Quote Originally Posted by k_raso View Post
Perhaps the Legionaires didn't had the time to maintain their segmentata on a daily basis. You are comparing normal service conditions with campaign conditions. In campaign one does not control the time, and the soldier may not have the conditions to give the segmentata its 100 hour check, let alone repair it. It was highly probable that in highly stressfull conditions (when the armour was needed the most) the legionary was too busy marching at forced pace, setting up camp, on guard duty, patrolling, pursuing defeated enemies, being pursued in turn, etc. In periods when the armour was most needed such as the climax of a campaign, you most probably didn't had the time to service your segmentata, and just had to trust to Mars that it didn't fall off while putting it during an ambush, or in the middle of a combat.

You can use a hamata for days or weeks without fear of it falling apart, you can march for several days and be in combat conditions for weeks and you can be confident that half your armour won't fall off because some fatigued leather strips cut themselves from over use.

It's not a matter of being diligent or not, it was a matter of battlefield conditions. In garrison duty, with all the logistical equipment requiered to service it, the segmentata rules. In a war of movement, it definitively doesn't.
Ok, this is what I’m talking about. Nothing in this post refers to facts. Everything stated is complete conjecture. Are you going to have me believe that you’ve taken both armors on campaign??!! You’ve ranged, on foot and in armor, the highways and byways of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Britain, and wherever the heck else just to come back here and tell me with complete certainty that the Lorica Segmentata is complete junk? Because that’s the only way you’re going to convince me you know what you’re talking about. How do you know, or I know, how the Romans dealt with broken armor and equipment in the field? Do you have any evidence that the Legionaries didn’t have any time to repair the equipment, or that they didn't have armorers following the Legions? Because what could go wrong with the Segmentata could also go wrong with your Balteus, your caligae, a saddle, your helmet, your gladius, and whatever else you can throw in. And I can go on all day with "what ifs".....but it doesn’t prove anything, its facts we are striving for. The fact is, you, and others, don’t like the Segmentata because you believe its just Hollywood mumbo jumbo. But, according to historians and archaeologists, the armor was actually used, and for a good stretch of time. If you don’t like that, then that’s on you.