08-31-2006, 10:42 AM
I now have a linothorax and a bronze cuirass. I also have a couple of bronze helmets. I only have cheap brass greaves.
I haven't weighed these yet, but, having worn them for extended periods, I can observe the following:-
I can run pretty easily in a panoply which includes the linothorax. Indeed, people have expressed surprise at the speed with which a man armoured in this fashion can move. As part of my work in schools, I have tried running down young, unarmoured, boys. One got away! As a matter of serious research, I would observe that he would not have done so, had I been free to skewer him with my xiphos! However, that sort of thing is rather frowned on in English schools.
My bronze armour is substantial, probably thicker than 14 gauge, but is not terribly heavy. The only reason I don't run in it is that it's a prototype and doesn't fit exactly (it wasn't made for me). Because of this, I can't move in it as freely as I would in one tailored to my physique, but the weight is not a problem. I don't think it would slow me down much more than the linothorax if the fit were exact.
The greaves are a real problem when I run. This is due partly to a design fault ( the greaves extend in a straight line down to the ankle and are squared off there, with no roll-over or knock-back along the edge, which results in an edge and two corners cutting into the flesh) and partly to the fact that they don't fit. Even so, I believe that greaves will always cause some problems with extreme movement of the lower leg and the accompanying flexing and extension of the muscles and that this is one reason for their loss of popularity in the Persian and Pelopponesian Wars.
Sorry this lacks data; I'll weigh the stuff when I can.
I haven't weighed these yet, but, having worn them for extended periods, I can observe the following:-
I can run pretty easily in a panoply which includes the linothorax. Indeed, people have expressed surprise at the speed with which a man armoured in this fashion can move. As part of my work in schools, I have tried running down young, unarmoured, boys. One got away! As a matter of serious research, I would observe that he would not have done so, had I been free to skewer him with my xiphos! However, that sort of thing is rather frowned on in English schools.
My bronze armour is substantial, probably thicker than 14 gauge, but is not terribly heavy. The only reason I don't run in it is that it's a prototype and doesn't fit exactly (it wasn't made for me). Because of this, I can't move in it as freely as I would in one tailored to my physique, but the weight is not a problem. I don't think it would slow me down much more than the linothorax if the fit were exact.
The greaves are a real problem when I run. This is due partly to a design fault ( the greaves extend in a straight line down to the ankle and are squared off there, with no roll-over or knock-back along the edge, which results in an edge and two corners cutting into the flesh) and partly to the fact that they don't fit. Even so, I believe that greaves will always cause some problems with extreme movement of the lower leg and the accompanying flexing and extension of the muscles and that this is one reason for their loss of popularity in the Persian and Pelopponesian Wars.
Sorry this lacks data; I'll weigh the stuff when I can.
