Is it plausible to depict the Segmentata using armor upgrades?

[ljperreira]

We are talking about sudden catastrophic failure of metal fittings, it's like the muzzle falling off your rifle without warning. It's the equivelant of your kevlar vest ripping when you go to put it on, or the buckles cracking on your belt kit.

Usually these problems would occur due to normal wear and tear....but maintenance includes checking your gear for potential failures. In reference to your "muzzle" failure analogy, you wouldn’t be surprised by something like this if you had inspected your rifle thoroughly, I’m sure the compensator would have been loose (that would be funny though, you would be made the butt of many jokes by the guys for a while). On my Loricas I always check to see if any of the fittings are cracked, if the rivets are loose, if the metal looks stressed, etc. I would sure look foolish when I’m demonstrating Roman armor if the shoulder guards let go and the girdle plats end up around my ankles . But once again, I feel the need to remind you that the Hamata also had copper alloy fittings, such as hinges and what not, that could fail on you in the same way....

It is easier, the same way scale is easier to make than plate. The smaller the piece the better the quality control. Also, with mail you are looking for greater flexibility, rather than just hardness.

I only say its harder because actually punching the rings out is a very long, tiring, drawn out process. I mean, making chain mail, without riveting and punching out 10,000 rings, is a pain in the ace as it is. And yes, the chain mail as a whole is supposed to be flexible, but the individual rings are not supposed to be flexible, they have to be strong so they don’t bend and break (I’ve seen this happen), and that’s what I’m talking about.

More to the point, quality control accross the Empire does not seem to have been consistant, the best LS does not necessarily reflect the norm. Overall, mail seems to have been easier to get right.

Obviously, but whose to say that the examples found are examples of the best craftsmanship? The Segmentata fragments found in the Corbridge hoard have many flaws, and repairs....which may have been the reason why they were buried (disposed of). Maybe "the best" hasn’t been found yet.

Anyhow, as I’ve said before, I also prefer chain mail. I don’t wear chain mail because even if I don’t punch out rings, and I don’t rivet the rest (making the process of Hamata construction much, much, easier), it would still be a whole lot quicker, and easier, and less stressful, to make the Lorica Segmentata, and I have personal experience in making both......and once again, the Segmentata was used for approx 250 years!!! The Romans must have believed the armor was worth keeping around.

Everything I’ve presented on this thread about the Lorica Segmentata has been backed up by well respected sources, and by personal experience making and using both types of armor. If you think that the fittings will randomly explode on you, that the plates would melt to liquid in the hot sun, that your random conjectures on the instability of the Segmentata proves that the archaeological findings are just the pipe dream of some idiotic scientist, so be it. I don’t care anymore. We are just going to go in the same circle as we have been going. My points of interest were: The Segmentata was used as early as 10 bc....the Segmentata was used for 250 years....the Segmentata was actually capable of protecting its wearer. Im not trying to make you like the armor...that I couldnt care less about.