thickness of scale mail plates

[BlackLamb]

hello,

I'm working very hard on my sarmatian cataphract outfit.
Now i want to make a heavy armour for my Horse.
The idea is to make a chest and back scale mail.
Because the horse ( pony) is not of great hight and has to cary me and my armour i want to spare him with great loads of metal.
The only point is te thickness of the scales, i want them to be so thin as possible to reduce the weight.
But... it they have to be thick enough to receive possible hits without harming my horse.

Has anyone suggestions? Or tips?


Leather scales is an option, but i prefer metal ones.( also because i can get them made for free).

sorry for my poor english :oops:

thanks

[Marcus Mummius]

Hi Olga,

A good and authentic thickness for lorica squamata scales is about 0,25mm. The original scales were that thin. I don't know if horse armour used the same scale thickness, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

I think this would be lighter than using leather scales. If you want armour in leather with the same defensive qualities as metal I think the leather armour will be heavier.

Vale,
Jef

[BlackLamb]

thanx Jef,

Wow that thin!?

[Peroni]

Simon James' Final Report VII from Dura Europos is the best source for equine scale armour dimensions and thicknesses.

The trappers found there vary from 0.25 - 0.5mm thickness in both iron and copper alloy.

Sizes of scales on trapper No. 449 are 25mm x 35mm (8 holes)

Sizes of scales on trapper No. 450 are 40mm x 45mm (8 holes)