Basic-Armouring-2of4.pdf

Chapter 8 — Padding

Because you need to build your armour around your padding you need to know

how to make it irst!

Gamberson

This supplies basic padding under the

body armour and something to hang

your arm armour off. Some people

rely on their gamberson (with a few

minor additions such as a kidney belt)

as their torso protection. This gives

them excellent mobility at the expense

of protection. If you are learning to

ight, as well as armour, you are liable

to get hit a lot so body armour might

not be a bad idea—your choice!

Making a gamberson is a sewing job;

go get a needle and thread or borrow

a sewing machine. The material you

make it from should be relatively

tough (it’s going to take a beating),

adsorbent (you are going to sweat into it), colour fast (unless you want to start a

new fashion in oddly coloured lesh) and washable (see sweating above). Period

gambersons were made from multiple layers of cloth stitched together or padded

with raw wool or similar material, modern ones often use an internal ill of

cotton or polyester batting to achieve the same look with less weight. A descrip-

tion of an arming doublet of the 15th century is “a dowbelet of ffustean (a type of

heavy woollen broad cloth) lyned with satene cutte full of hoolis”. A heavy outer

material, such as canvas or calico, is therefore appropriate with a softer lining

next to the skin. For extra ventilation you can add buttonholes down the quilting

seams.

The shape of your gamberson (see illustrations above) depends on the period

you are trying to portray. From a practical point of view it should allow you to

P ADDING

move. Arm movement is especially important; if you can’t cross your arms in

front of you or move your arm above your head the design is too constricting.

A pattern that will work well for most gambersons is as follows:

1. Take measurements as shown to the left.

A= 1/2 upper chest (arm to arm)

A’= 1/2 upper back (armpit to armpit)

B= 1/4 chest measurement

C= 1/4 waist measurement

D= 1/4 hips measurement plus 2 to 5 cm

E= collarbone to waistline

F= waistline to bottom of skirt

G= back of neck to waistline

H= waistline to bottom of skirt (back)

Note that the waistline in the late medieval

period tended to be higher than today’s and was

measured just under the ribs. This will give you the basic torso.

For earlier period gambersons the measurement C should be about

the same as measurement D giving a tubular trunk. Later period

tended to have a more pronounced waistline following the whims

of fashion, in which case measurement C should be a rather snug

it. For a lared skirt

increase measurement

D. Remember to keep

the armholes large for

ease of movement.

2. Cut out one set of

panels, baste together

(long, easily removable

stitches) and try it on.

Go through your range

of ighting motions and

make sure that it does

not pinch or bind. Cut

and modify to suit then

remove the stitches,

add 5 to 8cm extra (2 -3 inches) to the measurements to allow for the

quilting then use the adjusted pieces as patterns to cut the rest of the

cloth.

3. You can make gambersons out of pre-quilted cloth, or you can sew

your own quilting - simply cut two identical panels, one of the outer

and one of the inner fabric, machine stitch rows down them then

stuff the rows with whatever you have at hand.

4. Cut out, sew and pad arms in the same manner. These can be

attached to the body either by hand stitching or by points and ties,

which have the advantage of leaving the armpits open and venti-

lated.

5. Add closures down the front (laces or buttons) and arming points;

laces to attach your arm and shoulder armour.

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Sewing an arming point

1. Work from the right (outer) side of the fabric. Make a circle of

stab stitching round the eyelet position; inish by bringing the

needle up just outside the circle.

2. Now push a sharp point (scalpel, scissors point, stiletto...) into

the centre of the circle and start forcing it through, working

from both sides alternately until the hole is almost as big as the

outline stitching.

3. Put the needle down through the hole and back out a little fur-

ther round, whipping over the edge of the hole and the outline

stitching. Pull each stitch tightly as you go round. The stitches

should just touch as they pass through the hole and radiate out

a little.

4. To inish off make one or two small stab stitches from back to

front, then lose the end in the stitching at the back. You should

have a irm slightly raised ring.

The best thread to use is irm cotton or linen thread, 40 gauge or thicker; syn-

thetic threads fray too much for hand sewing.

Limb Padding

Armour, by itself, will absorb a portion of any blow hitting it. The purpose of

padding it to reduce what remains to an acceptable level; where you don’t get

hideous bruises but you can still feel the blows; yes you can over pad things! You

have two choices; either you allow what is below the armour (gamberson, padded

hose, lesh) to absorb the remaining impact; or you add extra padding to the

inside of the armour. Felt, leather, or closed cell (backpackers’ sleeping mat type)

foam can all help, experiment until you ind what suits you.

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Joint Padding

Joints are susceptible to damage and should therefore be well protected. Extra

protection can be built into your under garment; an extra pad worn under the

armour, such as one from a sport like hockey or skate boarding; or padding

added to the inside of the armour, such as sleeping mat foam. Again experiment

until good protection and mobility are achieved.

Helmet Padding

The amount of padding required depends on how hardand how often you expect

to be hit on the head. (For further information see Chapter 18.) The way you pad

it depends on personal choice, there are three basic ways; line it with foam or felt,

build the padding into a coif (close itting cap) or else build a leather suspension

ring like the inside of a modern combat helmet. Of course you can always use

combinations of the above. To keep things simple I’ll just describe padding for

the most extreme case, tourney ighting. For this you need a layer of closed cell

(backpacking sleeping mat) foam with either, extra reinforcing pads (made of

less dense foam) or a coif.

Padding the Pot and Great Helms is fairly straight forward. Cut the foam to the

shape of the individual panels of metal and it them inside. First put in a layer of

closed cell foam against the steel. Then add open cell (mattress or packing type)

foam where needed to make a snug it.

To pad a curved top helm make a liner as follows:

1. Measure the circumference of your helm

at about brow level. This gives you your

base line. Next measure up from the brow

to the crown of the helmet (the top most

point). This gives the height. Divide the

baseline into four segments and turn each

segment into a triangle with rounded

edges. Measure the depth of the rest of

the helm and add this to the bottom of

the triangles. Allow a hole for the face.

2. Cut the resulting shape from closed cell

foam. Trim as necessary to get a good

it inside your helmet then duct tape

together.

3. Take strips of open cell foam and put a

strip across the brow, at the back of the

head, at each side and put a disk of foam

at the top. Leave plenty of room between

strips for air circulation.

4. Try the helm on and see how it feels. Trim

padding until a snug and comfortable it

is achieved

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Don’t glue your padding fully in - you may need to tighten your rivets or take a

dent out—try a removable liner or Duct Tape instead.

Gauntlet Padding

Gauntlets tend to be fairly tight itting leaving little room for padding. Gauntlets,

however, don’t need much padding as they achieve a lot of their effect by spread-

ing the force of a blow—along the hand, onto the arm and onto the hilt or haft

of your weapon. Start with a good pair of leather gloves; quantity welding or

gardening gloves work ine. Hold onto a convenient haft and tap your gauntlets.

Sting or touch anywhere? Then add a thin layer of felt or back packing foam to

this point. Good areas to pad are the ingertips, knuckles and around the wrist

guard. Keep padding until it feels right.

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