Some members of my group are looking into the markward and Elias sets from mytholon, anyone had any experience with either of them? They look like a nicely priced way of getting heavy armour. any help/advice is appreciated.
Thanks
[quote=“EuanRead”]Some members of my group are looking into the markward and Elias sets from mytholon, anyone had any experience with either of them? They look like a nicely priced way of getting heavy armour. any help/advice is appreciated.
Thanks[/quote]
A lot of people use the Mytholon stuff as it is cheap - but it is one size fits nobody 
. On that basis be prepared to spend some time getting it to fit as best it can and so it sits properly on your body - you may have to make some minor adjustments for this. I say this because I’ve seen lots of examples of this sort of armour that looks very poor because it isn’t sitting right on the body so your kit looks a bit crap when it need not. Additionally it can prevent you fighting properly if it isn’t sitting right - I’ve seen people unable to lift their arms up properly, for example, due to ill fitting pauldrons.
Alternatively, if anyone can recommend a half way point between cheap and made to measure that’d be brilliant.
thanks
Have you considered chain? You can usually pick it up a bit cheaper than plate and it’s more forgiving size wise as you really only need to get the size roughly right and then strap on a belt to hold it up.
My mates are fairly set on plate, but I’m a little bit torn between the two options, I’m a little concerned that it will get tangled with or damage bits of my costume, laced/tied bits etc.
Do you know any traders who could bring it to empire? was looking at ‘The knights shop’ particularly.
many thanks and sorry if im being a burden 
What size are your friends? My experience of Mytholon is that they size for ‘XL’ , on the basis that most humans get get inside the armour. The one time I tried to wear it, I was swamped and looked like a seven year old wearing my dad’s clothes (though I am not very big myself at 5.8" and 11 stone).
[quote=“EuanRead”]
My mates are fairly set on plate, but I’m a little bit torn between the two options, I’m a little concerned that it will get tangled with or damage bits of my costume, laced/tied bits etc.[/quote]
The main issues with chain are abrasive, not tangly (apart from hair when donning/doffing). If your scabbardry lets your weapon hilts press against the mail, the latex will be scraped off. You need something dedicated underneath it, to stop it chafing at your costume; you don’t want to be wearing it over nice velvets and silks and embroidery. But you want something sturdy and at least a little bit padded anyway (a gambeson) to belt it down onto, and protect your precious bodily particles from said abrasion. At the *very *least a heavy tunic/shirt is needed. That layer should smooth over any laces etc that could get snagged.
Plate is probably more likely to snag on things, IME, with its edges.
Try and avoid waiting until the event to buy armour that you need. Whatever you buy, you need to make sure that it’s comfortable and fits well before you have to use it. Even a simple chain shirt needs a bit of practice to be able to put it on and take it off quickly.
If you think sizing is going to be a problem, Stahlgilde might be worth a look, as they do their armour in different sizes. They’ve just started doing free European shipping on a lot of their products as well, which makes them really quite cheap. The only caveat is that their armour can be quite rust-prone, so something to be aware of.
My first foray out in chain I didn’t have a gambeson and just wore a plain black thick drill cotton jacket (from Primark!) - I pulled the buttons off and replaced them with ties for comfort. It was fine. If you’re skint you don’t want to be forking out for gambesons as well as plate/chain. Chain can look pretty cool if you build it up with bits of plate as you can afford them - for example, big shoulders look ace over a surcoat and it doesn’t matter much what’s underneath it.
thanks for the replies,
[quote=“womble”]
The main issues with chain are abrasive, not tangly (apart from hair when donning/doffing). If your scabbardry lets your weapon hilts press against the mail, the latex will be scraped off. You need something dedicated underneath it, to stop it chafing at your costume; you don’t want to be wearing it over nice velvets and silks and embroidery. But you want something sturdy and at least a little bit padded anyway (a gambeson) to belt it down onto, and protect your precious bodily particles from said abrasion. At the *very *least a heavy tunic/shirt is needed. That layer should smooth over any laces etc that could get snagged.
Plate is probably more likely to snag on things, IME, with its edges.[/quote]
I was mainly thinking about the strings that tie a gambeson’s arms to the body piece, as I will most likely picking up one like that (The Arthur set, thanks for suggestion btw Agentinfinty) , I doubt it would be an issue but was a little concerned. I think for me chain is going to be the best option, I’m just terrified of having to send something back that doesn’t fit, as my nearest shop doesn’t sell it 
but as suggested chain is easier to find to a specific chest size so it should be ok
thanks for the help 
Remember to measure your chest size AFTER you’ve put on whatever padding you’re wearing under the maille. If you’re not certain about the fit, it’s better to have a hauberk that’s slightly too big than slightly too small.
Pieces of individual plate shouldn’t be too bad. It’s only when you start to get into articulation that you get problems.
As others have said the base layer is key for mail to keep oil off your clothes and to some extent to prevent rubbing. Plate it’s deffinitely to prevent parts of the armour grinding you in hard to reach places.
Most of the limb defences like vambraces and greaves tend to be OK but I’ve found the buckles and leather used are a bit on the basic side. The quality of the metal itself seems to be fine no sharp edges or anything i would consider dangerous but I will say that you have to keep on top of the maintainance of the kit and make sure you keep it clean and dry as it is quite prone to rust but it’s nothing that cant be done very quickly after time out with some WD40 and some metal polish.
The biggest issue with plate is the torso protection with back and breast being the hardest to get to fit “off the peg” While you can to some extent bend them out or in to get a better fit there is a limit and some have welded ribs that will not bend with the rest of the plate.
My advice would be to buy face to face where you can try on the kit. But if you absoloutely have to buy mail order then to get full heavy coverage I would go with a mail shirt and some plate limb defences. My tournament armour for empire consists of a long sleeved mail shirt that reaches my knees and a pair of greaves. This gives the advantage of having full heavy armour you can fit into a big “bag for life” whereas my re-enactment armour with articulated arms, legs, breastplate needs a huge bag or a big plastic box.
The one thing I’m worrying about regarding mail ordering some greaves and vambraces is that I have stubby limbs, and if the wrist-to-inside-elbow or ankle-to-back-of-knee is too long, I’m going to lose mobility I want to retain (and suffer pinching and rubbing I’d rather avoid). I’m planning on some emails to the supplier to check how they accommodate shortarses, since the pieces I want seem to be one-size-fits-all.
The real solution is to sell a kidney and a couple of close relatives and get some made to measure 
Or more seriously talk to Steve Lunn at White Rose Apparel as he makes (to measure) vambraces and greaves at very reasonable prices.
I’ve seriously considered getting started on my own whitesmithing to get what I want. I looked at WRA’s website, and it looked like it was focused mostly on leather. I’ll probably not be making the purchase until after TORM; I know what I want now, and if someone at TORM can sort me within my budget, it seems like the best bet.
You get a better view of what White Rose Apparel do from the FB page to be honest - facebook.com/groups/259031114107467/
You can also see some of his plate armour here ahem It’s good stuff and good value in my experience.
One advantage of the popularity of larp on the continent is that Mytholon do have some components of child-sized plate armour, which can be worth a look-in for people who are particularly on the short side.
I’ve worn a roughly full set of the Markward plate before - it’s functional but awkward, and weighs more than it should because of the lack of tailoring. I’d definitely prefer cheap mail, and in my experience you won’t have problems with your mail tangling with your shoulder laces on the gambeson or anything. You can also do a lot to cheap mail if you get a couple of shirts and a pair of needle nose pliers and tailor it all a bit - it’ll improve the fit, reduce the weight a surprising amount, and make it look quite a lot nicer all in one go. As a start, tapering the sleeves so they fit closely over the wrist will make a fair bit of difference when you’re swinging a sword around all battle.
I am new to this forum but have experience with the Mytholon armour through S.A. work and SPACT . I have an albumn on facebook of ‘raw’ pics from this weekend
facebook.com/alan.w.hughes. … 228&type=1
with a little adjustment it works great for me and I’m only 5’7" 40" chest…