Vikings also wore gambesons

There's a quite a lot of difference between gambesons and warm clothing.

Weren't gambesons first used by the eastern romans before they spread to the west?

You could probably make one out of a cheap $10.00 packing blanket from Harbor Freight.

vikings didnt use gambesons a lot, they would wear several layers of clothing under the maille, or just wear normal clothes

You mean the other way around

I hate when that happens. Just the other day I was on my way to 7/11 when I was set upon by 5 saxon knights. Such a pain in the ass

@@Nantosuelta Thegns or Heathgaurd Knights are norman

Better not let them join the Angles and Jutes or else you're really in trouble.

I jumped two Vikings before breakfast

Yes. I hate for honor because of this reason

For honor, is a wrong... or Hollywood(ish) depiction of the Vikings.

@@PpAirO5 yes,but at least they look badass.

@@user-nx1rn3wm9z.. I don't think so.. I would prefer a more historical depiction.

@@PpAirO5 yep

Might have been going for the Varangian Guard look.

Wisp Man I agree!

Some of the Vendel-period helmets found in Sweden look a lot like the helmets used by the Sassanids. Some have sugested trading-links.

he did say late period but it's defo varangian which is what most Viking pics are dressed as

A very good presentation sir. I commend you on your kit. To hell with the minor inaccuracies ! It's better to afford protection than having a broken bone ! Pax.🇬🇧

Can't wait for the update this kit is so cool

Thank you very much! I appreciate it. I've found that this is by far my most divisive kit. Either people think it's unique and looks awesome and they love it. Or they absolutely hate it haha. I really like it for a more fantasy dark age kit, I'm also partial because I constructed a large portion of the parts. But I can definitely understand the flaws lol hence I don't use this kit for reenactment per say.

Where did you get this armor

Hilarious 😜

DUDE! YOU LOOK SCARY IN THIS VIDEO xD nice armor

Lol thanks XD

looks sick cant believe you made that helmet your self love the veiled styled helmets

yeah i am almost 100% sure they had somethign simillar to a gambeson, like a thick, multilayered woolen tunic or such, cus as you say, a maille kinda needs it for full effectiveness. :)

Agreed, it would have made sense for at least a few of them to have worn a gambson or something similar. I'm about as sure as you can be without a surviving example that it was a thing.

There's no surviving example of gambesons, everyone's tired of hearing and reading that, but they did had the concept of padded armor, some reenactors even say that it is possible the vikings wore thick woolen tunics one over another, and some reenactors even speculate that they could have sewn tunics together to make one sturdy piece of padding, so i think that if there was any kind of gambeson, it would have a simple tunic pattern, like the Penguin's gambeson, so i guess it's somehow safe to say that his gambeson (despite the fact that it is black) is one of the most accurate things we can get to what they had at the viking age

+Viktor Silva The fact, that the gambeson is black, doesn't make it inaccurate at all. Yes, black wasn't as common, as we see in the movies, but it still was an existing and used color.

Dude, i've always heard throught reenactors with more experience that there was no black in viking cuture, i tried to read about it but even if i google "black color in viking reenactment/age" i only find texts talking about black people in viking cuture, but never about the color, i spoke to some reenactors and they said "well, if you really want, try black wool, because of course existed black sheep in the Vik. Age", do you have any source that talks about black color in the viking era ?

Spot on lol

@@paynesyler6428 Depends on your weapon, if you go with a single strong two handed weapon you can reasonably get away with 2/2/2 or possibly more, as weapons are expensive and only bringing one really helps reduce the cost.

Hey thank you! :D

Haha, thanks man. You do excellent work. 😁 You should make a page for your projects so I can link the gambeson to it! Unless you aren't looking to make anymore gambis for order haha

I've actually been pretty busy with my Senior Project. I've been building a BB-8 droid from Star Wars.

I actually have gone in that direction with this kit. Kind of a Rus eastern kit. I bought a pointed helm with a horsetail on it visible in my last viking video at the swedish festival. Still not the most period with the D plate lamellar. I built the lamellar and helmet though. So while it's not period it still has a permanent place in my collection.

Must be a hell of a ride

Vegan hipster Baldr approves...

A bunch of these components aren't quite right and are more for sport armored combat rather than perfect historical accuracy. I will do an update of this video wearing an actually historical Viking setup eventually.

Thank you! :)

I'll take the plate armor

Dedicated Spartan I’ll take the bishop mantle and helmet tbh

Ya know I cant remember the name of the source off the top of my head but some time ago I did see a documentary on the trade routes the norse made. According to the historians that put it together the norsemen were exchaging goods with traders from as far away as the middle east, so they may have at least known of llamalar style armor at the very least. I'll poke around and see if I can find that video.

The kit is from the later years of the Viking Age. By then, the Norse (specially the Rus) would've known of lamellar through their interactions with eastern peoples, particularly the Eastern Romans (the kit actually looks more Varangian than Norse, which he mentioned near the end). Take in mind that other Germanic groups (such as the Longobards) made prevalent use of lamellar during the Migration Period, as it's easy to repair and maintain.

There was a finding in Sweden if i recall correctly

More like him: I used to be an adventurer like you too until I took a viking.

Splints work well. And those are leg wraps not socks lol

About 600 though I will say lamellar is not very accurate for vikingss. If you wanna go viking maille and a gambeson are good body armor. Lamellar is good for Rus tho!

Yep, hidden knees and heavy padding on the legs underneath.

Breast and back, gauntlets with chainmail palm, morion(or a steel cap hidden in the crown of a wide-brimmed floppy hat)

The vision is better than a great helm which is what I'm used to lol, but I'm sure it's worse than yours if your eyeslots are larger, but I don'y mind, as long as I'm protected.

Yeah its a trade-of, yours definetly give more protection while mine give better vision. :P

There were finds in Birka and Visby. The Varangian Guard would have had different types but maybe even this style. The helm is more Vendel, pre-viking (sorry, as he said. Was writing this as it played). But I respect anyone who makes their own stuff. I'm biased because I make my own stuff. Made leather lamellar, but we concluded there is not enough evidence to support it. I ague that unless we find some in a bog, it would have rotted away, but surely those with less money would have had it. I just gave in, so I'm in the process of making metal lamellar not unlike this. Everything I make I can show a source to the design. i.e. from digs, finds or burials.

+Morning Petrichor The thing about leather armor (no matter if lamellar or "plate") is, that it offers little to no protection. You'd have to really harden the leather and use several layers to make it even cut resistent and I don't even want to think about thrusts. Overall, if you really want to make leather armor that actually protects you, it'll end up almost as heavy as a sturdy steel cuirass. I know, people back in the day may have worn leather armor, but I just can't think of a reson why they would have done so. Leather wasn't exactly cheap, or easy to get in those times...

I'll work backwards to your reply. Too true about the cost of leather, it's a long process. But these were still the days where metallurgy was looked at as a type of alchemy. They say a sword was like buying an expensive sports car. They were given names, thought to be magical, and often handed down in the inheritance. Plus, mining for the ore was not a large scale task as it is today so even the wrought iron, let alone high tensile steel, was expensive. But animals always run above ground so easier to obtain. To make leather hard, One dips it into molten bees wax. It is speculated that the Vikings who did their sight seeing tour at Lindisfarne had leather caps (helms) that were treated this way. That was the only armour they had. It can make it brittle though, and in the case of thin lames, it can make them shrivel like leaves. Being a Dane axe swinger in re-enactment, I've made some articulated 5 mm leather armoured mits and treated them with wax. They have prevented my fingers even getting hurt with misplaced blocks. But, granted, this isn't against edged weapons being struck full force. But I think it would still displace the energy of a strike and prevent cuts. Even steel can't stop everything. And I agree that the leather suit was heavier than my current metal lame suit which incidentally covers more area. I justify the amount of armour due to the Varangian Guard being mounted infantry, shock troops, guarding the emperor, and getting well paid. Oh, and I like your icon. I wear that symbol on my cap. "Long live the Emperor!" ....oh, wait...

The only viable evidence is a couple lamellar plates found in Birka Sweden. Also the Romans had made Lamellar before. There's no solid proof other than that unfortunately, just speculation. I Mainly wear the lamellar because it's more protective than maille for sport combat and there's a small possibility vikings may have worn something similar.

your kit looks very varangian guard inspired. so i dont think lamellar or something similar would be any problem if a varangian guard impression is what you go for the Vrangians would probably get acsess to a lot of kit and gear as they were kind of "elite troops" . though i think plain maille would be more common even in byzantine. correct me if im wrong!

There are occasionally references in the Norse sagas to spangabrynja, which may have been scale and/or lamellar armor, but this is pure speculation.

I can do a review on my Lord of Battles Helm yeah. I modded the crap out of it tho.

Nah, that's next level fantasy viking.

Check my videos, I posted a video with pictures i took during production.

Maybe it was a hand me down from an ancestor (the helm)

@@thewisp7447 I tryed that's as excuse during a reenactment of the great army attacks and the authenticy officer wasn't having any of it he said the spectical helm we were out by that time they were already late by the 7th century when the helmet was found

The kite shield is 11th century, just so you know.

@@WarDogMadnessThe only (mostly) complete viking age helmet from Scandinavia that has survived is the gjermundbu helmet which is a spectacle helmet and it dates to around 970. There are a few from the vendel period aswell but they to are mostly spectacle helms, given the time gap of around 200 years it is safe to assume that the spectacle design remained in use even if only by the few norsemen that had helmets.

@@Konradpagano Or late tenth century,illustrated first in the late 900`s in the gospels of Otto III and then later in the famous bayeux tapestry,usually on horseback,by Norman cavalry. No surviving example exists of the late viking era or has been discovered...yet….

Flat pin riveted.

Not even plate gauntlets can "handle" real strikes from swords. It still hurts like hell and can leave you with broken bones or at least bruises. But better a broken bone, than a cut off hand, right? Don't get me wrong here, medieval armor works great, but the best tactic in fighting, no matter the level of armor you're wearing, is to not get hit ;)

@@caringancoystopitum4224 Mitten gauntlets will block a sword just fine.

Right above the hips. So i can still move easily