Steelmarch Hand Forged Steel Full Plate Armour Suit | 18 Gauge Wearable Harness | Visored Close Helm with Articulated Limbs and Gauntlets | Medieval Display Gift | RK-1583

A complete harness, head to foot. A visored close helm over a gorget, a breastplate with a fauld and tassets below it, articulated arms running rerebrace to couter to vambrace into full fingered gauntlets, and legs running cuisse to winged poleyn to greave into sabatons. Every joint is built from overlapping lames on sliding rivets, and the whole thing is held together by a network of buckled leather straps in oxblood. It is a late fifteenth century European field harness in form, the moment when European armour reached the shape it is still famous for.

Since it is the first thing everyone asks, deal with the myth up front. Knights were not craned onto their horses. A full field harness of this period weighs somewhere around 45 to 60 lb, and crucially that weight is distributed across the entire body rather than hanging off the shoulders like a pack. That is less than the load a modern infantry soldier carries, and it is spread far better. Fifteenth century fight manuals show armoured men wrestling, and modern researchers in accurate reproduction harness have run, vaulted, mounted horses unaided and got up off the ground repeatedly. The crane story comes from Victorian writing and from Mark Twain, helped along by people looking at tournament armour, which was deliberately much heavier because it only had to survive one lance strike from one direction. This harness is cut, raised, articulated, strapped and finished in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. The wooden armour stand, the loose straps and the folded cloth in the photograph are studio props and are not included.

Specifications

How a harness actually moves

The trick that makes plate armour work is the sliding rivet. Look at the elbow, at the couter, and you will see small overlapping plates above and below the cup. Those lames are riveted through slots rather than round holes, so as the arm bends each plate slides a fraction along its neighbour instead of jamming. Multiply that across a dozen joints and you get a shell that opens and closes with the body. Rivet the same plates through round holes and the arm locks at ninety degrees and stays there.

The second principle is the lap direction. Plates overlap away from the likely line of attack, so a blade skimming across the surface rides over each lap rather than catching under an edge. On the arms the lames lap downward toward the hand, on the legs they lap downward toward the foot, and on the fauld they lap downward over the hips.

The third is where the weight sits. The breastplate carries on the shoulders, but the fauld and tassets transfer a good part of the torso load onto the hips, and the leg harness does not hang from the belt at all. It is pointed, meaning tied, to an arming doublet with laces so each leg carries its own armour. That is why an arming doublet is not optional. Without one the leg harness slides down the thigh within ten steps and the whole harness feels twice its actual weight.

Steel, gauge and honest limits

This harness is built in 18 gauge mild steel, roughly 1.2 mm, and every piece is raised and dished by hand, which work hardens the metal as it is stretched. Eighteen gauge is display and light reenactment weight. It is right for museum style display, for film and photography, for living history, for processions and for standing in as a costume, and it is genuinely wearable for hours because it is light.

It is not combat plate and we will not sell it as such. Full contact steel combat groups typically require 14 gauge or heavier on the torso and head, and competitive armoured combat organisations require considerably more than that with specified minimum thicknesses on every piece. Jousting armour is heavier again. If you intend to be hit with steel, this is not the harness for that and you should talk to us about a combat build before you order. A display cuirass, however good it looks, is not certified armour, and nobody should discover that in the middle of 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. On a full harness the breastplate is the canvas everybody sees, and a family device, a motto, a rune line or a date across the chest is the usual request. The tassets and the gauntlet cuffs also take engraving well. Talk to us about placement before you order, and see the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

A full harness is the one thing we make where sizing genuinely decides whether you are happy with it. The standard build suits someone around 5 ft 9 to 6 ft 0 with a 40 to 44 inch chest. Before you order, send us your height, your chest over the arming doublet you intend to wear, your waist, your inside leg, the length from the point of your shoulder to your elbow and from your elbow to your wrist, your neck, your head circumference and your shoe size. Those numbers are what make a harness move with you rather than fight you.

Layering matters more here than on any single piece. A harness fitted over a bare shirt will not fit over an arming doublet, and an arming doublet is required for the leg harness to point to. Take every measurement wearing what you actually plan to wear. If your proportions sit outside the standard build in any direction, tell us and we will quote for a harness cut to your measurements rather than sending you something that almost fits.

Care

A polished steel harness is a lot of bare steel surface, and all of it will rust if it is neglected. Wipe it down after every wearing, because sweat gets everywhere inside a harness and salt is the fastest corroder of the lot. Oil or wax every piece two or three times a year, inside and out, paying attention to the insides of the cups and the undersides of the lames where moisture sits and nobody looks. Feed the leather straps with conditioner so they stay supple, and check every buckle and strap end at the start of a season, because straps are what fail first on a harness that has been stored.

Store the pieces with air around them, not sealed in plastic and not stacked directly on each other. Full oiling, rust removal and storage guidance is on the steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

This harness is made in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. Every plate is cut here, every curve is raised and dished here, every joint is articulated on sliding rivets here, every strap is cut and every buckle is set here, and the whole harness is assembled and checked here before it is packed. It is not drop shipped from an importer catalogue and it is not bought in finished and relabelled. It carries our lifetime warranty against defects in the forming, the articulation and the fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed. If a rivet fails or a lame cracks in normal use, send that piece back and we will repair or replace it.

A note on handmade variation

This harness is hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Every plate is raised by hand, so the planishing texture, the exact set of each curve, the tone of the polish, the colour of the leather and the spacing of the rivets all vary. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this wearable or is it display only?

It is genuinely wearable and people wear it for film, photography, processions and living history. It is display and light wear weight rather than combat plate, so wear it, walk in it and be photographed in it, but do not be struck with steel in it.

Could a knight really move in armour like this?

Yes. A full field harness weighs around 45 to 60 lb spread over the whole body, less than a modern soldier carries and far better distributed. Fifteenth century fight manuals show armoured wrestling, and researchers in accurate harness run, vault and mount horses unaided. The crane story is a Victorian invention.

Do I need anything else to wear it?

Yes, an arming doublet with points to lace the leg harness to, and it is not included. Without one the legs slide down and the harness feels far heavier than it is. Order the doublet first and take your measurements over it.

Does the stand come with it?

No. The wooden stand in the photograph is a studio prop, as are the loose straps and the folded cloth on the ground. This listing is the harness, its straps and buckles and the helm liner. We can quote for a stand separately.

Can I joust or fight in it?

No. At 18 gauge it does not meet the thickness requirements of full contact reenactment or armoured combat organisations, and jousting armour is heavier again. Contact us about a combat weight build if that is what you need.

How long does a full harness take?

Processing on a complete suit runs to the longer end of one to two weeks and we will confirm a date with you once we have your measurements, because every plate is formed and fitted to your numbers. Shipping inside the United States is free and returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• Visored close helm with a padded liner fitted
• Gorget, breastplate and backplate with fauld and tassets
• Pauldrons and full arm harness, rerebrace, couter and vambrace, articulated on sliding rivets
• Pair of full fingered plate gauntlets
• Full leg harness, cuisses, winged poleyns and greaves, with sabatons
• All leather straps and buckles fitted, plus spare strap leather
• Care card covering oiling, strap maintenance and storage
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

More harness pieces are in plate armor, the head gear is in medieval helmets, the mail that goes at the gaps is in chainmail armor, and the padded layers are in brigandine and gambeson. Gauges, measuring for a harness and arming garments are covered in the guides.