Choosing Medieval or Fantasy Armor

[@roxannevictor]

Here's one vote for you to offer riveted aluminum chainmail in your shop. Since it is hard to find you can corner the market for larpers and filmers.

[@Magnalenian]

Thanks for also covering alluminum chainmail :)

[@fellandfair]

You are welcome!

[@fluz_11]

I'm 18 and I'm getting into live action roleplay and I've been watching all of your videos. Keep up the work guy!

[@fellandfair]

That is awesome! Glad you enjoy them!

[@kilbrenstrayer6308]

i really appreciate your content, both for youtube and LARP. i wanted to say that i love that you are so humble with your videos! thank you!

[@fellandfair]

KJ-Stray thanks so much! We do our best!

[@kilbrenstrayer6308]

@@fellandfair it shows because you guys are the best! blessings to you!

[@MrPandafarts]

Had a hard day and needed to watch something nice. Thanks guys :)

[@SharkWrestler]

I recommend a historical kit, I used to go for a fantasy look didn't do much research and ended up the stereotypical immobile knight. Copying the artwork and following a historical view on armor my kit now feels super comfortable, I can wear it all day long and I don't notice any issues in mobility (my padded jacket reduces more elbow flexion than my arm harness!). Not only that, but you can't get a more medieval look than the real thing. The only cons are heat and visibility if you count the visor being down. (PS. Another common misconception in the historical community is the idea that "knights" had padding AND maille, It tends to be one or another or you have a pourpoint which is thin compared to the common gambeson people think of.)

[@brdwy89]

Tips for weathering chainmail would be awesome! And a really cool option for etsy as well ;) Any tips to help with making sure you're getting the right size for your armor or clothing? Or is it more trial and error? Most places if you're choosing to purchase obviously have a sizing chart, but more often than not I still feel like I'm not always getting the best fit.

[@fellandfair]

When asking about sizing, do you mean when making it from scratch, or when altering stuff you already purchased?

[@brdwy89]

@@fellandfair Both! But more towards altering what's already been purchased as making from scratch definitely requires practice.

[@dankflyingv6345]

I appreciate the maille on your shop being riveted! Butted maille always makes me gag a little 😂

[@Philtopy]

One very very important point every person who wants to wear chainmail has to hear: you do *not* have to wear a gambeson underneath. Yes, we have many sources with gambesons worn underneath mail, but the overwhelming magnitude of sources describe and show mail worn on either normal tunics and shirts, or layered fabrics. Nothing of that sort comes close to the thickness the modern puffed up gambesons reach. Most paintings we have of knights and soldiers show their armor as very form fitted to their physique. And it makes perfect sense. If you allowed the enemy to hit you in the body, you have already made several mistakes. Your most important defenses were your shield and the men next to you. Like a bullet proof vest today, your mail was meant as a life saver. Not as a damage sponge.

[@louismtb1240]

A video i really would like to see is one of your Hurin helmet i am really interested to know how you made it. But just a quick suggestion a lot of the photos I see on your facebook page as awesome as they are, they are very similar, and I would like to see some more 13th-century costumes or what would be awesome if you made a Boromir costume or an Eomer costume and maybe even an Aragorn costume! anyway, thanks Zan love what your doing, keep up the good work!

[@fellandfair]

We did not make the Hurin heelm unfortunately, we had a craftsman that specializes in Polyurethane casting do it for us. We just did a bit of the painting and weathering. We don't really do 100% recreations of the movie costumes. Mainly because we have such respect for the designers and actors that we want their work to stand on its own. Thats why we do characters that have not been filmed before, or we do background characters that we want to see more of and learn more about like rangers and rohirrim.

[@louismtb1240]

Ok I understand now thanks for your time

[@skerr1932]

What about Padded Armor and Gambesons? Would you lump these into the clothing category, not armor?

[@fellandfair]

skerr1932 gambesons are somewhat both clothing and armor. We will probably do an “armor part 2” video to fill in some holes.

[@ima6pack]

One question I have pertains to how to cut down on bulkyness in armor. I wear a gambeson under mine and it seems to make me look way too large, so I am curious if I bought a tunic, would that work under plate/chain/leather armor effectively? Or are there thin gambesons that don't have the same "poofiness" as mine?

[@fellandfair]

ima6pack I often wear a simple padded gorget. It pads your shoulders like a gambeson, but does not bulk the rest of your body.

[@ima6pack]

@@fellandfair Thank you I will look into that

[@darkfishthedestroyer139]

What about brigandine? metal plates with a leather fronting, this is where the studded leather armor myth came from, Its also a form of plate armor

[@fellandfair]

Also a good option.

[@OskoreiMick]

in regards to your comment of leather armour rotting away in the ground and thats why it isnt found... a counter point would be all the finds we have of leather shoes from all through the medieval to the romans to the greeks and even some ancient egyptian examples. so if shoes are able to survive and be found then leather armour would be as well

[@fellandfair]

That is a good point. However shoes are often found in bogs, or in well preserved graves. Leather armor would be like modern day protective gloves or knee pads, not something you wear every day or something you would bury people in. And as it is not metal, it would be discarded when no longer useful or when damaged unlike metal items which would be saved, repaired and reused. I'm not saying that people were making whole suits of armor with it, just that things like gloves/hand protectors/gauntlets and greaves would be a huge advantage in medieval combat. Someone could have easily figured that out with medieval technology. There are examples of leather llamelar and other more complex leather armor, especially as you move east.

[@OskoreiMick]

@@fellandfair in a fantasy setting use Leather as it looks cool and works well, and like you said just make sure it fits the theme and character and all is sweet. But historically there is no evidence of it being used. I mainly focus on the Merovingian period and the early "viking" period and during this period there is no evidence for leather armour or of vikings wearing lameller at all. Mongols and Chinese did use Lameller made from rawhide and we have evidence of this. but this only further proves that Northern Europeans didnt use it as we have no finds. and the "evidence" that some people use to try to justify the use of Lameller in a viking contest is the find from Birka, which was found in a foreign barrack along with arabic coins. that is not prove that vikings wear it as it has never been found anywhere else in Scandinavia. there are Iron Lameller finds in Southern German and Northen Italy, Kerch and Neiderstotzigen are 2 good examples, but never any leather examples. Also these finds are before the "viking" age dating to around 500ad and well out of Scandinavia the only armour finds we have from Scandinavia that are in the period are 1 helmet and a few sets of mail. nothing else. artwork usually depicts them wearing a helmet and sometimes what looks to be Mail (could just be patterns on clothing or just filling up negative space) but never anything Lameller like.

[@sirjosefofhessen4527]

Is it historically possible to have a combo armor leather mail brigadine with plate outside armor together worn as max protection

[@EidolonSpecus]

Unfortunately, no manufacturer currently offers rawhide armor. "Leather" armor did exist in most eras, but it was either rigid lamelles or rigid plates of lacquered or wax-hardened _rawhide,_ not tanned leather. That's because tanning the hide is counter-productive for the purpose of armoring since it makes it flexible instead of hard. That's where the controversy around "leather armor" comes from; people fail to distinguish leather and hide. Elaborate hide armor was a very much around for a long time; but leather armor, not so much.

[@danielthomas2822]

So where can we get riveted aluminum chain mail?

[@fellandfair]

Daniel Thomas we will be selling it very soon! Right now it is hit-or miss on quality elsewhere on the internet.

[@danielthomas2822]

fellandfair glad to hear it! I’m looking to get into this game, so it would be great to have already approved gear. Waiting to hear back from y’all about the rest of the gear, but this is great news!

[@MarcRitzMD]

Did you watch the latest Shadiversity video? He "reviewed" foam armour by Wyrmwick and claims that it's virtually indistinguishable from metal arrmour.

[@jekyle1980]

Damn I wish I’d found this video a few months ago! I bought a piece of butter aluminum mail (before I knew better) and yeah, it’s utter garbage.