Chain mail and Shoes

[Neuraleanus]

The problem with having someone make you a pair of caligae, particularly if they're too far from you for travel, is getting a good fit. From my experiance, to make a suitable pattern the shoe maker needs access to your feet, not just your shoe size. See how Florentius used duck-tape to make a pattern:

[url:1o5m3p7o]http://www.florentius.com/calcei-pattern.htm[/url]

I used the duck-tape method to verify and correct my latest caligae pattern. Even with a good pattern, the strap lengths are best adjusted with the wearer's feet in the shoes.

Making caligae is not too difficult, check out my caligae HOW-TO:

[url:1o5m3p7o]http://www.geocities.com/legio_tricesima_cohors_tres/campusMartis/MakingCaligae/MakingAuthenticCaligae.html[/url]

Also study Martin Moser's HOW-TO here at Romanarmy:

[url:1o5m3p7o]http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/content/view/136/85/[/url]

Some specialized leather working tools are required.