Every suit of armor is different, but the way armor is worn is largely the same. In this blog, you'll find some tips and information on how to easily put on your armor.
Which Armor Components Go Well Together?
When selecting armor, you naturally want the different components to match as much as possible. Many armor components can be easily combined because the basic way they are worn remains the same. However, the extent to which armor components "work well together" can vary. A good tip is to choose armor components from the same time period (e.g., early 15th century) or the same style if it’s for high fantasy. You can also opt to buy different armor components from the same brand.
This question is also historical. Historically, 95% of soldiers in armies wore armor where the different components were not made as a matching set.
Armor components can be adjusted to work better together. This can be done by bending parts, adding laces or straps, etc. This is something you can easily do yourself. Even with fully custom-made armor, it is often necessary to make slight adjustments to ensure the parts work together as well as possible.
For more information about this, check out our knowledge base.
Pre-Assembled Armors from CelticWebMerchant
In our blogs, we have assembled various armors from different historical periods as well as high fantasy armors for you. You can read more about this in our blogs.
How do I put on my armor
The armor assembly being put on in these photos is a common example of a historical armor set.
Clothing & Gambeson
Wear lightweight clothing, such as historical undergarments, underneath the armor. Over this, wear a gambeson, possibly in combination with a waist belt to which you can attach the leg armor. From the 15th century onwards, arming jackets (doublets) were commonly worn.
Mail supplements
Over the arming jacket or gambeson, various supplements can be worn. For example, you can wear a full mail shirt (haubergeon) that covers all the gaps between the arms and upper legs. Often, instead of a haubergeon, voiders were worn.
If you’re going into combat, a bishop's mantle or mail standard is highly recommended. These provide extra protection for your neck.
For more information on what is best to wear under your armorcheck out this blog.
Putting on armor
Once you've chosen the right undergarments, it's time to focus on the armor itself.
1, Leg armor
First, we put on the leg armor. Most leg armor consists of thigh armor and greaves (shin protectors). Full leg armor can be separated into different parts, allowing you to choose whether to wear the greaves or just the thigh armor (half armor). Often, wearing only thigh armor provides a bit more comfort on the reenactment field.
2, Arm armor
When putting on armor by yourself, first put on the cuirass and then the arm pieces. However, we are doing it the other way around here to provide a better photographic representation of how the arm pieces are fastened.
Like leg armor, arm pieces usually consist of different parts: the arm armor (vambraces and rerebraces) and the shoulder pieces (pauldrons). First, secure the arm armor to your arm. Later, attach the pauldrons. Sometimes, the arm pieces and pauldrons are connected to each other.
3 Cuirass
Now we will secure the cuirass. Both full cuirasses and breastplates were worn. A full cuirass consists of two parts that are joined together. A breastplate is placed on the chest and fastened over the back with leather straps. Like this example. Breastplates and backplates of cuirasses never fit perfectly. It's a bit of a balancing act with the straps and adjustments on the armor to get the best possible fit. Of course, this also depends on how much you choose to wear under your cuirass.
4 Shoulder armor(pauldrons)
The pauldrons can be attached to the gorget, mail shirt, or gambeson, depending on the type of pauldron and gorget. When the pauldrons are attached to the gorget, there are leather attachment straps on the gorget or bevor. If the pauldrons are not attached to the gorget, they have attachment points where leather laces can be fastened.
Tip: Once you have your own armor, create attachment points on your haubergeon or gambeson using leather laces, to which you can secure the pauldrons. You can also do this with the arm pieces if desired. Both arm pieces and pauldrons can be worn separately in some variants. This is useful if you want to be armored but not wear a full suit of armor, such as during night patrols.
5 Helmet & bevor
Now you have almost put on the entire suit of armor. This setup offers you optimal safety combined with maximum freedom of movement. This is how most armored figures are depicted in paintings. But we’re not done yet!
When wearing a 15th-century suit of armor and combining it with a sallet (specifically a half-visored sallet), you can choose to wear a bevor for additional neck protection. In later periods, gorgets were also commonly worn. In some armor configurations, these were even worn under the cuirass (but we’ll save that for another time).
It’s now time to put on the helmet. Tip: If you’re wearing a helmet with a flip-up visor, it’s best to bring it to your head with the visor in the open position. It’s always advisable to wear an additional arming cap under your helmet for extra protection against head strikes. This also makes the helmet much more comfortable to wear.
6 Gloves
Finally, we put on the gloves. No matter how flexible the gloves are, once you’re wearing them, it becomes difficult to fasten or loosen other armor components. Armor gloves consist of a steel outer glove that is fitted with a leather inner glove. Put on the inner glove first, and the outer glove usually falls into place automatically. Many armor gloves overlap with the lower part of the arm pieces.
