Wearing armor and resting

[AbdulAlhazred]

I'd just like to point out that this has been discussed before, and the consensus of veterans who have worn armor and of review of the historical record, sleeping in armor was not only pretty easy, but pretty much necessary while on campaign. For example, Bernal Díaz del Castillo wore his armor pretty much nonstop throughout the entire Spanish Conquest of Mexico. This took several years.

There was even a video posted by an enworlder that owns a suit of plate mail, and he was able to do cartwheels, push ups, climb ladders, and other physical feats that are generally considered impossible by the people who buy the myth that plate made you unable to maneuver easily. His armor was slightly heavier than most historical suits of plate mail.

So don't believe that you need to impose some penalty for wearing heavy armor while you're sleeping out in the wilderness. If you still wish to, you're diverging from real world experience.

Agreed. The general view that for instance "knights could not stand back up in plate armor" or "had to be winched onto their horse" are in fact silly. I've also seen people demonstrate doing all sorts of things in armor, as you say. So in general there isn't a LOT of problem with just wearing your armor.

However it still isn't a second skin. There are times when people would doff their armor and/or wear lighter equipment like an arming vest etc. I doubt Diaz wore his armor when he was lounging around town or whatever. And it is pretty clear that most soldiers in most places and times, even on campaign, often went unarmored.

Finally there IS an environmental aspect to it. Trudging through The Great Desert in your plate armor is going to be rough, just as the crusaders found out. Likewise it might not be so good to wear it 24/7 in a jungle either. So I've always ruled that any penalty for 'sleeping in armor' would be environmentally dependent. Wandering the countryside in a European-like climate? No real problem. In the desert, you might start to suffer some endurance check penalties after a few days.

 

[Ryujin]

In what sort of armour? Plate armour evolved quite extensively over the time of its use. With early plate, if you fell on your back, then you were done. If you were trying to walk in armour that was meant for mounted combat, which could be far heavier because a horse would bear the weight rather than the wearer, then good luck. By the time that plate evolved into something that was very easy to move in and light weight, it was virtually useless due to the adoption of matchlocks and heavy crossbows.

Not all armours are created equally. A breatplate, scale, splint.... they tended not to be as restrictive. The Conquistadors didn't wear what most people think of as being Medieval plate. It was little more than a breastplate and helm.

 

[Syrsuro]

In what sort of armour? Plate armour evolved quite extensively over the time of its use. With early plate, if you fell on your back, then you were done.

Myth

Carl

 

[Ryujin]

Myth

Carl

Really? Ever tried to roll over from your back onto your belly and push yourself to your knees, then your feet while wearing 60 pounds of steel plate, chain, and leather while someone smacks you over the head with an axe? You sure aren't going to just be bouncing up onto your feet.

 

[Eldorian]

Agreed. The general view that for instance "knights could not stand back up in plate armor" or "had to be winched onto their horse" are in fact silly. I've also seen people demonstrate doing all sorts of things in armor, as you say. So in general there isn't a LOT of problem with just wearing your armor.

However it still isn't a second skin. There are times when people would doff their armor and/or wear lighter equipment like an arming vest etc. I doubt Diaz wore his armor when he was lounging around town or whatever. And it is pretty clear that most soldiers in most places and times, even on campaign, often went unarmored.

Finally there IS an environmental aspect to it. Trudging through The Great Desert in your plate armor is going to be rough, just as the crusaders found out. Likewise it might not be so good to wear it 24/7 in a jungle either. So I've always ruled that any penalty for 'sleeping in armor' would be environmentally dependent. Wandering the countryside in a European-like climate? No real problem. In the desert, you might start to suffer some endurance check penalties after a few days.

Diaz wore his armor more or less nonstop. The "towns" he was sleeping in where full of potentially hostile Indians, and in fact, the Spaniards where often attacked at night while sleeping in a village. He said in his book that the experience left him unable to get a good night's sleep in a bed, so he took to sleeping on the floor. And sure, wearing Plate in a dessert is a bad idea, as the Crusaders discovered. That's why it gives an armor check penalty to endurance. As long as you're not sleeping in the sun, the armor won't make you particularly hot while you sleep. Apparently the most annoying thing about wearing armor nonstop is the fleas.

 

[Eldorian]

Really? Ever tried to roll over from your back onto your belly and push yourself to your knees, then your feet while wearing 60 pounds of steel plate, chain, and leather while someone smacks you over the head with an axe? You sure aren't going to just be bouncing up onto your feet.

I've seen a dude do that in 70 pounds of steel, minus the axe. The axe would make standing up in your underpants difficult, so way to be dishonest.

 

[Ryujin]

I've seen a dude do that in 70 pounds of steel, minus the axe. The axe would make standing up in your underpants difficult, so way to be dishonest.

Dishonest? Hardly. In Medieval combat someone was generally assumed to be taking a whack at you. Modern combat too for that matter, though with more sophisticated weaponry.

The dishonesty is in ignoring the remainder of my comment, or in implying that standing up in a full suit of plate is somehow quick and easy.

 

[ArmoredSaint]

Really? Ever tried to roll over from your back onto your belly and push yourself to your knees, then your feet while wearing 60 pounds of steel plate, chain, and leather while someone smacks you over the head with an axe?

Yup. 60 pounds and then some...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm11yAXeegg&feature=channel_page]YouTube - Armour Aerobics[/ame]

If the armour is made specifically to fit you, you aren't going to be hampered too much by it. Too many people judge what was possible in plate armour by low-quality reproductions.

 

[Ryujin]

What century is that modeled after and what materials?

 

[Eldorian]

Dishonest? Hardly. In Medieval combat someone was generally assumed to be taking a whack at you. Modern combat too for that matter, though with more sophisticated weaponry.

Standing up in armor while a guy tries to kill you is hard.

Standing up naked while a guy tries to kill you is hard.

It's not the armor that makes it hard. If you don't understand how that was dishonest, I can't help you.

The dishonesty is in ignoring the remainder of my comment, or in implying that standing up in a full suit of plate is somehow quick and easy.

What experience do you have to say that it wasn't?

What century is that modeled after and what materials?

You're the expert in period armor, you tell us. I only know what I've read and witnessed, I don't have an intimate understanding of early plate armors.