Wearing Hamata

[Titus Labienus]

Just got my hamata from Soul of the Warrior and it looks great. It took my wife and me a lot of work to get it on and off me though. Any tips on ease of on/off? I can't guarantee I will always have an assistant when I do presentations of my character.

Thanks!

[Paul Elliott]

Getting it on? Get it onto your upper arms, poke your head thru the neck hole, then let the whole lot fall onto your shoulders.

To get off? Bend over at the waist. Let it fall off and land at your feet (while wiggling!)

Works for me.

[Titus Labienus]

Thanks! Will definitely give that a try.

[jvrjenivs]

Well, if it's to hard to do it all yourself, you might consider getting slightly bigger one.

[Theodosius the Great]

I too find that my new hamata is more difficult to take off. Not only is it fairly form-fitting to my build but it also has sleeves which make it more challenging to take off by myself.

~Theo

[Titus Labienus]

Mine is similar, Theo, but I managed to get it on and off by myself yesterday. Tried Mithras' method of bending over. That loosened it. I hiked it up to my waist first, then bent over and wiggled out.

[Paul Elliott]

I'm skinny, so my mail slips on and off OK. I get into difficulties when I wear my padded subarmalis (which is more often than not). Getting it on is hardest, it can rollup as its going on, and get stuck with half of it over my head and in my arms! So I have to be cautious and feed it gently from my upper arms onto the sleeves of the subarmalis, onto the shoulders then when I'm sure it isn't going to ruck up or roll over onto itself, I let it go and wiggle into it. Its not the kind of thing I like to do in front of an audience incase it goes wrong! And it helps if I have someone to help (at a pinch!).

[Paul Elliott]

I found a photo (going over an old tunic, not my subarmalis):

[Titvs Statilivs Castvs]

Do be careful with your shoulders, using this method. I do it (as most reenactors, I think?) the same way, but my shoulders have the tendency to *almost* dislocate quite quickly, and I've had some trouble with that already. Just a note of caution.

[Paul Elliott]

I can't imagine how bad that would be, half in and half out of hamata with a dislocated shoulder .. ouch

[Titvs Statilivs Castvs]

Well I haven't actually dislocated them, but a few times I almost did, and most of these occasions were during putting on/off a hamata..
Quite a panicky experience, I can assure you. :-P

[Ammianus]

I'm skinny, so my mail slips on and off OK. I get into difficulties when I wear my padded subarmalis (which is more often than not).

I would hope you would always be wearing padding, it would be rather painful and inauthentic otherwise

It always amazes me how often members of the public assume it is just slung over a tunic....because that would be great protection! :roll:

Good luck Steve, you will soon get the hang of it. The beauty of ringmail is that it isn't a two person job.

[Titus Labienus]

Thanks! I think I will be able to get the hang of it.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Thanks! I think I will be able to get the hang of it.

You with the 6th Legion by any Chance?

Also, I have used their Starter kits, and generally if you buy it a little loose it's easier to get on and off. You can hang the added weight over the balteus iff need be, as it helps a lot with skinny guys like me.

The hardest part is if you have a subarmalis, and it has the ptuerges. Those take a while to pull out from underneath

[joeandmich]

You mean there's no zipper?

LOL