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Chausses

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Silvanus:
Time to start thinking of new projects now that the season is over.... In my never-ending pursuit of a more comfortable method of holding up my closed maille chausses, I am thinking of buying these:

http://medievalcollectibles.com/p-3153-upper-leg-padding-with-steel.aspx

and attaching the chausses over them with lacing, then running a belt through the loop on the top of the padding.

Currently I have a series of laces attached from the top of the maille to a wide, thick belt. But after a few hours, no matter what, the weight and drag on my hips is almost agonizing - especially after sparring. I've also tried other suspension systems for the chausses, such as a harness that is worn over the shoulders and attached in front and back. But the draw on my collar bone was as bad as that on my hips with the belt system. I've seen the historical pictures and diagrams of how they were held up (a few laces in front and back hooked to a belt) but I can't see that way working at all.... Do we really know how they were held up? I've also looked over some of our group's methods in the photos here. How do you all fare after several hours of walking/sparring? Comfortable?

Right now, I am happy enough with my kit and harness - except for a reliable (and relatively comfortable) method of hold up the chausses.

Bernarr:
I've heard REALLY good reviews about one of Frank's items over at viking leather-
http://www.vikingleathercrafts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=33_34&products_id=264

The latest one I remember seeing is on AA, which also prompted me to order one myself. As a fat bastard myself, I appreciate reviews from other weight-challenged folks!  :D
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=155533

Silvanus:
Wow, that does look like a great solution, Bernarr. And the price is right. Looks like I'll be ordering one  :D Though I might shoot him a question about how he'd suggest attaching the chausses to the belt. You wouldn't happen to have any photos of how you have yours attached, would you?

Thanks so much for the reply!

Bernarr:
I didn't get mine yet, but you'll need to punch holes to match up to your cuisses, which is what it was designed for. Since you're going to be attaching chain, rather than leather/plate, you can punch holes wherever, I suppose. If you have a pair of plate or leather cuisses you may want to use, I'd say line those up and punch for them, then just string your chain to those holes.
You'd put the belt and your legs on, then mark where the holes should be on the belt. For example, if you had these kind of legs, you'd mark where the holes on the leather tabs at the top rest on the belt-
http://jollyknight.com.ua/armoury/product_info.php?cPath=21_30&products_id=74

I'm thinking you could also use them for strapped legs, like these-
http://store.fastcommerce.com/icefalcon/rondell-splinted-legs-with-maltese-cross-piercework-ff8081811fa08c3d011fa93a818805a5-p.html
You'd just have to mark it similarly and then attach the straps.

I'm at work right now, so I didn't have time to go through all the results, but there are a lot when searching for cuisse belt on AA-
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&keywords=CUISSE+BELT&start=1


PS: No worries on the reply, comfort is key, if I find something that can help, I always share!
If you end up waiting to do it, or don't order the belt for a while, I'll post some pictures when I get mine and have a chance to get them punched.


I did get to go through a couple, apparently he changed the design a bit from the one currently on the site. He posted pics in this thread-
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=154499&p=2343458

Sir Edward:

Joe Metz recommended using a pourpoint for the mail chausses. Of course, that's a 14th century solution, so it's mixing periods a little, but the beauty of a pourpoint is that when tightened properly, it distributes a lot of the weight onto your torso and not just your hips or shoulders. But they have to be worn tightly, so when you get one, it should be possible to tighten it without closing it completely in the middle.

What I've been doing so far with my mail chausses is to just use a leather belt, and also have trouble with it getting painful over time. I find that to minimize that, I have to make it OMGWTF TIGHT. That is, whatever hole on the belt I would tighten it to in order to hold up pants, I have to tighten it probably a good 6" beyond that. Otherwise it'll find its way down over the corners of my hip bones and start hurting BADLY. This will get me through 8 hours of a renfaire day, but it'll still be aching by the end of that.

So I'm tempted to try the pourpoint, since I already have one for my 14th century kit. But my chausses are set up right now to use a belt loop.

The padded cuisse with metal knee that you linked is sized to fit over mail. Their smallest size is pretty big on most average-size guys if worn without the mail. I took out the leather on the back of it and just stitched it shut to make it a comfortable size for me. With any of the lacing there, it was too big to be worn alone. And I wanted mine as an alternative on days that I just really don't want to put on the mail. What some folks are doing is making a half-chausse that hangs down from the padding cuisse, so you get the look of having it over mail, but without the added weight.

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