Review - Late 14th Century Gambeson

The product in review is a Late 14th Century Gambeson from the company Lord of Battles purchased from the site Kult of Athena.

The Gambeson is a medieval equivalent to a jacket which served as regular piece of clothing and as a piece of undergarment in preparation for wearing a full harness or suit of armor.  In the practice of HEMA, the gambeson is used for protection as a form of padded armor in bouting or free fencing with weapons such as the longsword, sword and buckler etc.  The gambeson is also used in the study of armored combat as an undergarment which is worn before donning the armor (I will explain this is future blog posts).

In searching for a gambeson which is affordable within my budget as there are many sites in which a gambeson can be priced from $300 to $500.  In my case, I  searched through the site Kult of Athena. I looked into the Late 14th Century Gambeson as seen here.  I measured my chest and arm length to get an approximate number when deciding the size.  I fit into a medium and ordered it afterwards.

After I had ordered and it arrived, I decided to wear it to get the feel of it.  Visually,the gambeson is simple yet elegant in overall design.  When donning it, the gambeson did fit me and the arm length was perfect.  At first it felt stiff, but after moving around in it it then felt less stiff as it is padded.  After doing a couple of half and full cuts with the longsword, the movements felt natural.   A note of concern for me as the buttons in which the threading seemed too thin and appears to be at risk for breaking from constant wear and tear.

Then i decided to test it on how it performs in free fencing.  After a couple of bouts, the gambeson held up well. However in one bout, the right sleeve in the elbow area ripped at the seam during a close encounter.  This raised a concern for me for the sewing of the gambeson.  I took it to a tailor to get the rip repaired and to my satisfaction it held up well after a few swings.

Overall, this is a good gambeson to start off with.  I would deem it best suited for drills and controlled free fencing.  However I would discourage using it in tournaments, free fencing for a long period of time or as armor undergarment due to its susceptibility to tear.

This is an item in which to start with for the moment and in time purchase the upgrade (see my post HEMA ona Budget).

Overall, the Late 14th Century Gambeson from Kult of Athena is a good starter to practice and train in.  If desiring for usage in free fencing and armor wearing, please search for other alternatives.