News - The Wayward Knight – our first blackened armour

The Wayward Knight is definitely a man with an unusual past and with no clear vision of his future. He knows his strong points and weak spots and is incredibly good at taking advantage of this knowledge. We have no idea which reasons and accidents brought him to this isolated while boundless path but his assertiveness and inner freedom command unrivaled confidence.

First of all, let's devote attention to the striking appearance of the Wayward Knight – he is happy to showcase the new way to treat a mild steel our talented blacksmiths worked on for several months before they came up to this marvellous result. Deep black tone, uneven surface, contrasting brass decorations – all the nuances of the armour presence weaves into one seamless character that overawes anyone who sees it in person.

The inspiration for this functional set of armour and remarkable accessories came from the XIV-XV centuries. The kit includes leg harness, anatomically shaped arm harness, pauldrons, gauntlets, an improved Visby-style coat of plates and can be completed with one of two matching helmets. Finished with solid rivets, quality leather and cast brass buckles, this armor has fine touches despite looking weathered and battle-worn. Contrasting brass bordering on the armour, twisted brass wires at the weapon and bright colours of the enamel on accessories are the final touches to your perfect appearance.

The klappvisor bascinet was a signature helmet for the Central Europe of the late XIV - early XV century. It has an easily removable visor and provides an incredibly high level of protection. The sugarloaf helmet is considered to be a transition between the great helm and the XIV century bascinet. It's a tough choice as both helmets look gorgeous and it's up to you which one you'd prefer to complement your harness with.

The original “Visby” coat-of-plates is a historical pattern, found in a mass peasant grave dated around 1361 and apparently designed even earlier. We've upgraded the initial pattern with the additional upper-back protection so that both beginners and experienced fighters can enjoy this extremely flexible and beautiful body armour.

While the blackened pauldrons are not based on any specific examples, they are historically inspired and fit nicely to the late XIV century Central European armour. The rondels are attached flexibly to the main part with the help of leather straps while the pauldron itself is laced to the gambeson or to the body armour. Minimalistic while highly maneuvrable, this decent and functional element of armour is obviously a must-have.

The matching arms armour design has proven to be amazingly comfortable in combats back in the XIV century: the combination of incredible flexibility and reliable protection level makes them one of the best choices to secure your arms from blows in any kind of armour related activities. Massive leaf covers the bend of the elbow and articulated segment connect the elbow cop to the full-round cannons. And of course, the leather tab with holes for laces at the top of the biceps part to fix the whole construction to your underarmour and avoid slipping down while in action.

Signature articulated hourglass finger gauntlets are ArmStreet's point of pride for many years already. We usually continue the redesign process for every piece of the armour and improve it until it is absolutely perfect, so it's worth mentioning we're kinda satisfied with what we came up to in this particular model of palm and wrist protection. But the endless range of decorations, finishes and technologies to acquire gives us a prod and never lets us lie on oars.

Gainly and flexible transitional leg harness consists of cuisses with articulated knee cop and greaves. They cover the front side of your legs with ergonomically shaped steel and a bend of the knee with the wide leaf while not being bulky and overabundant at the rear part – indispensable combination for those who want to move fast and reach the foremost edge however keeping in mind the protection of your lower limbs is not the thing to neglect in the battle.

Components of the legs armour can be bought separately. Cuisses have a leather tab for lacing them to the arming point and three reliable leather straps with nice brass cast buckles to secure they stay right where you want them to be. Greaves combine steel front part with comfortable while still protective leather rear part – two pieces of thick and durable natural leather are riveted to the nicely dished and therefore comfortable to wear metal part. Elongated sides of the greaves cover the vulnerable ankle bones.

Ok, the battle is won, so where do you put the loot you've acquired? And where to store your ID or driving license to get some booze to celebrate this glorious victory? We have answers for both! Not sure that the bag will fit all the gold you want to carry away as a winner (but you've got those squires for this heavy-duty task, right?), but it definitely accommodates all the necessities you want to carry on to smarten yourself up for the ceremony. An embossed leather belt has a secret pocket in the etched brass buckle to keep your credit cards and ID nigh at hand but in safety. Bright colour enamel finishing touches make the etched brass boar ornament even more striking!

Want to add even more sparkles to the already show-stopping appearance of the Wayward Knight? You are very welcome – we've designed a set of decorative weapons and scabbards to go along with the character and command respect. The first mace in ArmStreet's armoury, dagger with featly decorated handle, matching scabbard with brass laser-cut accents and a belt loop with embossed boar pattern and smart fastening system – you have quite a variety to choose from!

The most noticeable aspect of this armor is the colour. All the metal items in "The Wayward Knight" collection are crafted from mild steel and chemically blackened by a new process we have been experimenting with in our workshop for quite a period of time. It gives the steel a deep, rich tone, and tones down the usually bright brass to create an eye-catching contrast. The items from the series can also be ordered in our regular metal options, such as mild or stainless steel with satin or mirror polishing – the look will be less striking, but it will be much easier to take care of. However, we encourage you to acquire a squire or two and delegate all the maintenance routine while enjoying your jaw-dropping appearance to the utmost.