[MR] armor questions from a non-fighter...

[William Faleston]

I don't know the armourer in question so I can't give any advice there, but
I can answer some general questions. The terms aventail and camail are
interechangable. Both refer to a curtain of maille that is attached to the
helm. You may be thinking of a coif, which is a hood of mail that goes under
the helm.

The tricky thing here is that the helm shown in your link is an early period
Norman/Norse helm. Typically these did not have an aventail. That didn't
appear until bascinets came along. Until then, you wore a padded coif, a
maille coif, and then your helm over it. I'm not an expert on early period
helms, so I don't know if there were exceptions to this, or how common they
were.
Often when I see an early-period SCA helm with a maille attachment, I
interpret that as a way to portray a simple Norman skullcap with no sides,
which would not be legal for our game. The mail attachment makes it look
like they are wearing a coif under a skullcap. It's a pretty convincing
illusion.

The slatted back is a Good Thing according to everyone I've ever talked to
who wore one. The "leather attachment for camail" probably hangs at the brow
line. I would think that while the maille would cover the slatted back, it
would probably still allow plenty of air to flow through.

The question of whether you really must/should wear a gorget under an
aventail is a sticky subject among many fighters. Make sure your husband
discusses this with a marshal or two before making a final decision.

If I've gotten anything wrong here, someone please correct me!

In Service,
William de Faleston

On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 1:48 AM, Alexandria Stratton <kyrilex at yahoo.com>wrote:

> I'm shopping for a helm for my husband, Brocc (it will be a surprise!).
> I am considering something like
> this: http://www.jamesriverarmoury.com/customnorman.htm
>
> One of the options is a 'leather attachment strip for camail'. I am
> thinking
> they mean aventail.
> Brocc has expressed an interest in the aventail (he's been told there's no
> need
> for a gorget if he has the aventail).
>
> The slatted back looks neat, and looks like it would be cooler to wear. I
> wonder
> about padding, though...is it pointless to have the slatted back if it's
> blocked
> by padding or covered by the maille?
>
> I also wonder about a camail (the maille hood)...is there a point to mail
> worn
> under a helm?
>
> Does anyone have any experience or opinions on any of these questions?
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this seller?
>
> Thanks!
>  -- Isabelle LaFar
> http://www.HouseBarra.com
> Experience is what you get, when things go awry.
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