Another Raz history question: medieval armor

[Razgovory]

In the movies you often seen knights, soldiers and nobles wearing armor all the time.  Standing guard, traveling, just hanging around.  In particular chain mail is depicted like this.  I was thinking, mail is kinda heavy and probably unconformable.  While warriors trained in it, it was likely a pain to wear for very long.  Not to mention that it's high maintenance.  Straps and leather break and wear out, the armor will rust if you aren't careful, and the like.  I bet it's also hot to wear. 

So my question is, how often did people where that armor?  Did they travel to the battlefield wearing something more comfortable and then put it on a little before the battle started?  Did they really have guards stand around in mail?

[jimmy olsen]

A mail shirt isn't that heavy for a man in good shape, 20-30 pounds depending on how long (to hips or knees). Plus it's equally distributed across your body.

[Zanza]

20-30 pounds sounds quite heavy when you have to wear it the whole day and move in it. Siege should be able to tell us how hard it is...

[mongers]

20-30 pounds sounds quite heavy when you have to wear it the whole day and move in it. Siege should be able to tell us how hard it is...

No he won't, he just carries around the medieval mindset.

[Josquius]

I'm really bad with weights and have no clue how much 30 pounds is but...surely modern soldiers carry around so much on their back when they're out marching?
And that's not very evenly distributed.

[DGuller]

20-30 pounds sounds quite heavy when you have to wear it the whole day and move in it. Siege should be able to tell us how hard it is...

No he won't, he just carries around the medieval mindset.

[Caliga]

It's not that heavy, no, though after a full day of wearing it my shoulders were very sore.

[dps]

I'm really bad with weights and have no clue how much 30 pounds is but...surely modern soldiers carry around so much on their back when they're out marching?
And that's not very evenly distributed.

WWI infantrymen carried something like 250 lbs in their pack IIRC (I've got the actual numbers somewhere, but I'm not going to look it up--and of course if varied a bit from one country to another).  WWII soldiers didn't have that much of a load, and most modern infanty has a bit less than the WWII era I think, but it's still way more than 30 lbs, and as stated, it's not evenly distributed.

[Zanza]

250 lbs? I couldn't even carry that for a mile. That sounds way too much.

[Viking]

The weight of chainmail at least is well within the weight of the normal load of infantry men through all of history. I'd expect you could carry it when in the field. Though, I suspect while on guard duty they would carry lighter kit, probably like the Yeoman Warders in the Tower of London. Heavy cloth which is capable of stopping small knives, deflecting most light slashing weapons and enough weight to stop anything more than a aimed powerful arrow.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Wearing a mailshirt is not too bad, it's a bit like being  30lbs overweight as the weight is so well-distributed.

[PDH]

US marines in World War 2 carried a pack that weight somewhere around 70 lbs.

Chainmail is not the most comfortable to wear, 30 lbs is a lighter shirt - one that was reinforces on the shoulders or other vital bits might be 45 or more lbs.  That is a lot of weight to carry on the shoulders, and even a good stout belt didn't lower this down too much.  Plus, to distribute the weight better straps would be needed.  Remember, under this was also a thick gambeson, so it was often hot as well.

Now, that said, it is not the easiest to put on quickly for a fight, heavy, to not shift it needs to be at least belted - and there is no real good way to carry it other than to wear it.  Soldiers who did have it would often wear it, but when in a place that they could take it off, I am quite sure they did.

Now, after antiquity, it was not all that common, at least until the High Middle Ages.  Before 1000 (as a rough year), it was for leaders, richer cavalry, and the nobs.

[dps]

PDH brings up a good point.  If your choice is either to wear chainmail, or to carry it around unworn, you'd be a fool to carry it around unworn.

[DGuller]

WWI infantrymen carried something like 250 lbs in their pack IIRC (I've got the actual numbers somewhere, but I'm not going to look it up--and of course if varied a bit from one country to another).

That sounds extremely implausible, especially considering that people back then were a whole lot skinnier than they are now.

[Ed Anger]

My +5 helm of disintegration weighs nothing.