i dont understand...

[TWFanatic]

perhaps they were simply a form of dress armour to make their men feel miserable when parading and marching?
I'm in a marching-band myself and those damn boots and buckles do more hinder than help when playing the trombone... not to mention the heat in summer.
..plus side tho, it makes us look 'military' and cool in the photos =P

These are the ROMANS we are speaking of here. Virtually everything Roman had a practical purpose, including but not limited to military items. Looking "cool" would just be a convenient side effect. Besides, the LS was lighter than the LH and, once again, is apparently preferred by most re-enactors. Ultimately however, I would probably prefer to wear the hamata on parade and the segmentata in battle since the former was more comftorable but the latter was lighter and offered better protection in many ways.