“Hound Of War” series of armor, weapon and accessories

Beware of the Hound! A beast so fearsome when built up in an army of its kind that noble knights dare not maintain resistance!... Alright, this guy doesn't seem to be the most frightening of medieval soldiers, but he got a darn good lookin' armour harness. Creation of the “Hound Of War” collection marked the ArmStreet’s choice in favor of history, caused by our all-consuming love for the distant centuries, and became the first shot in the line dedicated to the Hundred Years War epoch. Most of the items have the chronological validity of this specific historical period, created in accordance with the historical prototypes.

The series of military conflicts between Britain, France and their allies lasting from about the mid-14th to mid-15th century brought significant changes in the formation of armies, military training for combat and weapons. As part of both armies were soldiers who had spent all their life in battle, warfare has become a profession: this was the beginning of foot soldier as we know him today, as he received pre-agreed fee for taking part in the military campaign, and guess he knew the recipe of the convenient and still affordable armor. As swords became larger and more geared towards thrusting, armour moved from mail to plates, starting a trend of transitional medieval armour during the Hundred Years War.

Brigantine & splint limbs combo came into service as an alternative to mail and plate armor. The first one alas defended of cutting attacks only, yet not every armorer could forge plate harness then. To the contrary anyone could stagger leather bracers and greaves with metal strips (splints) along the bones, thereby making splinted extremities armor. It was usually supplemented with all-metal couters, poleyns, and gauntlets of plate design.

The head was protected by a cabasset and a bevor.

So the past months our strategy has been revolutionary - creating the foremost medieval infantry kit of the period, making maximum advantage of our experience. We‘ve mastered a number of new materials and experienced in new technologies while working on our Hound. It will just suffice to mention a veg tanned leather for the greaves: when soaked in a special composition, it becomes soft and pliable, allowing to give it the most complex shapes and curves, and then hardens. Perfect for anatomical parts of the armor!

Designing the inner gloves, perhaps the most long-awaited item of all, we have acquired a special gloving leather, elastic and velvety on the inside. In an effort to make them snug fit to strengthen the grip, we avoided cumbersome bulk liners and took to a modern material - foam insulating pads. Sure they were not used by the ancestors, though they are second to none in impact absorbing and hidden under their leather outer shell.

The need for machining a wood and a plywood emerged while making the decorative dagger, falchion and accompanying sheath, and we had to tinker, but the result exceeded all the expectations. Let a fantastic amount of hard-cast brass rivets and buckles for quick and easy mount to be the final chord of this steel symphony, we literally lost count of them!

Proving ourselves as perfectionists, we’ve inserted a bunch of minor but innovative improvements, such as spring pins on the sliding bevor plates, 50 different shapes of hand-carved metal scales for the brigandine and hinged thumb of the mitten gauntlets. They may appear imperceptible at the first acquaintance, but make armour experience much more pleasant.

Finally, we clearly honed the ability to stretch form the armor. Hey, skeptics! now we forge, peen, and ridge metal like never before. The ribs of the shell-shaped pauldrons, curved roundels of the arms and legs, as well as the conical elbows and swordbreakers from the “Bird of Prey” addition will convince you of that.

The leather was treated in a variety of ways too: soaking, forming and slip-lasting, pulling on the metal, hand painting and embossing, which already became our second unique perk after etching. Now getting ready for the custom embossing ;)

Bonus for those who doesn't neglect the under armour legs padding - the chausses can now be tied directly to the gambeson with special grommets provided.

Our goal is to bring consummate craftsmanship to all our products and we've enjoyed testing out various pieces of the Hound to see how they work in practice, counterbalancing with the needs for protection and flexibility. This battle-ready suit is great for buhurts, mock battles, LARP, SCA, HMBIA, Battle of the Nations and other martial arts. Rely on those who knows the lore of smithing and fit-out you for years!