Plate Armor

Why plate is shaped the way it is

A flat sheet of steel is a bad idea. It takes a hit square, it flexes, and it transfers everything through to whatever is behind it. Curve the same sheet and two things change. The shape becomes far stiffer for the same thickness, so a thin plate stops behaving like a lid, and an incoming point meets the surface at an angle and slides off instead of biting. Every breastplate on this page has a central ridge or a peak for exactly that reason, and the ones with rolled and roped edges are stiffened again at the borders where a flat edge would fold.

The second problem is that a person needs to bend. The answer, worked out over about two hundred years of European armouring, is the lame: a narrow band of plate that overlaps the one below it and is fixed with a sliding rivet, a rivet through a slot rather than a hole. The joint opens and closes as the limb moves and the overlap never leaves a gap. You will find sliding rivets on the pauldrons, the faulds, the manica arms, the gauntlet knuckles and every articulation in the two full harnesses here.

The last part is that plate is a system, not a garment. It was always worn over something padded, and it was always tied or strapped to that padding rather than hung off the shoulders. Skipping the padded layer is the single most common mistake, and it makes good armour feel terrible.

The armour in this collection

Fifteen pieces sit on this page, from a pair of gauntlets to a full harness. They sort into four groups by how much of the body they cover.

Full harnesses

Two complete suits, both 18 gauge throughout. One is polished bright and runs a close helm, gorget, breastplate and backplate, pauldrons, arm harness, gauntlets, fauld and tassets, leg harness and sabatons, at about 48 lb complete, built to fit roughly 5 ft 9 to 6 ft 0 with a 40 to 44 inch chest. The other is blackened with bright edges, carries a fluted breastplate and an Elder Futhark rune line across the upper chest, and runs about 50 lb for a 38 to 44 inch chest at 5 ft 8 to 6 ft 1. Neither includes an arming doublet, and both need one.

Cuirasses and breastplates

Four pieces covering the torso. Two are cuirasses with articulated pauldrons and a hooped fauld, one blackened with burgundy wool at the collar and arm openings at about 13 lb 8 oz, one bright with rolled and roped edges and brass lame rivets at about 13 lb. One is a front breastplate alone with a central ridge and a peaked lower edge at about 6 lb. The fourth is a heavier 16 gauge blackened breastplate with an articulated fauld band, supplied as a front plate with no backplate. All are made to a stated chest measurement and fit roughly 38 to 46 inches depending on the piece.

Arms and hands

Two manica and bracer sets, both 18 gauge, with overlapping articulated lames running from the wrist to above the elbow on internal leather straps. One is blackened with a rune cut bracer face, one is bright polished with brass rivets, russet leather and an engraved knotwork panel. Both weigh 2.5 to 3.5 lb for the set. Two pairs of gauntlets sit alongside them, both finger gauntlets with individually articulated lames on every digit, one polished bright on a full grain leather glove base with an etched bell cuff, one blackened satin with scaled fingers, a separate thumb train and rune cut cuffs at about 2 to 2.5 lb the pair.

Helmets and the outliers

Two great helms in 16 gauge, both riveted plate construction with brass cross reinforces, twin horizontal vision slits and drilled breath fields, at 7 to 9 lb. One Corinthian helmet, hand raised and planished with a bronze tone finish, a hammer textured crown and an engraved Greek key border, at about 4 lb 8 oz. One lorica segmentata in banded 18 gauge plate with brass hinges and buckles, 19 to 22 lb, splitting into two girdle halves and two shoulder units for transport. And one lacquered samurai lamellar set in do maru form, laced in crimson cord, with sode, kusazuri and a broad brimmed jingasa.

Gauge, weight and fit across the range

Every figure below comes from the specification panel of a piece on this page. Armour is formed and fitted by hand, so treat sizes as build targets rather than exact measurements.

Gauge numbers run backwards, which catches people out. A higher number is a thinner sheet. The 18 gauge pieces here sit at about 1.2 mm and the 16 gauge helms at about 1.5 to 1.6 mm, which is why a helmet weighs what a whole cuirass section does.

What goes under it

Nothing on this page is meant to sit against a shirt. Plate is worn over a padded garment, a gambeson or an arming doublet, and the padding does three separate jobs. It spreads the load so the weight sits on your body rather than on four strap points. It absorbs the shock that the plate transmits. And it gives the straps something to bear against so the armour stays where you put it.

Neither full harness on this page includes an arming doublet, and both listings say one is required. The doublet is also what the arm and leg harness points tie to, so without it a harness will not hang correctly no matter how well the plate is made. For helmets, an arming cap goes under, and for a great helm a mail coif under the cap is the period arrangement and makes the helm considerably more comfortable.

Order the padding first and take your measurements over it. A chest measured bare and a chest measured over a gambeson can differ by three inches, and armour built to the wrong one of those two numbers is armour you cannot wear.

Getting the size right

Most of these pieces are built to a stated measurement rather than bought off a rack. What you need depends on the piece. A cuirass or breastplate needs a chest measurement and usually a waist and a torso length. A helmet needs head circumference measured over the arming cap. Manica and bracers need forearm circumference, bicep circumference and forearm length. Gauntlets need a glove size or the width across the knuckles.

The lorica segmentata is the most forgiving thing here, because the front billets let it adjust across roughly four inches. The great helms are the least, because a helmet that is too small cannot be padded out and one that is too large moves independently of your head, which is unpleasant and unsafe.

Standard builds on the two full harnesses are quoted as roughly 5 ft 8 to 6 ft 1 with a 38 to 44 inch chest. Outside that range say so before you order rather than after.

Steel, finish and what each one costs you

All of the plate here is mild steel, which is the correct material for this. Mild steel forms cleanly under a hammer, takes a planished surface, and does not become brittle at the edges of a fold the way a hardened steel would. It is not hardened and it is not meant to be.

Bright polish is the traditional finish and the most work to keep. It will show every fingerprint and it will spot if you look away for a month. Satin brush hides handling marks and is the practical choice for anything that gets worn. Blackened oxide is the most stable finish here, and on several pieces it is rubbed back on the high points so the shape reads under the black. The bronze tone on the Corinthian helmet sits over polished steel rather than being a bronze alloy, and the lacquered lamellar set is a different problem entirely, since lacquer chips rather than corrodes.

Care, rust and storage

Wipe every piece down after it is worn, because sweat is salty and it will start pitting inside a breastplate faster than rain will start on the outside. Dry it properly, then leave a light film of oil or a coat of hard wax on the steel. Renaissance wax and plain mineral oil both work.

Store armour dry and not in a sealed plastic box, which traps condensation against the steel. Hang a cuirass or lay it on padding so the shape is supported, keep gauntlets flat rather than stacked, and never store a harness inside a padded garment that is still damp. Leather straps want conditioning once or twice a year, and the buckle holes are the first place a strap tears.

What this armour is for

Every listing on this page states the same thing, and it is worth repeating. These pieces are built for display, film and photography, costume, stage and light reenactment or living history wear. They are not certified or rated for full contact combat, and 18 gauge mild steel is not the specification that a heavy fighting league requires.

That is not a hedge. A harness at 48 lb in 18 gauge is a serious object that will stand up to being worn all day at an event and photographed under lights, and it is finished to a standard that combat rated armour usually is not. Buy it for what it is.

Engraving and gifting

Several pieces here already carry cut or chased work from the maker: knotwork panels, Elder Futhark rune lines across chest plaques and gauntlet cuffs, a Greek key border and a rune line stamped down a brass cross. Additional engraving can be added after the piece arrives in the United States. Text engraving is 19 dollars, a symbol is 39 dollars and a family crest is 49 dollars.

Elder Futhark is a phonetic alphabet rather than a cipher, so a name is transliterated by sound, and there is no rune for the letter C. Engraving is permanent and an engraved piece cannot be returned.

Where these come from and how they ship

Ransack Viking is a US company based in Chicago, Illinois. The pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from Chicago. Engraving is done in the US after arrival. Larger items ship in sections, and the lorica splits into two girdle halves and two shoulder units by design.

Because every piece is raised and planished by hand, no two are identical. Hammer texture, the exact line of a roped edge and the depth of a blackened finish all vary a little between one and the next.

How to choose

Work out whether you are buying for a wall or for a body. For a wall, the great helms and the Corinthian are the pieces that read best on a shelf, and a single breastplate on a stand does more visually than its price suggests. For a body, start with the torso and add outward, because a cuirass without arms looks intentional and gauntlets without a cuirass do not.

Then match the finish to the effort you will spend. Bright polish looks the best and demands the most. Satin and blackened finishes forgive a month of neglect. And whatever you buy, order the padded layer at the same time.

Browse related categories

• Chainmail shirts, coifs and riveted mail
• Scale and lamellar armour
• Gambesons and brigandines, the padded layer
• Leather armour and bracers
• Medieval helmets across every pattern
• Kite shields and bucklers

Guides worth reading first

• Chainmail, plate or lamellar: what each one does
• Viking armour explained, and what they really wore
• Gifts for reenactors and living history groups
• Caring for mail and armour steel