Wolfcrest Hand Made Veg Tanned Leather Pauldrons with Articulated Lames & Engraved Wolf Head Cap | Norse Reenactment Gift | RK-1574

A matched pair of shoulder defences cut from chestnut vegetable tanned hide, each one built as a domed cap with three overlapping lames hanging below it, riveted at the ends so the plates slide across one another as the arm lifts. The cap carries an engraved wolf head. The pair is joined by a buckled chest strap and hung from long back straps so the whole thing sits on the shoulders and stays there without being laced to a garment. The idea behind them is older than plate armour and simpler than it looks. A lame is just an overlapping plate, from the Latin lamina, and the entire logic of articulated armour is that a stack of small plates that slide on each other will cover a joint that a single rigid piece cannot.

Leather was a serious armour material for centuries, not a substitute for one. Hardened leather, cuir bouilli, turns up in medieval inventories under names like quire boilli, and it was used for limb defences precisely because it was lighter and cheaper than steel and because it could be shaped around a curve and would hold that shape. We cut, dye, form, engrave and rivet these in our Memphis, Tennessee shop, and they ship assembled with all the straps and buckles fitted so they go straight on. Be clear on what they are for: costume, LARP, festival and light reenactment. This is a display and character piece, not certified armour, and nobody should put it between themselves and a real blade.

Specifications

What articulation actually buys you

Put a single curved plate over a shoulder and you have covered the shoulder and lost the arm. The joint has to rotate forward, back and up, and rigid material across it either binds or gapes. The answer that armourers arrived at independently in Rome, in Japan and across medieval Europe is the same one you see here: cut the defence into strips, overlap them downward so a descending blow slides across the laps rather than into them, and pin them at the ends so they pivot.

The detail that decides whether it works is where the rivets go. On these pauldrons the lames are fixed only at the outer ends, which leaves the middle of each plate free to swing. Lift your arm and the lames close up on each other like a fan. Drop it and they spread back out to cover the upper arm. If you riveted the middle as well, the stack would lock solid and you would have a stiff bib on your shoulder. The domed cap on top is the fixed part, and it is domed rather than flat because a curve is stiffer than a flat sheet of the same material and because a curve turns a blow outward instead of catching it.

The leather

These are cut from vegetable tanned cowhide at roughly 8 to 9 ounce weight, which is around 3.2 to 3.6 mm thick. Vegetable tanning uses tannins from bark and plant matter rather than chrome salts, and it is what makes leather that can be wet formed, tooled, engraved and dyed by hand. It also ages properly. Chrome tanned leather stays the colour it was dyed. Veg tan darkens, warms and takes on a patina from handling and sunlight, so a pair of these that has been worn for two seasons looks better than a pair straight off the bench.

The engraving on the cap is cut into the surface and then burnished, not printed or branded, so it holds dye in the cut line and stands out against the buffed face. The dye is hand applied, which is why the tone varies slightly across a hide and across a pair. The straps are the same veg tan hide, thick enough to carry a buckle tongue without stretching into a slot.

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. On these pauldrons the shoulder cap is the panel that reads from across a field, and the wolf head there will be replaced by your rune line, your device or a bear, raven or serpent instead. Options are set out on the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

These are made to a standard build and adjusted on the body rather than cut to a measurement, which is why they suit most adult frames. The two things that decide the fit are the chest strap and the back straps. Set the chest strap first so the caps sit on the point of the shoulder rather than sliding down the upper arm, then take up the back straps until the lames hang straight and the pair does not rock when you turn. If you are wearing them over a gambeson or a heavy tunic, fit them over that layer rather than bare, because an inch of padding underneath changes where the cap lands. Very broad shoulders may want the straps let out to the last hole, and very narrow frames will end up near the first. If you are outside a 36 to 52 inch chest, tell us before you order and we will cut the straps longer or shorter.

Care

Leather wants feeding and it does not want to be soaked. Wipe dust off with a dry cloth and use a leather conditioner two or three times a year, worked in thinly and buffed off, which keeps the hide supple and stops the fold lines around the rivets from drying and cracking. If they get rained on, let them dry at room temperature away from any heat source. Drying leather next to a radiator or in a car in the sun is what makes it go hard and brittle. Store them hanging or laid flat rather than crushed in the bottom of a kit bag, since a permanent crease across a lame will eventually become a crack. The steel rivets and buckles take a wipe of light oil now and then, and there is more on protecting our steel fittings on the steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

These are made in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. The hide is cut here, the caps are wet formed over a block here, the wolf head is engraved and burnished here, the dye is hand rubbed here and every rivet is set here. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and nothing is bought in finished and relabelled. They carry our lifetime warranty against defects in the cutting, the forming and the fittings, with no end date and no receipt required. If a rivet pulls through or a buckle fails in normal use, send them back and we will repair them.

A note on handmade variation

These pauldrons are hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Hide grain differs across every panel, hand rubbed dye pools slightly differently on each piece, the wet formed dome takes its own shape and the engraved wolf head is cut freehand so no two faces are identical. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and on leather that difference shows more than on almost anything else we make.

Frequently asked questions

Will these fit me?

They are adjustable rather than sized, and they suit most adult frames between roughly a 36 and a 52 inch chest. Set the chest strap so the caps sit on the point of the shoulder, then take up the back straps. If you are outside that range, tell us and we will cut the straps to suit.

Are these real armour?

They are a costume and light reenactment defence, not certified protective armour. Veg tanned hide at this weight will take a knock from a padded LARP weapon and it will not stop a sharp blade or a steel weapon. Do not rely on them for protection in a full contact bout.

Can I wear them over a gambeson?

Yes, and most people do. Fit them over the layer you actually plan to wear rather than over a shirt, because padding underneath changes where the cap sits and how much strap you need.

Will the leather stretch out?

Veg tanned hide of this weight relaxes a little in the first few wearings and then stays put. That initial give is normal and the punched adjustment holes on the straps take it up. It will not go slack over time if it is fed occasionally.

Can I get a different animal on the cap?

Yes. The wolf head is standard but a raven, a bear, a serpent, a knot panel or an Elder Futhark line all work on the same panel. Choose the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us what you want. Your design replaces the wolf rather than sitting beside it.

How long before they ship?

One to two weeks of processing, since each pair is cut, formed, dyed and riveted to order, and custom engraving adds a few days. Shipping inside the United States is free and returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• One matched pair of veg tanned leather pauldrons, assembled and riveted
• Buckled chest strap and adjustable back straps, fitted
• Engraved wolf head on each shoulder cap, or your own design in its place
• Care card covering conditioning, drying and storage
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

More hide work is in leather armor, the padded and quilted layers are in brigandine and gambeson, the Norse body kit is in Viking armor, and everything we can cut a name into is in engraved and personalised. Leather weights, tannage and fit notes are in the guides.