Thraex in need of help

[Invictus_Thrax]

Greetings, now i finally made my decision which helmet to go with my armor i have one last point of struggles... those thracians wore special quilted leggings in the arena. Now where can i get those or is it possible to make it myself because my leg armor on naked skin hurts a lot...
I prefer to make it myself cuz i think i needs to have a good fit instead of ordering a premade. Anyway are there patterns available because i cannot find any and what are actually the name of those leggings or does anyone know a good site where i can order them?

[jvrjenivs]

This is what I used as a guide.
[url:132we952]http://www.vicus.org.uk/documents/gladiatorpad.htm[/url]

[M. Demetrius]

Good source, Jurjen.

I made mine back when using linen cloth, fiber filling, and sewn sections with leather thongs. Now that I have some, I would use raw wool fiber instead of the synthetic quilting stuff. I read that they generally used horsehair to stuff the pads, and while that would be very effective, it's also very expensive. I have lots of sheep wool, so I'd use that, but I also realize that it can't be laundered like the synthetic.

And you're right, metal over bone might stop a cut, it it doesn't stop impact. Make the stuffing pretty tight. I didn't but wish I had. On the greaves I made, I glued shearling sheep leather (bought at a second hand store, originally used as a car seat cover) and that helps, too. A lot depends on how your combat system is designed. We were using needledfelt, so impact wasn't a problem. Wood or metal weapons would require more effective pads.

[Olaf]

The pattern is a lot like the one I used for my first linen selfmade manica.
I stuffed with horsehair, but my tubes were a little to wide and stuffd to tight, so movement was hindered lot.
I guess I will redo it in the future to reuse the horsehair, but I am currently very happy with the manica I got from Ancient Armor Reproductions.
Things to consider would be that the leather thongs should be broader strips and sewn to the manica for ideal stability.
I would also advise to sew the manicas sides together in a last step, so a complete sleeve is created.
Also if you use hair as padding its advisable to use multible layers of linen or wool on the outside, as the hairs tend to stick out if the cloth is not compact enough.