01-19-2007, 09:03 AM
Quote:There is also the question of balance. I have noticed that maille has a bad habit of stretching when you bend and twist your body unless it is tightly fitted. Scale does not have that problem. For a foot soldier this is not too much of a concern, but it is far more important when fighting from horseback where you require a lot more flexibility. Perhaps this is why squamata was used by cavalry long after hamata was adopted for infantry. Hamata would shift a person's point of balance in unpredictable ways, while squamata would remain fairly stable.
This would be a good subject in its own right as I have often seen it questioned that scale, on a horseman, is vulnerable to upward thruts of spears .
Conal Moran
Do or do not, there is no try!
Yoda
Do or do not, there is no try!
Yoda