Were there the claustrophobia knights? -- myArmoury.com

Ushio Kawana

Hi all

I read the official Gulf War report "Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) And Chemical Protection".
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/mopp/

And I found... Exclamation

http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/mopp/mopp_s01.htm#I. SUMMARY

Jojo Zerach · Posted: Mon 22 Oct, 2012 9:46 pm Post subject:

I'm not that familiar with 16th century warfare or how the armour was employed, but on 14th century bascinets you will notice that the visors are usually designed to be easily removable. (In addition to being raised, obviously.)
Perhaps the visor was primarily intended for arrows and lance charges, after which he visor could be raised. (or possibly removed.)

Peter Messent · Posted: Mon 22 Oct, 2012 9:47 pm Post subject:

I cannot comment on the claustrophobia effect of plate armor - however, being a soldier, I know that the NBC gear can be pretty unpleasant. It is worth noting that a gas mask must have an airtight seal around the face, and breathing can be labored even when stationary due to the fact that air must be forced through a filter. It is the difficulty breathing, possibly in conjunction with the rest of the gear, that makes gas masks unpleasant for me - not just having something over my face.

It's also worth noting that given the figures I have read for historical examples of plate armor (for use on foot, not tournament armor), a full combat load is probably heavier now than it was then, and with MUCH worse weight distribution - this makes physical activity harder and therefore exacerbates the above mentioned difficulty breathing in NBC gear.

Also note that an armored knight would probably be much more used to training with his armor than most modern soldiers are to training with NBC gear.

If it was purely a visibility issue, then it would also be raised for the goggles and face masks we are issued, I think.

Pete

PS: Just to clarify, I'm sure there were knights who considered their armor claustrophobic - but I do believe that NBC gear with a full combat uniform is just as bad from that point of view, or worse for some.

Kurt Scholz · Posted: Tue 23 Oct, 2012 1:14 am Post subject:

The knight owned his armour and could modify it.
With NBC masks it helps to turn the filter screw back and make this contact less airtight for more comfort during (excessive and stupid) training (sometimes used as a punishment).

Ian S LaSpina · Posted: Tue 23 Oct, 2012 5:28 am Post subject:

Daniel Wallace · Posted: Tue 23 Oct, 2012 8:31 am Post subject:

we had a discussion about visors a long time back if i remember, i remember a few members stating the importance of knowing how to breath with your visor down rather than the limited vision. most stated that vision was not a problem when looking through a visor kind of like how you don't notice a letter box film on an old tv after a while.

knights had their armor made to their specs, i think a knight with his visor down starting to freak out would be a little silly. he could adjust the visor depending on his needs - actually, putting his visor down might be more an act of 'putting his game face on' he was continually trained since he was maybe 16 years old to fight this way.

Ushio Kawana · Posted: Thu 25 Oct, 2012 9:26 pm Post subject:

Hi all

Thanks replies Happy

Peter Messent wrote: