Padded Arming Jacket

Description of the Product

Arming jacket, or arming jack for short, is the foundation on which all plate armor parts are attached to. When a knight or man-at-arms wishes to wear his/her plate armor the first piece of equipment worn is an arming jack and the plate armor parts are attached to the arming jack. This arming jack can be used as historical clothing with a no-nonsense warrior or a mercenary feel to it or as a functional undergarment for plate armor.

An arming jack, also known as an aketon, is similar to a gambeson. It is a padded jacket that was worn under armor in the Middle Ages, but it was usually not as extremely padded as a gambeson and was typically shorter and more tight fitted at the waist. Arming jacks weren't typically used as a standalone protective armor, as gambesons were, but were used with plate and mail armor.

Even plate armor parts need some sort of padding underneath the steel plates to soften any blows and to avoid any scrapes and abrasions caused by the metal plates. This arming jack has high stand-up collar to prevent any scrapes by plate armor, mail or other equipment. This sturdy arming jack is made of 100% cotton and has a thick, soft and comfortable padding made of 100% polyester. The outer layer fabric has a rough linen type texture with the lining being smoother for easy wearing.

This arming jack is closed in front with cords that come with the jacket. The jack comes with reinforced attachment points and cords to attach your armor pieces for shoulders, arms, elbows and legs. The arming jack has several reinforced attachment points to adjust your armor parts to their correct place. Different armor parts have slightly different attachment points so it's important to have good adjustment options in the arming jack. The waistband has a good selection of tie points to tighten the waist of the arming jack on top of your natural waist like a wide belt. It's a good idea to tighten the waist when using leg armor with the arming jack. When you tighten the arming jack to your waist the weight of the leg armor is suspended from your hip and not from your shoulders. This is more comfortable if you wear your armor for longer periods of time.

You have five standard sizes to choose from. The arming jack is supposed to be a quite tight fitting garment to hang all the armor parts without too much fluff underneath the armor. Too large arming jack will fold over itself and the wrinkles will start to feel unpleasant in time under your armor. If you are planning on using this jack as historical clothing in reenactment or larp without armor we suggest you order a size larger and your own size if you want tight fit to use under armor. In the product pictures the jacket is one size larger than the model would normally use.

The provided laces are made of cotton and have brass chape on each tip. Waxing the laces increases their durability considerably so this is recommended. This product is handmade from a lively fabric, designed to look like an old handmade garment. Thus, there may be slight surface damage or imperfections in the fabric. The color and texture may also vary slightly.

• Upper fabric 100% cotton canvas
• Padding 100% polyester
• Inner lining 100% cotton
• Reinforced attachment points for shoulder armours, arm armours, elbow armours and leg armours
• Includes braided cords with brass chapes (tips)
• Waistband acts as a wide belt. Tightening this will let your leg armour hang from your hip.
• Slit cuffs with cords
• Available in five sizes S-XXL

Size Chart (approx.):