Jean Chandler

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

This is a special type of textile armor made of so called “Buff Leather” (buffalo rawhide) over padding, in the form of a long coat with sleeves. These were worn in the 17th century.

A thicker gambeson with up to between 20-30 layers of linen in the most vulnerable areas, and about 10 layers in the areas which need to flex. Fairly stiff and heavy, something like a baseball catchers chest protector, except longer and with sleeves. These were a very popular type of armor particularly in the 14th Century, both as stand-alone protection and to be worn over mail.

This is a sort of poor-mans brigandine armor consisting of small metal plates sewn inside two layers of textile armor. It was used by common footsoldiers in late Medieval through Renaissance Europe.

A sleeveless vest of brigandine armor, consisting of two layers of textile armor with overlapping metal plates sandwiched in between. Quite effective protection.

A cuirass with specific type of shape featuring vertical central ridge, called the tapul, which split the middle of the breast plate like sloped armor on a tank. This type was very good protection from both missiles and lance strikes.

The Japanese adopted the peascod cuirass from Portuguese soldiers, in many cases incorporating foreign made cuirasses into their own ‘modern armor’ panoplies (Toudei-Gusoku), and also copying the design. They called the peascod breast plate specifically Hatomune dô or ‘pigeon breast armor’

A haubergeon or habergeon is a mail shirt similar to a byrnie with incrementally (maybe 10-15%) more coverage: sleeves come mid- way down the upper arms, and the shirt itself passes to the mid-thigh level. This version includes a light aketon or padded jack.

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.

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.