Physiological effects of wearing armour and heat

fearn · 25th October 2008, 03:52 PM

Hi Jim,

Great question, with a bunch of angles to explore.

The problem isn't just the metal, it's the quilted gambeson that was often worn under the mail or plate to act as cushioning against impacts.

I suspect there's something we're not getting. I'm not disputing Ed's numbers at all, but there's something we're not understanding. For one thing, the season for wars was typically the warm season, not the cool season. If overheating was a critical problem, why weren't they fighting in the fall after the harvest? The other things was that, so far as I remember, the heaviest plate was worn in Italy, because they needed protection against crossbow snipers in urban warfare (sound similar to Iraq?).

While the medievals placed less value on human life than we do, the patterns of armor wearing make me think that either a) conditioning allowed the warriors to deal with the heat load imposed by their armor, or b) there's something we're missing in armor design that allowed the warriors to be cooler than expected. I'd specifically note that we should be looking at the padding, as well as the metal.

Perhaps we should also check in with the SCA folks? They've been fighting in replica armor for years.

Great topic!

F

25th October 2008, 03:52 PM	#4
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi Jim, Great question, with a bunch of angles to explore. The problem isn't just the metal, it's the quilted gambeson that was often worn under the mail or plate to act as cushioning against impacts. I suspect there's something we're not getting. I'm not disputing Ed's numbers at all, but there's something we're not understanding. For one thing, the season for wars was typically the warm season, not the cool season. If overheating was a critical problem, why weren't they fighting in the fall after the harvest? The other things was that, so far as I remember, the heaviest plate was worn in Italy, because they needed protection against crossbow snipers in urban warfare (sound similar to Iraq?). While the medievals placed less value on human life than we do, the patterns of armor wearing make me think that either a) conditioning allowed the warriors to deal with the heat load imposed by their armor, or b) there's something we're missing in armor design that allowed the warriors to be cooler than expected. I'd specifically note that we should be looking at the padding, as well as the metal. Perhaps we should also check in with the SCA folks? They've been fighting in replica armor for years. Great topic! F