Nightscale Hand Made Black Leather Scale Pauldrons with Riveted Overlapping Scales & Valknut Panel | Norse Reenactment Gift | RK-1535

A matched pair of shoulder defences built from black leather scales, each scale cut and skived by hand and riveted through its head to a shaped leather base so the rows overlap downward like roofing slate. The base plate runs to a point below the deltoid with a Valknut set into it, the rivets are steel, and each pauldron carries a short buckled strap for the upper arm and a long buckled strap that crosses the chest and back. Leather scale of exactly this construction is one of the oldest armour ideas anywhere, and the reason it kept being reinvented is straightforward. Rawhide and hardened leather were available everywhere, they could be cut with a knife, and a scale that fails is one rivet away from being replaced by a man sitting by a fire with no forge and no anvil.

These are cut, skived, dyed, riveted and assembled in our Memphis, Tennessee shop, and they ship as a pair with all straps fitted. The weathered decking they are photographed on is not included, which should go without saying, but the straps you can see are.

Specifications

Why a pauldron is built in overlapping rows

A shoulder is the hardest joint on the body to armour, because it moves in more directions than anything else you own. A single moulded cup over the deltoid protects the shoulder beautifully right up until you raise your arm, at which point it either jams into your neck or lifts off the body and leaves a gap. Rows solve that. Each row can slide a little over the one beneath, so the whole plate opens as the arm comes up and closes again as it comes down, and the overlap means there is never a moment when a line of sight opens straight through to the shoulder.

Scales overlap downward for the same reason roof tiles do. Anything sliding down the outside, whether that is rain or the flat of a blade, runs over closed joints. Anything coming upward from below is the direction scale is weakest in, which is true of every scale armour ever made and is the reason a pauldron is worn with something under it rather than alone.

The long body strap is not decoration either. A pauldron strapped only around the upper arm rotates off the shoulder the first time you swing. The cross body strap holds the top edge where it belongs, and it is why these two straps are different lengths.

Leather, tannage and how it behaves

These are veg tan leather, dyed black. Vegetable tanning uses bark tannins rather than chrome salts, and it produces a leather that is firm, holds a shape when it is wet formed, and takes a burnished edge. It is the tannage you want in armour, because chrome tanned leather stays floppy no matter what you do to it and will not hold a domed scale.

Be clear about what leather armour is and is not. Hardened leather has real value against draw cuts and against blunt impact, and a scale layer spreads a blow over a much wider area than a single thickness would. It is not steel. It will not stop a determined thrust, it is not certified protective equipment, and it should not be treated as safety gear for full contact fighting. It is the right choice for display, for costume, for LARP where your rules allow it and for light reenactment, and it is honest to say so rather than let you find out in a bout.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it, so here your line would take the place of the Valknut at the lower point. On a pair like this most people ask for the same mark on both sides, but you can have one on each if you would rather.

Full detail is on the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

These are made to a stated size rather than adjusted afterwards, so measure over the layers you actually intend to wear. Take the circumference of your upper arm at the widest point with a gambeson or padded tunic on, and take the distance from the base of your neck out to the point of your shoulder. Chest measurement matters for the long body strap, and height matters more than people expect, because a tall wearer needs the shoulder cap set further out before the rows sit right. The buckles give you real adjustment on both straps, but a base plate sized for a slim frame will not sit correctly on a broad one. If you are between sizes, order up and take the straps in.

Care

Leather armour dies of two things, neglect and heat. Wipe the pauldrons down after wearing, let them dry naturally away from any radiator, fire or car boot, and never try to speed drying with a heat gun, because that shrinks and cracks veg tan permanently. Feed them with a neutral leather conditioner two or three times a year, working it in around the rivet heads and along the strap folds where the leather flexes most. Store them flat or over a shoulder form rather than folded, and keep them out of a sealed bag. If a scale ever tears loose, drill the rivet out and set a new one rather than gluing it.

Forged in Memphis

Every scale in this pair is cut, skived, dyed and riveted here in Memphis, Tennessee, and the straps and buckles are set in the same shop. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue or bought in as a finished pauldron and relabelled. They carry our lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

These are hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Leather is a natural material and takes dye differently across a hide, so scale to scale you will see small shifts in depth of colour, and the way the rows fall varies a little between the left and the right of a pair. Grain, tone, hammer texture and exact profile vary because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a pair or a single pauldron?

A pair, left and right, with all four straps fitted. The price is for both.

Can I wear these for full contact reenactment?

No. Leather scale is display, costume, LARP and light reenactment kit. It is not certified protective equipment and it is not rated for full contact combat.

What do I wear under them?

A gambeson or a padded tunic. Worn over a shirt the rivet backs will catch and the top edge will chafe at the neck.

Will the black dye rub off on my clothes?

Not once it has settled. Any new dyed leather can transfer slightly when it is wet, so give them a wipe before the first wearing and avoid wearing them over pale wool in the rain.

Can these be worn with a mail shirt or a scale shirt?

Yes, and that is the usual way. Put them on over the body armour with the long strap crossing the chest, and they will hold position better than they do over cloth alone.

How long before it ships?

Processing is one to two weeks because each pair is cut and built to your stated size, then free shipping within the United States. Returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• Matched pair of black leather scale pauldrons, left and right
• Buckled upper arm strap and long buckled body strap on each side
• Valknut panel on each base plate, or your rune line or design if selected
• Care card and lifetime warranty against defects
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in leather armour, scale and lamellar armour, Viking armour and brigandines and gambesons, or read the guides.