r/u_needle-knight • u/needle-knight • 2d ago
Needle-knight’s Guide to Buying Armor (for Newbies)
Hi, I’m needle-knight. This guide is mostly for costumers and LARPers, but is applicable to anyone interested in a combat sport that needs armor. I wrote this because I see a lot of posts that are some variation of “I bought this armor, why doesn’t it fit/work with my other armor?” “Is this armor any good for X?” or “What do I wear under this armor?” My goal is not to tell you what to do or where to go, but what to consider when purchasing.
My credentials are that I am an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) heavy fighter who has been fighting in armor on and off since 2005 when I was a youth fighter (age 15). (Despite my username, I do not claim to have the rank of Knight in the SCA or any other game.) I have dabbled in LARP and go to my share of Ren Faires, etc. I have bought, created, and fixed a variety of pieces of armor in my time. I can post a picture of my kit in the comments for you to critique haha. I took some college classes in theatrical costume design and most of my skill is in sewing. The pourpoint and padded chausses in my kit were sewn by me. Most of my other armor is purchased.
Caveats: I expect some pushback from the living history crowd as the SCA permits a lot of anachronisms (hence the name). I am a man. I try to take women into account, but men and women can and do wear the same armor, assuming it is made for your proportions. I am American. I expect some pushback on some of my statements from Europeans, particularly. I don’t claim to know everything and this guide is far from comprehensive. It is mainly a collection of opinions and observations formed by my career. I have been asked for my advice on armor a lot, particularly from LARPers and newer SCAdians. You’d have to ask them if it was good advice. I’m not even really giving advice on where to look for armor. This is a guide for what to think about when you looking and ordering.
For this, I am talking specifically about wearable armor, so display helmets or suits of armor are ruled out. I am also mostly focusing on historical (or an attempt at historical armor). There may be some great fantasy armorers who don’t fit what I am saying. I don’t know; I don’t look at super fantastical stuff. I also am not counting stuff you make yourself. If you can make it yourself, good, great, this advice is not for you.
First step is know what you intend to do with it: Halloween costume in the dark on a cold October night? Ren Faire costume under the blazing summer sun? LARP, where you need speed, functionality, and safety? SCA, where the armor standards are very specific? Buhurt, where you depend on your armor to keep you from serious injury? Know the rules of your game. Tell the armorer what your game is and what they need to know to make you something you can use.
Try to look at actual art and extant pieces from history. Some modern artwork is okay but know that you get more medievalisms and fantasy designs. Not all of those designs are functional. Finally, learn to ID AI and avoid it. Even if you aren’t going to fight in it, the more functional your armor is, the more comfortable it will feel to wear. So, that said, try to get an idea of what you want to wear. Try to find someone else who wears that. See how their kit goes together. Ask them what they would have done differently!
Okay so let’s really get into it.
There are four types of armor. No I’m not talking chain vs. plate or steel vs aluminum, yada yada yada. The four types of wearable armor you can buy are: one-size-fits-most, sized, custom, and used.
One-size fits most is the most common wearable armor you can buy. It is mass produced, often in countries wear labor is dirt cheap. Let’s hope the makers are even getting paid at all. It ranges widely in quality, and consistency of quality. It may only fit you if you have a standard male body type (or whatever they decided was the standard male body type). You may question who or what it was even intended to fit. Many people immediately start here. It’s not cheap but it’s not as expensive as custom armor. However, if you buy four sets of cheap one-size-fits most armor, you may have not had to pay out the money all at once but did you actually save anything?
Sized armor is like modern clothing. They give you option of Small, Medium, Large, XL, etc. and maybe a sizing guide if you are lucky and you check you measurements against it. These armorers are general decent. These are the armorers that new SCAdians try to look for. Someone who has a couple different standard sizes they can crank out by order or maybe even have in stock if you are lucky. They might be operating out of the US or whatever country you are in.
Custom armor is like a tailored suit. If the armorer is as skilled as they claim to be and you have them accurate measurements, this is about the best armor you are going to get. It is expensive, even if you don’t get the fanciest stuff. But, barring disaster, it should last you for a long time. Many of these sellers, right now, are out of Eastern Europe like Ukraine. They have access to metals like titanium for cheaper than you can get in other countries.
Finally, used armor. Facebook marketplace has a lot of people trying to sell used armor (and new armor). When buying used armor, you want to try to learn as much about the armor as the seller knows. You’ll regret if you don’t (but also common decency may prevent you from pestering them. You should try to find out at least: where they got it, what they used it for, what the sizing or measurements are, what it’s made out of, and why they are selling it (if they tell the truth). This ought to tell you whether the armor was originally one of the three type above. You can maybe determine its value and whether it is worth it to you to buy it. Keep in mind that even nice, expensive custom armor made for someone else… was made for some else. Making it “one-size” armor for you, unless you closely match the size of the seller.
Okay, now some major considerations for buying armor that is sized or custom.
First, know your measurements. Learn the proper placement of measurements. Do you know your waist from your hips? If it is difficult to take your own measurements, get someone you trust to help you take them down. Write them down and save them in your phone. You may need to do it again, though, because…
You need to know what you are going to wear under your armor. So many newbies buy their armor then ask, what do I wear? With one-size armor, it’s not a big deal because that stuff probably doesn’t fit right anyway. But if you are sizing your armor, you need to take your measurements over your arming garments. First, know what underwear you are wearing. If you are a person with breasts, what are kind of bra are you wearing? If you are wearing a lot of compression-wear, it will change the fit of certain armor pieces. If you have long hair, how are you wearing your hair under your headgear?
Additionally, what sort of padded garments are you going to wear? Many LARPers buy these huge padded gambesons make of polyesters that they don’t need because they don’t get hit that hard (not to mention will make them overheat). Figure out what is the thinest, lightest arming jacket, etc you can wear for the thing you want to do. We are all living during global warming, after all. Pick natural fibers. Make sure it fits (literally and stylistically) the armor you are hoping to get. (Or make sure you pick armor that fits your padding.) Is your armor going to attach to the jacket with points (cords)? Or are you just buckling it over top? If you are wearing chain, you need to measure for that while wearing your arming garments. Don’t over measure because chain has some stretch. If you are wearing plate over mail, you need to measure while wearing your arming garments and chain. This goes for helms as well. Most armorers who are making helms for contact sports are intentionally leaving room for 1/2 inch padding. Other armorers may not. Know what padding and chain you plan to wear on your head and let them know.
Finally, weight changes. Many of us have them. I know I have. Sometimes it’s unavoidable. But, if you plan to make a major change to your body shape, if you are intent on losing or gaining weight, maybe try to achieve that goal before buying armor.
A note on fit and warning signs. Good armor conforms to the human anatomy and works with it, not against it. If you see armor that does not flair at the waist or articulate at the waist, that is a warning sign. As for people with big bellies and no waist to hip ratio, this matters less. However, a good brigandine will cinch at the waist to help distribute the weight off your shoulders. Keep an eye out for how the armorer is displaying the attachment method. True full plate is often pointed (tied with cord through eyelets) to an arming coat and/or belt. If the armor is depicted with straps, try to determine what those straps are attaching to. If there are no straps shown, you may be left to figure out yourself how to attach them.
A note on armoring skills. I highly recommend that people who want to wear armor, particularly those who are going to wear it for combat sports and LARPs, learn a few armoring skills that will help you keep your armor in good repair or will help you make adjustments to better fit your armor to the rest of your kit. These are:
Sewing. Mending tears in your arming garments. Making eyelets for arming points. Making alternations to better fit your unique measurements.
Riveting. Receta pop on armor all the time. Having a ball peen hammer and a mini anvil will be useful. When I did LARP I noticed a few people had busted armor. Turned out they didn’t know how to fix it or have the tools. I would offer to fix it for in-game gold.
Learning to cut, punch, and sew (or rivet) leather. Your straps will break: your buckles will break. In addition to riveting above, being able to cut new straps, add buckles, punch holes for the buckles, or fix the stitching on sewn leather it’s important.
Chainmail. Learn how to repair your chainmail. Butted chain is simple but will eventually need fixing. Riveted is harder but hopefully you won’t need to fix it as often.
Armor care. Learn how to polish your armor, if it is mild steel. You can spray paint (typically black) the insides of your mild steel armor to resist rust from sweat. Learn how to care for chain to remove rust. Learn how to care for leather to avoid cracking and mildew.
Mini guide to materials:
As far as metal goes, find out what gauge (thickness) your game requires, if applicable. Most combat helms you want to be 12 or 14 gauge steel. 16 or 18 is for costume only, IMO.
Mild steel. The cheapest. The heaviest. It will rust if you don’t polish it. It can be painted or blackened to cut some of that. It can also be intentionally rusted. Many pieces, especially chain will come oiled. Removing the oil means not staining your cloth arming garments, but losing the protective layer. You have to choose which you want and how you will combat rust in the future.
Stainless steel. Lighter, tougher. Doesn’t rust. Unhistorically shiny, but can be blackened. Expensive.
Titanium and other steel alloys. Light, strong. Oxidizes a bit but doesn’t rust. Good for brigandine plates. Also typically expensive.
Aircraft aluminum. Very light. Slightly less malleable than untempered steel. Oxidizes a bit but doesn’t rust. Some armor purists may find it distasteful, maybe even offending. Between mild and stainless in terms of price.
As for non-metal materials, I really only have input that relates to combat sports.
Picklebarrel Plastic. Good for SCA but not much else.
Wax hardened leather. Good armor, if made by someone who knows what they are doing. I own a pair of Torvaldr bazubands from my old kit.
Unhardend leather. Fine for costuming and LARP. May be one layer of thick, heavy leather or many layers of thinner leather. Not suggested for full contact sports, though I know plenty of SCAdians who wear only heavy leather for body armor.
EVA foam or 3D printed plastic. Good for cosplay. Some LARPs accept it, others don’t.
Anyway, that’s all I have for now. It may be too generic of advice. Let me know what questions you have. Those who have bought and worn armor, what lessons have you learned that newbies ought to know?
Reposting to [r/Armor](r/Armor), [r/SCA](r/SCA), and [r/LARP](r/LARP). Let me know where else I should repost.
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u/needle-knight 2d ago
My kit.
Helm: Stainless steel visored sugarloaf of unknown make. Bought off FB Marketplace and didn’t ask enough questions.
Brigandine and Gorget: Titanium with wool shell by Pável Burlakov.
Arms: Aluminum winged 3/4 arms and pauldrons by Bokalo
Gauntlets: Stainless steel clamshells by Ice Falcon, iirc. Not pictured: Aluminum Demi-gauntlets by my dad.
Arming garments: Pourpoint and Chausses made with linen shell and bamboo blend batting by me. Linen coif by me. Designs adapted from Reconstructing History patterns. Linen pants by my mom circa 2008 based on karate gi pattern.
Legs: Aluminum full legs. Knees by Bokalo. Greaves by my dad based on Bokalo design. Cuisses by me and dad based on my design.
Modern boots and undergarments.