Roman wet weather clothing...

[M. Demetrius]

I think you're right about not spraying, Tony. They do make vapor paint spray filters, that's what the people who paint cars with lacquer, etc., use. You can't even smell the paint, which, natch, is what you want. It's really the vapors you smell, mostly anyway.

I think it would be much more trouble to spray than soak as you have described...and if you want to talk about a flash bomb, spray Bestine and have any kind of spark or flame come near. Zap!

[Lusitano]

OK Obviously not the same programe then. The one I saw was a few years back too, but they were definatly military people being put through the paces. They stayed in reconstructed barracks up by the wall I believe? and did many different things, although I did not see all the programs in the series. Was quite interesting though, what I did see. Sorry to go off track here.

I believe the show was called Warrior Challenge, they had a show about roman legionnaires, knights, vikings and gladiators.

[DECIMvS MERCATIvS VARIANvS]

[size=150:1no5dnew]Okay, having seen Tony's paenula at Roman Days w/ him standing happily in the rain, I can attest it looks pretty good. It DOES have that wierd feeling he's talking about, but hey, I think he truly HAS found the solution here.[/size]

[marsvigilia]

I have also found that a thin layer of lanolin nicely protects the armor from rusting. Since the cloaks had lanolin and went over armor, the armor would get some lanolin on it just naturally. But never one to just let nature take its course, I set out to apply it more directly and consistently.

I found that cloth (even wool and linen) leaves a lot of lint behind if you try to rub it over all the armor, not to mention snagging it on every little burr and doohickey. The best I found was chamois leather/cloth (actually a piece of deer skin) These are used by people to dry and polish cars because they absorb a lot of water. They also absorb a lot of lanolin.

I have a piece (about one foot square) that I keep completely saturated with lanolin, rolled up in a pouch in my kit for applying as needed to armor or anything else. The worst effect I have found is a tendency of the armor to accumulate dust. But a good wipe down takes care of it, and doesn't appear to cause any rust problems.

Sure the Romans would have spent time cleaning and derusting armor. But from the use of tinning it is fairly clear that they attempted to avoid this as much as possible. Given the availability and efficacy of lanolin, I believe that it would have been widely used to waterproof armor.

(Lanoline: Also good for softening & protecting leather.)

[Marcus Julius]

Wasn't there also a show on the history channel, where the announcer got dressed up in kit? I seem to remember him commenting on how well he was able to move in seggy? --not that this helps with the original weather question.

Anyway, I've a paenula made out of old wool army blankets. It seemed to fend off the weather quite well, when our bright sunny day turned into a cloudburst, just about a year ago. The moisture eventually worked it's way through into my double layer of tunics and down to my skin, but all those layers kept me warm enough.