rpg

A mail byrnie was a corselet or vest of mail, covering the torso, abdomen, shoulders, and sometimes a small part of the upper arms. Mail Byrnies in antiquity often featured a second layer protecting the shoulders in the form of a mail collar or shoulder piece. Mail isn’t really effective without some kind of padding worn underneath so it’s assumed that mail here will be worn with a light coat armor or aketon. For more information see the entry on Mail in the Armor Glossary, and also see Mail Habergeon and Mail Hauberk).

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’.