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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ArmoredSaint" data-source="post: 3890027" data-attributes="member: 54539">I don't know how much this actually adds to the discussion, but regarding my own endurance in my full plate....The longest stretch I've ever worn it was eight hours, which time included four combat demos at a Renaissance festival.  It's not uncomfortable unless the day is particularly hot.  I can wear it all day long.  As others have said, the weight is well-distributed, and to a certain degree some of it is almost self-supporting (the sabatons contact the ground, the greaves rest on top of the sabatons, and the cuisses are mounted on a pin at the top of the greaves...).  As far as how long a period of time I can keep up strenuous physical activity in it...I don't really know.  I've never timed myself or anything.  I am in pretty good shape, and have owned, worn, and fought in full plate armour for twelve years--I'm probably one of the very few people in the modern world who actually has the Heavy Armour Proficiency feat. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  That said, I'd guess that the very longest I've ever been obliged to engage in anything resembling fighting for my life at a stretch would be about ten minutes, in a large SCA war.  There isn't much that a D&D adventurer might be called on to do that I think full plate armour would prevent outright--except maybe swimming.  That said, I'm not sure that this would be my first choice for the traditional dungeon-crawl.  But my position has nothing to do with encumberance or "armour check penalty," and everything to do with maintenance.  Armour like this requires maintenance.  I don't just mean polishing to keep the rust away, either.  I'm talking about bursting straps and rivets, and breaking arming points, and needing to pound out the occasional dent (which are, admittedly, really only troublesome if they interfere with the joint articulation), etc.  If I were a D&D character about to embark on a dungeon-crawl in full plate, I'd want a small armour maintenance kit with me--say, a small portable anvil (5lbs) and hammer for setting rivets, a pair of tongs/nippers for removing damaged rivets, a couple of home-punches, a supply of spare straps and arming points, and that sort of thing.So yeah, I agree that full plate rightfully should be king of the battlefield, but I'd choose a cuirass, helmet, greaves, and maybe some light plate elements on the arms--essentially what D&D terms "Breastplate" armour for something like crawling around a tomb...</blockquote>

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