Epic Armoury’s Warrior Gambeson w. Short Sleeves is a padded coat, covering the torso from neck down over the hips on front and back. 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 five leather straps and brass buckles, allowing the wearer to customize the tightness of the fit. This model comes with short sleeves, but long sleeves can be bought separately and are easily attached by using cotton cords on the shoulders and sleeves, each cord secured through long-lasting brass eyelets.
Thick enough to serve as its own armour, this sturdy gambeson is constructed with heavy layers of fluffed polyester sandwiched between layers of heavy cotton twill. All these layers are stitched together in vertical lines, keeping the padding in place and mimicking a classic European high-medieval style.
Though of European cut, gambeson or quilted-style armours have seen world-wide use since antediluvian times, making the Warrior Gambeson a great basic armour with a range of possibilities regardless of time and place.
Available in Natural, Desert Beige, Epic Black and Brown; and in sizes Small, Medium, Large, X-Large, XX-Large, 3X-Large and 4X-Large.
HISTORY
- Quilted armours have been around since at least 400 BCE
- 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
- Specific style often worn by freemen, mercenaries, and other independent warriors