News - From Simple Beginning to Valiant Ends: The Errant Squire Collection

The Errant Squire is a good man – even though he’s a bit of a day dreamer he is still studious, hard-working and attentive to his knight. He loves going for walks in the countryside, watching the horizon and imagining the adventures he will one day have and the great man he’ll become. He’s the kind of squire that a knight loves to have because he’s trustworthy, compassionate and always reliable. The Errant Squire aspires to greatness, but knows his place and is happy to spend his youth working hard to achieve his dreams.

We love creating beautiful, show-stopping armor. Nothing makes us happier than creating a new piece with plentiful etching, ornate brass and new decorative features, because people love it! That being said, we also think it’s important to make well designed, carefully made armor with a more basic look – after all, not everyone is ready to be a fancy knight from the very beginning! The Errant Squire Collection was born when we decided to take one of our most popular sets of etched armor – The Paladin Collection – and improve upon the design as well as remove the etching for a more streamlined, practical look. Take a look at the comparison of the two sets below (Errant Squire on the left, and Paladin on the right):

We crafted this set with the same excellent attention to detail that we would put into any of our more luxurious sets of armor. This means paying close attention to the small things, such as robust leather straps, solid rivets and beautiful hand-cast brass buckles. While it may not have any fancy etching, it is still constructed from rust resistant stainless steel, meaning it will take very little maintenance to keep everything nice and shiny.

While a good squire should always take care of their armor and keep it in top shape, we also understand that said squire has a life to live and can sometimes be in a bit of a rush after sword practice. The main pauldrons that accompany Errant Squire are the most historically based piece from this collection, and inspired the whole set. We designed them based on “tournament pauldrons” from Milan in 1460. The original pair were made by Master Biagio for Giovanni Spanzotti, and were ornately etched and engraved. The main features in our rendition include excellent articulation as well as a fixed besegew, which is structurally a solid part of the pauldron. We’ve also included sliding rivets on the pauldrons, making them incredibly flexible and perfect for when you’re in a high guard. If they aren’t quite what you’re looking for, we’ve also designed a second set of pauldrons with a bit less historical relevancy, which feature ornate roped edges, no besegew and the same sliding rivets for flexibility.

We are particularly proud of the articulated design of the gorget: it allows you to look down without hitting your chin or chipping a tooth. It sits comfortably against your chest and gives a decent level of neck protection. The gorget is also easy to put on and take off by yourself, and is secured with a simple push pin and a hinge. It also includes holes on the side for you to point your pauldrons onto, adding another level of convenience! It’s sleek and aesthetically tidy, and is a great addition to any kit.

Both arm harnesses in the Errant Squire collection are innovative and quite astounding. The first one makes use of sliding rivets near the elbow, allowing for a huge amount of wrist movement, perfect for wrap shots. This means that our fully enclosed bracers don’t hinder your flexibility as much, allowing for flawless fighting. Our second arm harness has a similar design, and includes a fully enclosed bracer and rerebrace. We’ve maintained the great flexibility by adding additional articulated plates on the inside of the arm, protecting a large portion of your inner arm without having a huge effect on your movement. We’re incredibly proud of both harnesses and can’t wait to see them on the war field.

The Errant Squire legs are basic and functional. We have improved upon previous renditions to make them easier to wear and provide more protection. They cover 3/4 of your leg, leaving room for an additional greave if you feel the need for lower leg protection. The hinges (and all hinges on this set, for that matter) have been re-designed to be much more robust and less likely to break, meaning these legs are more reliable than ever before!

In making the Errant Squire collection we learned a lot about our previous methods of construction and how to improve upon our current work, and intend to apply our findings to future sets we create as well. Not only did we create something highly reliable, reasonably priced and aesthetically appealing, but we also updated one of our most loved collections so that customers can continue to enjoy one of our greatest designs! We imagine this collection will accompany fighters from their humble squire days, through all of their grand adventures and into their days as a paladin.