I got the size-L as well, and I didn't need to modify them either. They worked just fine. IceFalcon is one of the better ways to go for mail these days.

You guys with your big legs...guys with skinny legs like me and Ulrich, always need to tighten things up a bit to get them to fit. 

More beer and pies!