Functional double- walled body- armour made of layers of glued cloth, Epic Empires 2014

This page is about the construction principles of my “linothorax”- composite- armour. The introduction to the subject area would be here: composite armour.

Although diverging quite a lot from the classic greek tube- and- yoke- pattern I would like to call this armour a linothorax because of the ingredients that were used to build it.

The construction specifically utilizes the material´s flexibility  to create impact- resistant, cut- and stabproof plates. Not bulletproof, though (steel armour isn´t, too, by the way).

From now on I´ll also use the word for the material itself and worse:  even abbreviate it “lino”. First that´s because everybody else around here does it too and second “composite material made of glued- together layers of linen” sounds like a... waste of valuable internet-space.

“Lino” for fantasy- larp of course is less on the side of serious reconstruction- the look is what counts. After all, we also use polyester sewing thread, sewing machines, chrome- tanned leather, modern steel and Pattex.

For building linothorakes today we have access to cotton linen and waterproof D3- glue, so without remorse let´s put mercy before authenticity and repair to the next DIY-store.

And why didn´t I build a classic linothorax but instead put up such an odd thing?

Meanwhile that I´ve seen a “real” one I am sorely tempted. What a practical piece of equipment! I think I´d like one....

For this campaign though I wanted “something entirely different” (a chaos warrior) and knew in advance that we wouldn´t come up just against ancient hoplites but also armoured vikings, medieval knights and ironclad imperial paladins- not to mention hordes of orks, warlike elves, landsknechts and trigger- happy musketeers (luckily not all together; at least not always).

Insofar “more plate” seemed to be a good idea.

So what is this for a peculiar suit of armour?

A temple guard. Obviously to be seen on first glance, or wot?

These chaps mostly hang out in the background of the scene wearing more or less extravagant outfits. They are ordered about by their respective superiors with shouted commands like “Avaunt! Find them!” or drag folks around at “Avaunt! Take them away!”

This specimen wears colours and symbols of one of the gods of chaos from the Warhammer- universe which in all objectivity makes him one of the bad guys.

I´ve already worked with lino in spring (2014) and am so fond of its qualities that this time I wanted to try and build a suit of armour only with cloth and glue that nevertheless protects against real weapons, although this would of course not be necessary for larp purposes.
I deliberately refrained from strengthening it with metal elements and also forego the use of foam parts, horns and spikes. The idea was not to see the material´s flexibility as a weakness but to take advantage from it.

So my linothorax differs from its antique paragon not only in its shape but also in the way it is constructed. I´d like to explain these features here but show the actual building process on separate pages so you don´t have to scroll for miles to find anything.
That´s why the documentations of helmet, harness and add- ons branch off from here. The links lead straight there but they´ll also reappear at the end of each page so you can read through the whole thing without having to navigate my confusing menu:
Helmet: Lino Helmet
Harness: Lino Harness
Add- ons: Lino Add-Ons

The armour is inspired by asian panoplies. I´ll mention the names of the respective original parts although not much remains. Early japanese suits had solid harnesses and very big shoulder plates. Samurai armour got more flexible over the years and the plates became smaller ; only horsemen retained the bigger ones. This must have had reasons, but I stuck to the older design.
Additionally my suit has no 2D- plates, meaning all components are more or less curved. This increases stability and directs flexibility into the right channels.

Solid single- piece harness  “tanko” with big shoulder plates “o-sode” with built- in crumple zone:

Shoulder plates:
To economize space and weight the big shields “o- sode” that cover shoulder and upper arms aren´t rectangular or shieldlike but “africa- sized” with westafrica each time pointing to the front.
They too are double- walled but the upper tier is only a vertical strip roughly a hands breadth that covers the main impact area. They have padding in between and absorb impact energy even better than a steel plate lying on the arm. The material cannot be damaged even with real blades. Cords that lead under the arms keep them in place but allow a movement of about 30 degrees.

The clothing´s sleeves have a second layer of padding on their outer sides.

upper shoulder area:
The way the shoulders are built has no example that I know of. The relatively open design of the armour´s outer “collar” is my solution for coping with the material´s flexibility; besides, it facilitates ventilation. I decided against the classic concept of relatively flat- lying plates on bolsterwork (which, curved or not, would dent in) and instead built multiple layers of armour in a tilted angle with airspace in between. These will of course also deform when hit (eating up energy in doing so) but never even touch the shoulder´s padding.
Thus despite the flexible nature of glued layers of linen the overall structure retains its impact- stopping capabilities, again using the “crumple- zone”- principle.
Above right: the next building phase sees a 3rd frontplate, neckguard and inner shoulder plates which close the construction, creating a coherent surface against impacts from above.

The side plates each rest upon a row of wooden separators to minimize abrasion. This area where outer collar and plates rub is not visible from the outside.
Two straps lead from the shield´s middle forward and behind the shoulder and attach to the inner collar that is part of the armour´s bottom layer.

There are also two loose cords  “tsuru/ kumihimo” on each upper side of the shoulder plates (the one on the rear left is in view). These cords limit the plate´s range of motion and stabilize the shoulder area. They only tighten with certain movements.

If the shoulder is hit the impact would first have to compress both side plates and the collar to transfer enough energy through two layers of padding to cause an injury.
Something that can hit me strong enough to achieve this shouldn´t anyway be taken on with a “stand fast” tactic; super- armour or not.

Weight of the armour: negligible 6 kilogramms.
After wearing it for 13 hours one is of course glad to get out of it- but what other armour can be worn for such long periods? When somebody invents a bulletproof vest in real - life that is still comfortable after a 13- hour- duty I´ll marry him.

The “outer collar” (below right) is defined by the movement zone of the helmet who must never touch the harness. When an arm is raised the respective shoulder plate forms another layer of armour, closing with either the neck padding or the helmet´s rim.
The seemingly big “clearance” is necessary to enable the armour´s parts to work together: even tailormade, perfect fitting panoplies can and will move on the body up to a hand´s breadth, which during extreme motions can even injure the wearer: one for example has to know exactly the circumstances under which the harnesses´s upper rim or the the armour´s collar come up and can touch the throat (yes, they can do that, albeit they won´t while the warrior is posing in front of a mirror- so go out and practise with your equipment- preferably in a sufficient time frame before the battle starts).

I think generally helmets should be as lightweight as possible. Of course they have to be impact- resistant and padded, but if in a fight the side of the head is hit strong enough you´re out regardless how heavy your helmet is.

The front of the belt consists of a lower waist plate and a hard but slightly flexible “breechclout” that serves to protect vital lower regions.
Over the armoured belt a double- wrapped cloth- belt “obi” stabilizes the whole arrangement and serves as a mounting for small pockets or sidearms. The obi´s knot is under the front layer of the “clasp” and helps to separate the elongated front sheet from the lower abdomen plate, thus effectuating the suit´s “crumple- zone” philosophy.
Nevertheless a certain padding under the belt is necessary: it is provided by multiple folds of the undergarments: the japanese pantskirt “hakama” and the sideward cloths; thus up to 12 layers of fabric serve to pad the belt.

Vambraces and cuisses (= shin- and underarm- plates) “kote/ suneate” in the earlier version consisted of metal parts that were only covered with one layer of cloth (for the look) and the lower side plates “haidate” that protect the thighs were of course inadequate; time was running out (again).

Not shown is a neckcloth against cold.
There is a painted breechcloth at the front and back as well as a blue and white piece of cloth per side. Everything is unpadded; real “kusazuri” would be armoured. Front loincloth and blue side cloths are affixed to the hakama. All cloth- parts are repeatedly folded and provide padding for the armoured belt.

Below: Rear breechclout and the white side cloths are attached to a web- belt with clasp that stabilizes the hakama. This arrangement allows to adjust all parts symmetrically also with altered waist circumference (in case of wearing warm/ waterproof undergarments or spontaneous adiposity).

Above Right: fake frayed seams. To pretend wearout pieces of cloth without hem are sewn behind the real seam. Thus they fray theatrically without tearing the garment to strips and turn the hakama into a kind of hula skirt. The “dirt” is acrylic paint plus whatever joins in during the game.

He who sews together white and blue cloth and then washes the garment gets a baby-blue outfit as a punishment. In all blue/white parts the blue ones are therefore made of polyester-cloth which will not bleed. The hakama is washed separately. The golden colour is acrylic and has survived the washing machine well. If it fades with time it can be easily replaced.

above:
The weapon (a chinese polesword) is a custom- made item and goes quite nicely with the character and his role in the game. It was built by Jörg of the Chin-Woo-School in Lübeck. I told him roughly what I wanted and he had it ready way before deadline. It is well padded and consists of a slightly softer sort of foam used in my “home system”, phoenix, which I prefer.

It has a pleasantly exotic look, is immense fun working with and sports a tassel on the blade. Short presentation:

The pole- mounted sword “guan dao” (dao meaning “sword”; this one has been named after its inventor, the most honorable general Guan Yu whose weapon is said to have weighed 40 kilogramm) has made it from battlefield- use into palace- service quite a long time ago and can be called the classic far eastern citadel- guard´s weapon of choice.

It looks appropriately intimidating not only for barring gates or standing to attention but will make many opponents stop “to check their equipment” while calling their comrades before getting into range. X´actly the right thing for a guard.

The -removable- tassel reportedly serves to confuse opponents. Mine though didn´t make a very confused impression...

Is a linothorax cheap?

Nope. In 2014 this one wasn´t even finished and costed 400,- € (without weapon). Whereas one has to take into consideration that my outfit was built “from zero”. If you upgrade already existing equipment it´ll be cheaper. The costs in detail:

And is it worth it?
Very Positively Absolutely Yes! Normally one would think that armour is made of metal or leather- both of which require considerable know-how, tools and a noise- protected workshop to work with. They are also very expensive. Cloth/ glue composite material on the other hand can at moderate cost be produced anywhere without occupational-safety measures that go beyond “put something under it or you´ll soil your carpet”.
And what you get is armour as “authentic” for larp as one could wish- made out of stuff that  really protects you from impacts.
Contouring is much less limited than metal or leather and if you like you can combine your linothorax with any of the other materials: metal plates can be glued in or riveted on, leather can used to augment it, the surface can be upholstered with cloth or an embroidered cloth can be glued on as final layer (the embroidery will stay visible). For larp foam applications like spikes or horns can be added. And finally:
The most pleasurable feeling of going to war with self- constructed armour that will effectively shield you justifies a lot of effort in any case.

Conclusion:

Despite most ruthless treatment and wet weather my linothorax turned out to be virtually indestructible.
The only thing that happened is that the uncoloured and unpainted, always wet harnesses´ inner layer of glue turned from transparent to milky white with the glue only changing colour but not consistency. After drying the effect vanished, turning the inner layer clear again, making the inside appear black as before.
I don´t count that as “kaputt”; the phenomenon could have been avoided by mixing the inner layer of glue with acrylic paint, thus colouring it (I use 4 parts glue, one part paint).

A little surface colour was abrased but in so small quantities that during the game I didn´t have to repair anything.

By the way: a certain Sun-Tzu in his cost report for the maintenance of an army  explicitely mentions expenditures for glue and colours (The Art of War, chapter 2, first sentence).
Listen to the man. He obviously knew what he was talking about.

And lastly: Maintenance, transport and storage
After use the dried armour was given a wash with a wet cloth (no detergents) and dried again.

The dangers that threaten a linothorax during storage seem to emanate from its flexibility: if stored over longer periods it could slump or contort on a coat hanger and  pemanently deform (if that happens to compressed foam parts the only “repair” is to rebuild).
In theory deforming is no problem for a linothorax: HP´s armour is stored closed lying flat. Before use it can without problems be bend to its original shape- which it endured for over 6 years now. But having made the above mentioned awful experiences with ruined foam parts I´m not gonna take a risk:

Transport and storage take place in a custom- made card box whose inner walls have been padded with air cushion foil against abrasions. The foil doesn´t cover the whole interior and the walls have holes to let air in. The armour fits exactly and can´t slump.

The add-ons are tucked into custom air- permeable cloth bags -again against abrasion. They all  fit into the armour´s cavity, the helmet on top. The cardboard box´s underside has been completely taped in case it gets wet feet. The lid ts taped, too. This treatment won´t repel a downpour but will resist light rain for a short period. More tape ensures stability.

Japanese armours incidentally were transported in similar trunks, they of course being made of wood. Storeage however took place in the typical sitting “presentation” posture on top of the trunk. This, although open storage is the best way to stow your panoply, unfortunately for me is out of the question due to lack of a representative entrance hall and and an overabundance of suits of armour.

Finally again the explicit recommendation of the material not only for mask- and scabbard- building. Armour or armour- parts made of layers of glued linen are a practical answer to all who need protection and are not  implicitly dependent on metal.

This year (2014) I can´t bear with the sight of an open pot of glue any more but next one I´ll build the missing parts.

If you want to read straight on here´s a direct link to the second page of the documentation; the helmet. Link: Lino Helmet

october 2014, last edit jan 15/jan 16/ oct 16, dec 16, may 18