Splintered vambraces by Russel Thomas -- myArmoury.com

Johan S. Moen

I've been forgetting about showing off these for a long time, so I figured I might as well get it overwith...

In...hm...august? september? I talked to Russel Thomas about a pair of splintered vambraces I thought about commissioning. Call'em Vendel, Byzantine, Viking, whatever...I don't really know what they are. Anyhow, Russel responded promptly and had the set done for me in a weeks time.

As you will see from the picture, each vambrace consists of 5 steel bars, about 2-2,5 mm thick. We were not sure if we should go for 5 or 7 bars, but opted for 5, because my arms are rather thin... All the bars are blackened and decorated with filework. Three of the bars have dragons heads on the ends, which are quite cute. ;) They look a bit wierd at first, a bit cartoonish, but I think they add a nice amount of detail, without overdoing it.

They are connected by 3 leather straps that are rivetted to the bars. The two end straps each have a handmade buckle for attachment. We opted for 2 buckles rather than three, because both Russ and I did not feel it would be necessary to go for 3. And indeed, we were right. I believe that if we had opted for 3 buckles, putting them on would have been quite tricky. And besides, two buckles keep them very well in place. When used over 2 thick woolen tunics, the vambraces fit tightly, have a nice amount of padding underneath, and are comfortable to wear. They add some weight to the arm, but not so much as to be impractical.

I used these for WMA sparring, wooden wasters. I can still feel a hit if it is hard enough, but the vambraces take most of the shock away. Can't wait to try them for steelfighting!

All in all, a nice and a bit unusual piece of armour which I am very satisfied with! So without further ado, here's a pic for you. ;)

Johan Schubert Moen

Anton de Vries · Posted: Thu 03 Nov, 2005 4:16 am Post subject:

Lovely. Thanks for the picture.

Hisham Gaballa · Posted: Thu 03 Nov, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:

Nice work. :)

The only picture I have seen of these was a gold plate which was Hunnish/Alan or something. Are there any other historical depictions of this type of armour?

Johan S. Moen · Posted: Thu 03 Nov, 2005 10:33 am Post subject:

Gregory J. Liebau · Posted: Thu 03 Nov, 2005 11:16 am Post subject: Wonderful!

I haven't studied the Viking/Dark Age stuff in months, so I'm not even sure if it was Vendel or Sutton Hoo... But, there were a pile of bars such as these found cluttered in one of the gravesites, and although there was no way of telling what they were, the idea that they were splinted vambraces arose as one of the more popular speculations and as remained so ever since.

These are very lovely looking, indeed!

Cheers!

-Gregory-

Patrik Erik Lars Lindblom · Posted: Thu 03 Nov, 2005 12:31 pm Post subject:

:D I dont remember where i find them :D

Gregory J. Liebau · Posted: Thu 03 Nov, 2005 3:38 pm Post subject:

Patrik, wonderful photos! Obviously it had to be Valsgarde, the one I forgot to mention being an option! :\

I think the "B & C" are the most likely reconstructions for the pieces. I think they'd be a bit long for torso armor, especially as someone who could afford them would be sitting atop a horse, where they'd be quite uncomfortable with the pieces jabbing into them!

But, I don't know the exact lengths of all of them, so I can't say for sure... It'd be interesting to know how long they all were and how many of each size there was, though! The holes in them definitely do make them being splinted armor much more of an option, and I'd forgotten that the parts all showed it so clearly...

Cheers!

-Gregory-