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Corbridge A Breastplates - to cross or not cross diagonally?
#35
Quote:But are the plates supposed to be vertical?

I'd say they were. Firstly, the angle of attachment of the buckles/straps
is perpendicular to the edge of the plates, and buckles and their
attandant straps are designed to take strain in one direction. In this
case, perpendicularly to the edges of the plates. Thus the plates are
intended to hang vertically, to allow the buckles and straps to be held
horizontally, in just the angle at which they are rivetted to the plates.
The same as the buckles/straps on a Corbridge A attaching the
shoulder guards to the girth plates. These are meant to hang vertically.
So obviously the shoulder guards from which they hang ought to be
held vertically too. With the average miles having sloping shoulders,
the only way to achieve the proper hang of the shoulder guards is to
have shoulder padding that's thicker over your deltoid muscles and
gets thinner towards your neck. This way, the shoulder plates hang
perpendicularly, and there's no undue stress on the leathers or buckles.
This also raises the height that the shoulder guards sit on your shoulders
and brings them higher up under your helmet. This has several
advantages. Firstly, it stops the edge of the shoulder guards from
cutting into your neck. Secondly, it reduces the gap between shoulder
guards and the neck guard of your helmet, making it harder for an
enemy to hack at your neck with a sword. Thirdly, the more padding
you wear under the shoulder guards, the more comfortable they are
to wear, anyway. 8)

Quote: I would suggest that diagonally crossing plates actually provide more protection to your heart (but if you are exposing the this area to the enemy then you probably deserve to die anyway having forgotten all your training Big Grin ). The plates also tend to stay crossed even without the strap in place.

Diagonally crossing plates, instead of giving you the protection they
were designed to give, open up the neck hole to allow an enemy to
attack your throat more easily, which is about the most vulnerable
unarmoured part of the body. The shoulder guards and the cheek
guards of the helmet between them give some protection, but it's still
vulnerable and largely uncovered. So you want the neck hole to be as
small as possible while still allowing you to breathe. :lol:

Quote:It is surprising that people automatically assume that the Newstead is in some way better than the Corbridge purely because it appears in the archaeological record after the Corbridge types. Process
is not necessarily progress.

Actually the Newstead is infinitely superior in providing protection
than the Corbridge A - the Corbridge B being an intermediate between
the two, with the leathers between the shoulders and girths being
replaced by metal hooks & eyes. This becomes a total replacement of
the external leathers, including the horizontasl ones, in the Nwestead.

Byron is right. The whole point of replacing external leathers with
metal hooks & eyes is for better protection. An enemy can slash you
open from gizzard to beakfast-time by cutting the external leathers
holding your Corbridge together. He can't if you have a Newstead.
Plus the quartermaster is going to love you, as you've got a lorica
which will last you a full 25 years, without ever needing to be handed
in for replacement of the external leathers. (Okay, so the internal
leathers will still need replacing, but these should last longer than the
external leathers, which have far more stress on them, and are the
ones exposed to the sword cuts of the enemy.) The downside of the
Newstead is more rididity over the Corbridge. But so what. I'd prefer
protection and durability to the small loss of flexibility, anyday. And,
because of that rigidity, the shoulder guards hang the way they are
designed to do, and don't flap about at a diagonal angle. 8)

Ambrosius/Mike[/quote]
"Feel the fire in your bones."
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Messages In This Thread
lorica - by brennivs - tony drake - 06-19-2007, 10:23 PM
lorica seg - by brennivs - tony drake - 06-21-2007, 07:37 PM
Re: lorica seg - by Matt Lukes - 06-22-2007, 12:03 AM
corbridge A - by brennivs - tony drake - 06-24-2007, 09:39 PM
Re: Corbridge A Breastplates - to cross or not cross diagonally? - by ambrosius - 06-26-2007, 02:52 AM
Re: corbridge A - by Matt Lukes - 06-26-2007, 08:17 PM

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