Munitions Leg Harness

One of the most important items of armor for the newer fighter is a sturdy set of legs. Unless you want amazing bruising from 1" above the knee to your hip, you will want solid legs. These legs were first patterned and made in 2000CE. Myself and others have made more than 50 pairs, and they seem to hold up very well to the pounding they get. They are strap, rather than hard, articulated, which makes field repair easy, and simplifies construction immensely because one doesn't have to concern one with the esoteric skills of getting hard articulation to work!

I use 16ga cold rolled mild steel for theses legs. The cuisses (the thigh bit) can be made from leather, or even pickle barrel plastic (covered in canvas or leather), and have splints, or wrap plates or any variation. As a standard, I prefer to make the cuisse from 16ga steel, too, as it is very solid and protective.

Print out the pattern images below (they should print at 100% size, if they don't, the measurements are written on them).

You will need to cut out 2 knee cops, 4 demi-greaves, 4 lames, 2 fans and 2 cuisses (add 2 wrap plates if your using them too) using a jigsaw with a metal blade (one designed to cut metal), your favourite set of shears or whatever. You can even do it with a hacksaw or a set of tin snips if you have to.

When you have all the pieces cut out you will need to finish the edges to avoid spurs, burrs and nasty sharp bits. You can use a file, an angle grinder with a sanding disc or a linisher.

Next mark out and drill or punch out all the holes needed. An electric drill with a tungsten carbide bit is the usual way. Be sure to sand off any burrs when you're done. These legs can be assembled using split (bifurcated rivets), so make sure you drill the appropriate sized holes. Bifurcated rivets are easy to fit and remove, which is ideal for quick repair jobs in the field.For connecting the demi-cuisse to the cuisse you can use tinners rivets, or clouts (peined over nails).

For the next step, you'll need a dishing form. You can hollow out the end of a log of wood, or a sturdy sandbag made out of denim and filled with washed sand if you don't have access to a purpose built dish. Dishing (or, more corretly, sinking) is the process of shaping a flat piece of steel into a bowl, or dish-like shape. You can use the ball part of a ballpein hammer that has been ground down to be flatter (though still curved), a leather faced hammer or even a mallet which has its striking surface ground into a curve. Start striking the centre of the metal with your hammer , denting the metal, then gradually continue pounding in an outward spiral. You want the "wings" of the knee cops to be straight, so only dish to just passed the rivet holes for the articulation. As you dish, the "wings" start to come together. When they are parallel your dishe should be deep enough. Try to keep the dishing even, so you don't get a twist. Fortunately, the metal should be able to be further manipulated by bending and twisting it with a strong person's hands.

Next gently dish the lames. They don't need a deep dish, just a bit of a curve in all planes for strength and to match the cop.

The demi-greave and demi-cuisse come next. All you need to do is curve them (no dishing needed) to fit just inside the lames. You can do this easily over a round log (I used a piece of round treated pine that I fitted with an old railway spike so it would sit in the hardy hole of my anvil).

Then cut 3 strips of 2.5mm or thicker leather about 28cm long. Starting with the middle hole, then the two outside holes of the cop, rivet the leather strips in place, being sure to use washers on the inside to protect the leather. Next attach the lames. you want to overlap the cop and the lame (with the lame fitting inside the cop) by about 5mm. Ensure the leather is pulled tight, mark and punch your holes, Fit the rivets, and then repeat the process for the demi-greave (the one that goes over your shin) and the demi-cuisse (that attachs to the cuisse, or thigh armor). The demi-greave and demi-greave fit inside the lames.

That's the knee section done! Using your trusty round log or similar, you now curve the cuisse in a bit of a cone shape to fit your thigh, and so it will seat itself neatly inside the demi-cuisse. Hard rivet it on each edge on in the centre to the demi-cuisse using tinners rivets or clouts.

If you're fitting a wrap plate, drill 5 holes on the outside edge of the cuisse and the inside edge of your wrap plate, and rivet the 2 together with a strip of heavy leater.

Dish your fan slightly for strength. You want the fan to curve away from your leg.

Now, sit the harness on your leg, and work out how far in from the edges you need to put the holes for your straps on the demi-greave, knee cop and cuisse. Remeber that your leg is a different shape when you're kneeling to when you are standing up, and place the holes to account for this so that you will have your strapping firm, but not tight when your leg is at it's largest. Drill the holes. One of the holes on the ouside of your knee cop will be the centre attachment point for your fan. Drill two more holes matching the holes you have drilled in your fan and attach the strap first, then rivet the other two holes to firmly attach the fan.

Finally, drill two holes about 25mm down from the top of the cuisse over the centre of the front of your thigh in line with the front of your hip bones. This is what you use to attach the straps that hold your legs up. You can either loop the strap over your belt, starting on the inside of the leg, and attaching the buckle to the outside of the leg, or make a straight loop, or, as I do, just have a strap that attaches to a buckle on my waist harness.

Congratulations, you now have your very own set of legs! You can tweak the fit by squashing or opening the bits. If a bit digs in cut and file it back until it's comfortable. Some people pad the inside with the ubiquitous blue camp mat foam, but I prefer sheepskin or "movers felt" which are natural fibres, breath nicely, absorb sweat and give a more period appearance. You may need to roll the edges a bit (flare them out) to stop the edges biting you, too.

Polished up the legs look pretty good as they are. If you want to get fancier, try ridging them down the centre, fluting them or attaching brass or other edging. Acid etching, roped edges and other more complex decoration is always an option, and, aside from the time, not difficult to learn to do.

 

View of leg harness with fan and wrap plate and strapping.

Detail of articulation strapping, attaching the demi-cuisee to the cuisse and the fan.