Jean Chandler

A khazaghand aka ‘jazeraint’ is the Arab / Central Asian variant of a mail haubergeon, of long sleeves with integral padding both above and below the mail built into the armor. The cloth is usually silk and the version listed here would include a high quality hauberk, either of foreign ‘ferrengi’ origin or from a top quality Muslim armorer.

Some khazaghands incorporated inferior quality mail, these may cost as low as half the normal price (if the buyer can determine the quality of the mail he is buying) but the protective value is reduced to 6/12/18.

The khazaghand represented here would consist of fine quality mail haubergeon with several layers of silk both above and below the mail quilted with a thin padding of rabbits fur, raw silk or felt. The textile component of these armors was thinner and less bulky than a standard European aketon or gambeson while being equal or superior in quality, making these highly desirable panoplies which were sometimes imported into Europe

This is simply a Hauberk of doubled mail or kings mail (8 in 2 weave or 6 in 1 weave). It is considerably heavier but also more effective than ordinary 4 in 1 mail. Normally worn only by cavalry or during a siege, this is not easy armor to run around in let alone march in. But it definitely could save your life.

Also sometimes referred to as ‘half harness’, this means armor which includes a helmet and gorget, breast plate or cuirass, pauldrons to protect the shoulder, and articulated vambraces to protect the arms, and faulds to protect the hips, but there is little or no thigh protection (sometimes short tassets).

Also sometimes referred to as ‘half harness’, this means armor which includes a helmet and gorget, breast plate or cuirass, pauldrons to protect the shoulder, and articulated vambraces to protect the arms, and faulds to protect the hips, but there is little or no thigh protection (sometimes short tassets). This armor was made of good steel with a heat treatment has been ‘proofed’.

sometimes munitions grade i.e. ‘one size fits all’, sometimes custom-made for wealthy aristocrats. This armor covers the head, torso, shoulders, arms, and thighs down to the knees but not the lower legs.

This is a heavier, somewhat crude version of three quarters harness which began to appear in the 17th Century, and was designed to be literally bullet-proof. This heavier armor was usually made of iron, and much thicker than earlier 15th Century armor. This remained in limited use by some heavy cavalry and (more rarely) pikemen, (typically officers, bodyguards, or standard bearers) through the 18th Century. By this time the ability to make steel armor had been nearly lost and to compensate this iron armor was so thick that it was significantly heavier than a full panoply was in the early 16th Century. That is why armor of this type was usually only worn by cavalry.

This is a brigandine vest worn over a mail hauberk and a light gambeson. The first row represents the protective quality of the helmet or the brigandine over the Gambeson, the second row represents the protective quality of the Gambeson alone.

Light mail made of very small, tightly woven links made of good steel which has been tempered / heat treated. Far more effective than regular mail.

This is a mail hauberk worn over a light gambeson, with a mail coif, mail chausses (leggings) and mail (mitten) gauntlets, and a helmet or helm, and an aketon worn over the mail. The various pieces overlap somewhat which provides extra protection. The hauberk is often reinforced with a second piece of mail either on the chest and / or shoulders.

Cap-a-pied (full coverage) Mail panoply first appeared around the 11th Century AD, peaked in the 12th Century, and remained in use through the 14th. This type of armor was often used during the first Crusade. It was common to also wear a jupon or aketon over the mail armor, as represented here. The helmets worn with this armor often included a partial helmet with a facemask, or alternately in a cavalry context a great-helm worn over a bascinet or a cervelliere. The first row represents the helmet and the thicker parts of the armor where there are usually two layers of mail plus the aketon. The second row represents a single layer of

This is a full cap-a-pied panoply of heavy Backhterets ‘mail and plate’ armor, worn with padding underneath, and typically including overlapping layers in several areas. Heavier than ordinary Backhterets, this type of armor was popular with the heavy cavalry of the Ottomans, Mughals, and Mamelukes, by the Byzantines and also in Russia and certain parts of Eastern Europe. This was effective though fairly heavy armor, normally worn only by heavy cavalry.

There is quite a bit of variation within this class of armor. Specific types can be anything from fairly simple ‘mirror’ armor to elaborate panoplies of tightly integrated mail and plate armor similar to lamellar (as depicted here), so DR could vary from 7 to 9.

Though this type of armor could be worn by footsoldiers fighting as heavy infantry, it was normally intended for heavy cavalry such as the Ottoman Sipahi.

The first row represents the protective values of the Helmet, or the Backhterets, the second row represents t