Guages of Steel

[Sir Ancelyn]

At the risk of repeating something already posted before . . . is there a prefered guage of steel, or even a range of guages, to use for helmets, plate armor and mail?

I am still looking at hounskull helms and have seen some variation in thickness.  My immediate reaction is thicker is better. But is there a point where thick is too thick? Obviously weight is a factor.

[Sir Ancelyn]

Or perhaps the sugarloaf would work. is 1350 too late? Great Helm type helmets seem to have been used until quite late.

Thanks.

[Sir Ulrich]

Well from my experience thicker stuff may be stronger but it's also heavier. When I wore a 14 gauge great helm at a faire it was so heavy that I felt like I was gonna fall over wearing it. Had to be at least 10 pounds. The 18 gauge one I wore at an armor shop was around 6 pounds and wasn't too bad with the weight.

[Sir Ancelyn]

Thanks Conall!  I will keep this in mind when I buy.

[Sir Edward]

Yep, historically they weren't real heavy. The SCA uses 14ga steel for helmets typically, as per their safety standards, but 16ga is sufficient to be combat worthy. 18ga would be rather easy to damage in comparison.

[Sir Wolf]

depending on what you want to do with it depends on what guage steel. lower the number thicker the steel. in sca helms are 12/14 guage and elbows/knees are 16. soem steel fighting groups everything needs to be 16 guage min. etc. for just looking cool 18 and higher will work great.  my stuff is a mix of 18 and 16 guage.

[Sir James A]

depending on what you want to do with it depends on what guage steel. lower the number thicker the steel. in sca helms are 12/14 guage and elbows/knees are 16. soem steel fighting groups everything needs to be 16 guage min. etc. for just looking cool 18 and higher will work great.  my stuff is a mix of 18 and 16 guage.

Agreed, purpose of the armor has a lot of bearing over what to choose.

The type of steel also has an influence. The "normal" armor steel could be 18 gauge for a non-combat kit, but I would not go lower than 14 gauge for combat; possibly 12 gauge if it has a domed section. Some helms will be constructed of 2 different gauges, since the dishing thins the metal in parts.

There is also "case hardened" armor. The hardening increases it's ability to take punishment, so you can go "down" a gauge. Such as hardened 16 gauge helms will perform roughly similar to a 14 gauge unhardened helm. Only certain types of steel can be hardened, though.

Stainless steel is also more dent resistant than mild, low carbon steel, and the same general rule applies as for case hardened armor. Late period armor was case hardened, but (to my knowledge) no such thing as stainless steel exists in period pieces.

There are also "mix and match" armor styles; thickness of metal on a historical suit varied widely. So in one harness, you may have a 12 gauge helm top, 14 gauge helm sides, a 14 gauge breastplate, 16 gauge articulation lames, 14 gauge knee/elbow cops, and an 18 gauge backplate and greaves. The armor would be thicker in areas likely to be hit, and thinner in less vulnerable areas to help with weight and mobility.

If it's armor JUST for a kit and won't see full-contact combat, I would suggest 16/18 gauge (16 gauge cops, 18 gauge lames/etc), since it will probably be worn for much longer times (such as all day at a faire) and will be much, much more comfortable. My 16 gauge mild gothic harness is a bit brutal to wear; I'm tired in about 15-20 minutes. I still have some tweaking to try with padding the shoulders a bit more (the straps dig in a bit), but the overall weight is quite heavy for a middle-aged chubby desk monkey such as myself.

[Sir William]

If you intend to fight, nothing thinner than 16 gauge (and I'd go 14 ga for the helm); I had read somewhere that cased armor was harder so it could be thinner and lighter and still provide the same amount of protection as cold-rolled steel.  If it is just for show, I'd go with 18 or 20 gauge in plate parts, go for a 16ga riveted aluminum hauberk if you can afford it- anything butted is going to loose rings over time due to spread.

[Sir Wolf]

hehehe my live steel helm is 18 guage but then again head shots are not alloud.

[Sir William]

Have they ever had an occurrence of someone taking one to the head?  Any injuries?

[Sir Wolf]

ya ive had some "tings" before but nothing happened. heck i've fought wooden wasters in a museum reps 18 guage helm. got 3 NICE dents in it. but thats it, it jsut dented i didn't feel it. i have period liners so that takes any shocks away

[Sir William]

Pretty cool man, pretty cool.