Your Ideal Armour 1066 - 1546

[Sir James A]

^ Sigismund of Tyrol replica, I believe

[Joshua Santana]

Sigismund of Tyrol replica, I believe

Bingo!   

Illusion Armoring has a similar suit that I have in mind.  Though a replica of that suit would be something worth an expensive penny for.  When I look at it, I think that if I could get inside that harness, I more likely would easily fit into it. 

[MDJouster]

That armour was associated with Sigismund for years but lately I have heard reference that people now think that it was actually Maximillians.  At any rate there is similar harness to it made by the same armourer (Lorenz Helmschmied) at about the same time that was conclusively Maximillians. Both are on display at KMV in Vienna.  My wife Krissies armour is based on another simpler cuiras made for him at the same time by the same armourer on display there.
At one point the Sigismund harness was definitely my favorite but as I have gotten more interested in jousting a simpler more dedicated piece caught my attention.  There is a 1510 dutch made stechzeug cuiras with helm and arms at the KMV collection which can be seen in Leib Rust Kammer the KMV Catalog.   Toby had something similar made after the blackened and gilded English armour for use in steel coronel jousting.  His helm was an insanely thick 7mm at some points and made by Jeff Wasson if I recall correctly.  I don't know of any pictures on line though.

[MDJouster]

Just found this...Look about an hour in.

[Joshua Santana]

That armour was associated with Sigismund for years but lately I have heard reference that people now think that it was actually Maximillians.  At any rate there is similar harness to it made by the same armourer (Lorenz Helmschmied) at about the same time that was conclusively Maximillians. Both are on display at KMV in Vienna.  My wife Krissies armour is based on another simpler cuiras made for him at the same time by the same armourer on display there.
At one point the Sigismund harness was definitely my favorite but as I have gotten more interested in jousting a simpler more dedicated piece caught my attention.  There is a 1510 dutch made stechzeug cuiras with helm and arms at the KMV collection which can be seen in Leib Rust Kammer the KMV Catalog.   Toby had something similar made after the blackened and gilded English armour for use in steel coronel jousting.  His helm was an insanely thick 7mm at some points and made by Jeff Wasson if I recall correctly.  I don't know of any pictures on line though.

Interesting.  My reason for choosing this one particular harness is because it the exact specific Goth style that pertains to my time period (1480-85) which would be in the middle to the end of the War of the Roses. I have done some research and found different types such those seen in the following images (same way that fashion trends change over time, the same is true with the changing styles in Armor):



Peter Falkner - 1495








Paulus Kal - circa 1480


Johannes Lecküchner - 1482


Hans Talhoffer - 1467

Point in summary: saying the phrase German Gothic can be ambiguous unless if going for a certain design on the breastplate, besegaus or no besegaus, tassets or no tassets etc.   So you can say that my ideal harness would easily fit in with more Paulus Kal, Peter Falkner, Johanes Lecküchner as opposed to Talhoffer. 

[Sir James A]

Just found this...Look about an hour in.

That was the pattern for Sir Ian's armor, yep

[Joshua Santana]

While in the discussion of the ideal harness, this is what I am looking for in summation. 

[Thorsteinn]

Chris Gilman, a Hollywood prop guy & KSCA made this for under $100usd in materials. Even shaped the cannons of the forearms with Big Gulp cups.

[jason77]

The following image is an armor based upon the grave image of Rezzo von Beichlingen which is dated from 1360. The etching is a stylistic design found much later in history but I love this design and hope to save up the money for it after I finish with a house renovation.



* This image is from armstreet.com

[Lord Dane]

You have good taste, Jason. Armstreet.com does make some great stuff. That is my current spring steel kit in the making (expect delivery end of month) for ACL fighting. Worth the money.

[jason77]

Wow, how long have you been involved in the ACL?

[jason77]

What is everyone's opinion of stainless steel armor? I've seen some US Knights in the ACL wear it and it is quite hard and it seems to make a good maintenance free armor albeit it is a poor choice for weapons for breakage reasons.

[Sir James A]

Stainless is harder on tools and costs more. Not everyone will work with it. It's popular for ACL / BOTN since that's more "sport" armor and is sort of like a "modern equipment" philosophy FOR SOME people.

If you find something you like and it's available in stainless, and you aren't doing living history, get it. Perfect for renn faire or things where you don't need high historical accuracy and want to have reduced maintenance. You'll still need to replace straps or busted rivets, but you won't have to worry about rust.

[Joshua Santana]

Stainless steel in my opinion can work for Armored Combat (including Harness Fencing) and for the Ren Faire.  Living History is a complex and very expensive path to take.  More likely my kit will be in Stainless steel for the purpose of Ren Faire, Presentations and Harness Fencing.

BTW; I see we got the 14th Century Mafia going on here lol, must be some 14th Century conspiracy lol. 

[Thorsteinn]

I don't like Stainless for helms as it doesn't deform and eat energy as well. So for armor bits that really should deform to protect the wearer it can not be good.