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Old 09-24-2019, 08:50 AM   #29
Tomsdad
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
Default Re: [Low-Tech] Padded Cloth and Layered Armour penalty

Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
There is one other point about mail, beyond the ones Tomsdad pointed out, and that is weight distribution. For a chainmail hauberk or a byrnie, almost all of the weight is borne by the shoulders. For mail chausses (trousers), the weight would normally be at the waist but IIRC braces (suspenders) were used which transferred the weight to the shoulders. The weight of a mail coif would be borne by the crown of the head. There isn't much you can do about any of that, even with tailoring or layering, so that's another reason to jettison mail anywhere it isn't essential.
I agree that plate could be more evenly distributed, but I've worn pretty heavy hauberks for a couple of days at a time in terms of feeling the weight it's not that bad*! FWIW my experience of the issues of weight and wearing armour is that it's not an issue that you feel all the time. Sometimes it's not a thing and sometimes it is. The best way I think I can describe this is that given practice you get used to doing stuff in armour, and that generally speaking it more heavily impedes your more extreme activities.

which isn't a very clear description. So maybe an example:

Jogging, I can (and have) jogged in armour of various types don't get me wrong I don't jog as well as when i'm not wearing armour but I can jog in it.

Sprinting though? No not anywhere as well.

One point for comfort though, leg armour? leg armour sucks! Again don't get me wrong there's a range in how much different leg armours can suck, but in general it sucks more than other bits**! (NB I have less experience of leg armour than other armour so maybe I'm missing something or just haven't got as acclimatised to it)

Enclosed helmets and padding, are of course uncomfortable, disorienting and hot. Getting the backwash of your hot exhaled air while trying to watch that chap's sword isn't fun!


*you really notice it when you take it off you get all "floaty light"

**IIRC Loadouts makes this point?
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Last edited by Tomsdad; 09-24-2019 at 09:36 AM.
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