There are stories being told about you amongst the soldiers. You are the mercenary who has slain over a thousand men. You put fear in your enemies with just a glance. Your aura of darkness freezes the hearts of anyone who looks you in the eye. And your favorite? Someone is saying you made a deal with a devil so that you may never die.

You will never tell them which might be true. Instead, as you sit in camp and wash the blood from your Gambeson, you simply listen...and smirk.

DETAILS

This bestselling Ready for Battle Gambeson is a padded armour coat covering the torso, abdomen, back and upper arms. It can be worn on its own or serve as essential padding under mail or armour. The gambeson is donned like a jacket and closed on the front with four leather straps with iron buckles.

Thick enough to serve as its own armour, this sturdy gambeson is constructed with heavy layers of fluffed cotton padding sandwiched between coloured heavy cotton, all stitched together in vertical lines. The stitching keeps the padding in place and mimics a classic European high-medieval style. The gambeson is open under the armpits to allow the wearer to breathe and have ease movement.

Though of European cut, gambeson or quilted-style armours have seen world-wide use since antediluvian times, making the Ready for Battle Gambeson a great basic armour with a range of possibilities regardless of time and place.

HISTORY

  • Used as padding under chainmail or plate armour
  • Historically, a high-medieval European gambeson was recorded as being capable of stopping sword blows from penetrating the skin
  • Could stop heavy arrows and mace and axe impacts with the addition of overlaying chainmail