I see, was wondering that

You should make a video showing your different armor configurations in chronological order and do a 360° turn with each.

What changed during the late 14th century that all the sudden they feel the needs to have a back plate?

That's true, most armors from the 14th century did not have fully developed backplates yet. This type of armor would've been worn by the knights of Richard II when he put down the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, as well as by the knights who fought for the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović against the Ottoman sultan Murad I at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, as well as by crusaders that fought against Bayezid I at the Battle of Nicopolis in 1397. Most knights didn't get the additions of backplates to their armor panoplies until around the time of the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, when Henry V defeated the French at Agincourt, and even when Joan of Arc paved the way for the successful French counteroffensives against the English. By the second half of the 15th century, though, this style of armor is being superseded by the advanced suits of plate armor that were already starting to emerge in Milan and Augsburg, such as the famed "Gothic style" that was definitely one of the popular styles of the late 15th century and early 16th century, but that's a topic for a whole other video.

who are you so wise in the art of science

one of my favorite bits of visual comedy is the design of Terry Jones helmet in The Holy Grail, and the fact that the visor cant stay up so he just has to hold it there

he should have said my squire.

+gaajes hoek Why? His wife is far more fitting for the joke.

@@LordVader1094 The man is the legend for having such a well trained wife

are you familiar with putting her chastity belt on and off?

I knew as soon as I heard it... someone has to make this comment.

+Ze Rubenator Happens to the best of us! :)

+Knyght Errant Would be interesting how difficult it is, to get somebody out of armor, if he is wounded and can't help or even stand up. Do you know somebody who is a bit in medival medicine? Might be an interesting project for an event. The weight of the parts itself is interesting, but won't lead to any importent conclusion. It's very diferent to just carry around a coat of mail and to wear it. The interesting question is, how much you feel the weight of the armor and how much it may affect you.

+Ze Rubenator exactly what I thought too.

+Nighti88 A small hook blase will make short work of those leather straps. I could have him outta that tin before you could open your can of beans. Even the mail, once released from the plates, can be yanked out from under him. I'm tellin ya, one minute to save his life from a moral wound; the armorer will be weeks re-strapping it back into fighting condition.

+Ze Rubenator Collab... "Take that evil dire bunny, oh darkspawn, fear my sword of truthiness."

Dominick Tran Still a suit.

Dominick Tran and really sexy. Specially with the helmet on.

Only if I could afford one...

simple , just wear the mithril and you are good to go

If youre being attacked you probably wouldnt have much time to put on anything before getting killed.

a sword and shield ready up is all you need for sudden attack

My Camp is under attack with this as my suit of armor. My reaction, throw on the chainmail and helmet, grab sword, go. As long as you can pick up a shield, you are protected against 90+% of what the enemy is going to throw at you and you are combat effective in a very short timeframe (less than 1 minute) so you can actually break the enemy's initiative. Attacking while minimally armored but while the attack is still fresh is better for breaking an attack than holding off for 9 minutes while the men around you are beaten back and you end up well armored, but surrounded and alone.

Jeremiah90526 Well said. Still it must work a bit on your confidence, knowing you can take just about any attack that isn't blunt/full force with relative ease must be pretty nice, whereas having to worry about every stray slice can be heart-wrenching I imagine.

+Metatron Thanks Raffaello! No, I don't bother oiling it after something like this. The coating that builds up on it is strong enough to protect it through light handling. After I wear it around outside for a day or two (especially after the public handles my armor all day), then I worry about cleaning it.

Knyght Errant ok Fantastic because honestly your armour is one of the best maintained armours I have seen, not one single little spot, incredible job. I'm having an armourer make a plate breastplate for me and it's going to be spring steel although I don't think I'll have it hardened as I don't intend on jousting nor fighting on it but just use it for videos and I am worring on how to protect it well as having Indian sheet metal rust is no big deal but having nice and expensive spring steel rust would be such a waste

I intend to do a video on armor maintenance in the future, but it basically boils down to using an anti-corrosive oil of your choice (I use a firearm oil) and 3M scrubby pads of various grits depending on how aggressive I need to be with rust.

Top 10 Anime Crossovers

Ismael Guerra _shut_

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!

Same here. And great vid, bro. Good work.

Same! That is too cool man!

Me too. Good stuff

lol Mindhouse warehouse said it takes 1 hour to put on and take off armour

Thank you very much! I would just amend that to say _later_ not necessarily _better_ . Our living history club sometimes does scenarios in both the 1380s and early 1400s, so the newer stuff is to suit the later scenarios which we've been doing more of recently.

Ahh, okay, that makes sense. Thank you for the correction, actually. Either way, watching people's kit develop is always wonderful.

Yeah, that's what I was told too....and they all wore it 24/7!

Haha... yes, next time I'll also put lice and fleas in my beard and stop brushing my teeth for 3 months :)

@Tronix r/whoooosh

@Tronix kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fZuYkpmXx9y7dn0.html Watch this video, then you'll get the joke.

+Vesrox Much faster to take off than I thought. I would love to see a whole series on gearing up into XII-XVII armour. Dropping your gear is interesting too. I never even thought of that but I assumed it would take about the same time. On the other hand when you put something on you need to be more careful to make sure it "sits right". But I wore boots and chest rig that are much easier to put on than take off.

That'd be pretty great. I would personally love to see a video of someone getting into a 16th century harness.

+Vesrox Add in the donning of the gambeson, lendenier, hose, shoes, etc, and you're right in the ballpark.

Like he says, it depends on the specific variant of armor you're talking about, and how familiar your assistant(s) are with armoring you.

Well, they weren't using a breastplate stretcher, so it was faster.

Haha, turns out a lot of people had the same thought :)

the struggles for men today who have no armor

You'll never have one unless you attempt to retake the holy land in glorious crussade. #deusvult

DEUS VULT!

Benete Silva why is your name like that

Fuck the Christian religion

Thank you!

Knyght Errant hered a fun little thing: I had seen that picture of you in armor (the thumbnail one) a fair number of times on various sites, using it to show what a Knight would look like. I was quite surprised when I found your channel and saw it. How much did it cost? I would love to have a suit like that. One day!

+207tex Thanks! Welcome to the channel!

I also stopped brushing my teeth and bathing 1 year before making this video so it would be more 'authentic' :)

+Knyght Errant Hope you had some sort of shelter outside, because I really don't think you were kept indoors. :P

Tristan Roosevelt Ireland stupid

@@firstnamett4656 yeah, they're making these jokes because they came here from "Debunking "10 Terrifying facts about medieval nights"" video from Metatron

Because it's exceedingly difficult to cut through Armor. Basically what it's designed for, protecting you from cuts. However, in battle you could expect to run into varying levels of armor on the battlefield. So, it was aadvantageous to be armed for everything from a fully armored Knight to a Levee (Conscripted militiaman) with a spear, and hooplande.

+judofry Thank you! I'm sure I'd get some interesting looks! I will do a video in the future that explains this process in much more detail, but I didn't want to screw up the timing aspect.

Hi, glad you enjoyed the video! 1. Vision is better than most people imagine, but it's not fantastic. On my particular helmet there are two individual vision slits, but you don't see them separately. Since our vision is binocular, your brain takes the information from both eyes and the interruption in the middle disappears pretty well unless you intentionally cross your eyes and focus inside the helmet. That said, I can still only see directly in front of me, and in an arc of about 90* as opposed to the normal 180+ degree vision we normally have. I cannot see much above me, and I get limited vision through the 'mouth' of the visor to see the ground and get a sense of obstacles below me. (visual demonstration here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gL-IqJt9rMrIh4k.html) 2. When it's particularly hot out, wearing armor compounds the problem a lot. The main offender is the helmet. You take it off when you don't need it, and when you do need it, you keep the visor open or removed as much as possible unless you need it at that moment to defend yourself. We do have at least one account of knights in the Middle East choosing to switch out their fully enclosed helms for more open style helmets that didn't obstruct their faces to they could breathe better in the heat. Staying hydrated is also incredibly important. Medieval people would have understood and done the same, but the logistics of it all are unclear.

@@KnyghtErrant Thanks for getting back so soon. So many YT podcasters don't even bother to get back, so kudos to you. I imagined as such. I think the Roman gladiators faced the identical challenges when wearing a helmet... having to choose between sacrificing head protection for a clearer view of your opponent. Whenever I've seen pictures of knights, however, I've never seen them wearing a canteen! Today, they'd have titanium armor, air conditioning, and Gatorade:)

+Kevin Moon Shouldn't you be a chief by now? ;) Good to see you on here!

About to go up for my second look in 2016. Awesome to see how fully committed you are to this, some impressive stuff

🅱👏👏

Drake would never be a knight. He would cry because the armor is "too heavy"

+Thiago Monteiro probably just the mail shirt, it protects the most for a single piece and most of other parts of armor are only supplements to the mail

+Port Kapul If I was in camp, expecting a surprise attack, I would strip down to my leg harness and possibly leave the mail shirt on. In an immediate situation I can throw on helmet and gauntlets, and if I have any advanced warning at all, I think I could get into the breastplate and arms quick enough from that point.

+Knyght Errant And a traveling knight, say, what protection would he wear? He can't be with the full armor all day long, I guess.

+Anastasia-Ester Kapchits I dont see why not. Modern infantrymen often carried more weight on their backpacks than what a full suit of plate armour would amount to. Also modern NBC suits are pretty damn stifling, and yet soldiers wore them all day long even in scorching heat of the Middle East or the humid jungles of the tropics.

+John Huang I agree, the armor is not heavier than the weight that the modern soldier carrier (about 20 kg, I suppose?), but it is not just the weight. It is also how this weight spread. The armor puts significant weight on the legs, it means that every step you make demands much more effort. The armor also puts some pressure on the chest, meaning you can not breathe freely, which makes you tired much faster. Also it is much less comfortable. You can not even scratch yourself while in armor. That's wright, it may happen that a modern soldier stays in his protection gear all day long, but it will generally happen when his mission doesn't require physical effort, static post, for example. In a foot patrol a soldier is likely to wear no protection except helmet and carry much smaller weight. And finally, a problem that modern soldier does not have, this antic armor should be protected from dump and rain, otherwise putting it back in order demands significant work.

+Al-Malik Al-Ashraf Khalil I think he is or was a pilot in his country's army.

There are websites like Cult of Athena that sell from multiple blacksmiths and companies. depending on the quality of the metal and craftsmanship. Something like this would run in the realm of $1800.00 to $2400.00. Grade of steel is important. 12 gauge stainless steel will undoubtedly cost significantly more. this looks like it's SCA quality with a matte finish. A mirrored finish will cost extra on parts. This is probably 16 Gauge Hardened Steel so expect around $2000.00. Custom fit, Etched 12g stainless parts with a complete 15th centure style (including backplate and gorget) with brass hardware and hand forged buckles can run in the $15,000.00 dollar range.

+Al-Malik Al-Ashraf Khalil Hah... I wish this only cost in the $2,000 range :) (That's about what a helmet costs). Custom 1050 spring steel, hardened and tempered, and fit by a bespoke armorer is a bit more than that. I had to purchase this armor over the period of several years. I just don't like discussing how much everything I own costs because it usually leads to very incorrect speculation. I would never recommend getting stainless steel for any component if historical accuracy is a priority. The gauge of the steel varies wildly depending on the individual components.

+Matt L One day I will time how long it takes to lace up my arming doublet, I suspect it adds a couple minutes to the overall time :) Price is very variable. A lot of things like basic helmets or breastplates may have been mass-manufactured for issue to infantry. While a full functional harness for a man-at-arms could still cost more money than most people could afford, the prices of armor in period can get quite obscene mostly because of the level of finish and decoration. We take polish for granted now, but in period you paid out the nose for highly polished armor. Toby Capwell made a nice comparison... say you buy a really nice high-end harness, well-polished today for a total cost of $20,000.00 About $3,000-$5,000 of that cost is what it took to get your armor to a nice shine. So the functional armor itself was about 75%+ of the total cost. In period if a highly polished armor cost $20,000.00, the first $5,000.00 would have gotten you the absolutely functional harness. The other $15K was spent polishing it. Now as far as the magnitude of cost of a nice harness in period, it is said that the very fine gothic harness of Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol in modern equivalent, cost $3.5 Million to make with another $650,000 worth of gold.(media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/96/08/b1/9608b19e29d7720d2cf363156f469aa1.jpg). A far less wealthy man-at-arms could probably expect a similar magnitude purchase of financing a house in modern terms to get an affordable harness for themselves. Armor would be great for not getting bitten by zombies, but no way could you wear armor all day every day. So unless you lived in a fortified area and only needed to wear harness to go 'out the wire' so to speak, it's probably not all that practical :)

+lebarosky Thanks. I appreciate it! Still plenty of improvements to be made, but I'll tackle them as I can :)

This configuration of armor is too early for a solid backplate. For a slightly later armor, with a backplate, if _nothing else changed_ in the configuration, you might see a minute increase in time. Soon I will make a similar video with a slightly different style of torso armor that will answer this question more concretely.

Hi, and thank you! So this answer is very specific to my armor and my armor only. It's not going to apply to other configurations. For the breastplate, I could pre-strap the shoulder straps and try to wriggle into it, but there's no way I could do the waist strap. While it would physically be 'on' it would be compromised because the waist strap is supposed to be tight to bare the load and keep it in place. To do so means it needs to be really tight. The arms would be impossible to point at the shoulders. I could probably get the straps done with a lot of frustration, but there's no way I can get the shoulder points done. That means it will inevitably shift out of place. So, you can physically get some of those things on your body, but I still wouldn't call that 'being able to put it on by myself,' because too many components would be a seriously compromised or completely nonfunctional position.

Thank you for the immediate reply! I was asking because I used to own a landsknecht-era-style back- and breastplate which could be put on without help, as the back plate had a belt attached which reach around to the front plate and could be fastened at the front to keep both plates in place at the waist; I'm not sure about its historical accuracy though. Do you happen to know if your configuration tended to be the norm in medieval times or was it completely depending on the individual armour designer, regardless which era is being looked at?

+Colin Bremner It's important to not come away from this thinking these times apply to all armors though. Armors of different time periods, and even the wide variety of contemporary armors in a given time period can introduce a lot of variation in the time required to put it on and take it off.

Knyght Errant i will keep that in mind. The video however was still very helpful in putting into perspective the time it would have taken in a historical context, its easy to forget it was a practical set of equipment that i imagine wouldn't be as viable if it took ages to suit up. my imagination lacked context before this video so you have my thanks for that!

+Noah Weisbrod that depends on your "style?" of putting it on and of. the easiest way i found was to go in a "praying" position (aka neeling down and lowering your torso) and then raising your hindparts ^^ this way the shirt will just glide of (might need a bit of help with the head so it doesnt get stuck) yes it looks a bit silly but its the fastest most compfy way i tryed ^^

+King Dormak the chromosome expelling forniphile, your mail might be too small then. It should fit almost like a proper fitted t-shirt, loose but not baggy.

+SouthernComfort a lot of this will be addressed in future videos so please stay tuned, but the short answer is a lot better than most people assume.

+Paul Alvarez In some circumstances if it's a young bear yes, but in most cases I would say no. A bear punching you is like getting a huge rock thrown at your face by a catapult, even plate armour won't help you there. It would help against his claws and some of the bites however but against blunt attacks steel plate and mail aren't very useful, thus the invention of the mace and warhammer.

bluephoenix222 i see , welp guess i do have to take a gun in wood walks

+Paul Alvarez bear hit is like a blunt weapon, only a lot stronger. Armour doesnt save you from breaking neck or a concussion, or internal bleeding.

+Paul Alvarez Actually, since he does wear the arming doublet and the chain mail he's got a lot of padding going for him and yes, it would considerably lessen the impact of a bear paw hit. Maces and warhammers always target weak spots, the actual plate was pretty much impervious to most attacks. And will be to a hit by a bear paw. Additionally, a bear uses its claws and teeth and these wouldnt even scratch a plate armor (Ceratin < Steel). Overall, I'd say a full plate would save you from a bear if you are armed and able to defend. With the back exposed that would significantly reduce your chance to go unharmed. Also, the legs are only half protected. Without a weapon to drive the bear off you're gonna lose it, and fast. Armor or no armor. Wearing my own full gothic harness (Maximillian style) I hardly notice blows, but I wouldnt go up against a full blown grizzly bear. A black bear, maybe. I'd survive the experience, of that I am pretty sure. All of that is highly hypothetical though, since animal rights people use armor piercing rounds ;)

+bluephoenix222 You don't...know what the fuck you're talking about. Sorry for being so rude but wow, this unfortunate HEMA misconception is frustrating. Rigid armour is far superior protection to blunt force trauma than most Soft body armours...the vast majority of the energy from any *reasonable* impact will spread over the body of the armour...the only exception being in you're LYING ON THE GROUND with the weight bearing down on you. As for maces and warhammer...these are legal (in full weight.) in a variety of modern _full contact_ fighting competitions....unsurprisingly one mandatory safety requirement because of this is the inclusion of plate armour (padding is not sufficient, mail and padding is not sufficient...PLATE ARMOUR is required.).. I'm not saying these weapons are useless, blows from a mace and warhammer often disorient and hurt combatants, fractures sometimes occur and on some occasions people are knocked unconscious...however this seems to be just as likely to happen when on of the combatants turns themselves into a projectile and launches themselves shoulder first into their opponent...than a strike from one of the blunt instruments (despite the latter being significantly more common.) You're also greatly exaggerating a bear's swipe...neither a Lion nor a Tiger actually swipe with near as much energy as a *human* strikes with their hands (surprising, I know.) I'd imagine a bear would strike significantly harder than the two aforementioned but I don't imagine it'd be too far out of the realms of human striking force (which still can be deadly.) Plate armour would likely protect you from swipes...but would not protect you from the bear...bearing it's weight down onto...or would it magically allow you to lift the bear (if you push up against it or it drops it's weight down on you while you attempt to hold yourself up...expect a damaged neck, spine or both...) Going after bears in anything but a vehicle is a silly idea in the first place.

They're definitely comfortable enough to sleep in. They're not any less comfortable than normal medieval clothes. If you didn't have them on though, and you were literally just in underwear, it might take you another 5 minutes or so to get the hose on and lace up the doublet if you weren't rushing.

No padding necessary under a well fitted leg harness. Just good hose, potentially with sewn in behind-the-knee mail voiders if you want more coverage.

+Jenny Poussin My pleasure! (I don't know if you changed something in google + but I can reply now :) )

+Michael Cote I have a BIG nerd side! fantasy and gaming specially :) I've cosplayed fantasy looks many times but I fear they are the kind that are NOT historically accurate ... but I am learning since I started watching channels like Matt (scholagladiatora) and now Ian's :)

+Jenny Poussin You need to sign up to google plus to allow others to reply

I love you Jenny!!

+Alberto Pozzoli Thanks Alberto! Here's my video on groin armor and protection, this should hopefully answer some of your questions - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l7t9mc15prS2hqs.html

+Knyght Errant thanks so much! it perfectly answers my question!

+mrredeef Don't forget, mail is protection. As far as not wearing a backplate, my armor needs to be passable for pre-1400 as well (my Living History club also does 1380s) and there is no definitive evidence for full rigid backplates in the 14th century. Rigid back defense in the 14th century comes in the form of coats of plates, or wrapper plates on things like Churburg #13 etc. Solid 14th century breastplates, if they did not include wrapper plates, are depicted like mine, with criss-crossing straps in the back, worn over a full mail shirt like this example (lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZiqTESZvICI/UnoJRZUz68I/AAAAAAAABQ4/IrbvT-UXz4c/w1633-h1225-no/IMG_7032.JPG). If I get a full cuirass with a solid backplate, it would only be suitable for early 15th century and beyond.

Thank you and welcome to the channel! Fashion changes pretty drastically over that 500 year period. Do you have a specific 'feel' you're going for? One of the biggest fashion shifts in medieval history takes place in the 1340s. If you want a basic overview, you may want to check out this book (although I think some of the information on arming garments specifically is outright wrong, the civilian clothing section is a pretty good intro) :www.revivalclothing.com/thebookofhistoricfashion.aspx

+Knyght Errant i will look into it. thank you very much. i am trying to give the feeling that various races(elves, dwarves etc.) with various life spans and little contact with one another can have a very different "fashion" sense if that makes any logic at all(elves wearing something in the lines of roman togas while humans are running around in britches and tunics more fitting with the medieval period)

It is a design feature specific to English style armors of the late 14th into the 15th centuries. If you're interested, here's more on the arms specifically: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q890jZZmxL_RY3U.html

+MrManifolder Ha... well, some things you want to think about before you put your armor on if you can help it. But in all seriousness, going pee is pretty easy in my harness, everything is accessible. Doing anything more than that would require removing armor, but if you think about it, in war, you're just going to do what you have to do in your armor.

Haha I guess they don't call war hell for nothing... Even for the nose.

'Harness' refers to the complete armor. Many of my other videos cover exactly how the weight of armor is distributed (I recommend the first half of this one for that information specifically: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aKxyY8qgqdeXaIU.html) or how much each component weighs, but in general a good portion of the weight is supported on the hips and waist. It's designed with proper load bearing in mind. If all the weight hung from the shoulders it would be too fatiguing.

It's a difficult question to answer because it depends so heavily on the weight of the individual fabric layers. What you want to avoid is a lot of 'padding.' You don't need it under properly fit armor. There's a tendency for modern reeanctors to use way too much padding under their armor, often because a lot of modern armor doesn't fit right, so they make up for it with padding. 2-3 layers of a stout fabric, quilted tightly should be enough to be strong enough to point armor too, but not too thick. Keep in mind that you can use different amounts of layers in different places. So maybe the upper chest and shoulders where the armor makes contact with the body can be 3 layers, and 2 in other places that are less subject to wear and tear. It's one of those things you have to experiment with once you've chosen a fabric.

@@KnyghtErrant thank you for the info

Here's my guide: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r5iJapiaqdu5inU.html

There is no evidence for wearing padding underneath leg harness, it's not really necessary. For the inside and back of the legs, most leg harness is intended to be worn on horseback, so the flanks of the horse are protecting those areas. On leg harness intended for foot combat, we do sometimes see evidence of mail voiders, small patches of mail attached to the underlying hose, that fill in the gaps where the inside of the joint might be exposed and vulnerable, but this is not a universal.

@@KnyghtErrant Gotcha, thanks for the response.

Knyght Errant Just checked your Great Bascinet video so possible that the necessity for this kind of backplate might be connected to the increased power of a lance impact or even later to redirect the shock of a gunpowder weapon and before would be just considered added weight. But thx for the reply! Your videos go into great detail on the what, when and why.

I wouldn't necessarily draw that conclusion. They were definitely concerned with rigid protection for the back prior to the 15th century, it just took forms other than a solid backplate. Even the solid breastplate was relatively new in the late 14th century, the backplate just lagged behind a little bit. Smaller plates for the back were pretty comon. Omitting a backplate entirely was just a valid historical alternative that I chose to go with to demonstrate something other than a coat of plates.

Knyght Errant Yes, I specifically meant the idea of the back and front plate being locked into each other to create a kind of cage around the wearer. As I take it that idea was even later, maybe actually more beyond your described time frame. I'll have to check up on that..

Here's my video on historical leg harness suspension, my personal preference is the textile arming girdle discussed therein (lendenier) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z9Wkgc-KzL6YlXU.html

Here's a video dedicated to that subject if you'd like: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l7t9mc15prS2hqs.html