Middle Earth Ranger Forum

So… bracers. This has probably been discussed around here before, but I thought I’d start a dedicated thread because it’s been on my mind lately. What should they be made of? How should they fasten? What design makes the most sense? Ought we to even wear them at all?

Obviously metal vambraces existed historically as part of a suit of plate armor, and we know leather bracers existed in some form for archery during the Middle-Ages and Renaissance, but they seem often to have looked rather different than what we think of today. Also, they were presumably only worn while shooting, but I don’t know if they might also have been worn while hunting and/or while on the battlefield, or only for practice (is there evidence for this one way or the other? I have no idea).

The ubiquitous leather cuffs we see in a lot of fantasy media are almost certainly a Hollywoodism as far as I can tell, although Western ropers and cowboys definitely have worn and do still wear what they call “cowboy cuffs,” which are functionally the exact same thing - heavy leather cuffs fastened around the wrist, usually with laces or buckles. I’m not sure of the practical purpose, but I assume it has something to do with preventing ropes and reigns from chafing or burning the wrist. Even so, there seems to be no evidence that leather armor of this kind was ever worn during the Middle Ages, or any other time period that would have been analogous to Tolkien’s Middle-earth, at least not to my knowledge.

Which brings me to Middle-earth specifically. Do we know of any references to cuffs, vambraces, or bracers in Tolkein’s works? I can’t seem to recall any, and I would be very surprised to hear otherwise considering how little the Professor actually talked about the specifics of clothing and armor in his writing. With that in mind though, while it would certainly be nice to find a primary-source example of them somewhere in the Legendarium, the absence of a direct reference to them does not necessarily preclude their existence.

SO. Where does this leave us with regard to our own kits?

Personally, and totally subjectively, I happen to *like* leather bracers (with caveats). I think they look good when made and worn well, and I think they *can* have practical applications (although how many and how practical is certainly debatable). I have been known to wear a single one on my left wrist with the smooth side in as an archery bracer while I am out in my kit, even when not actively shooting, because to my mind it fits with the “battle-ready” aesthetic I have in mind for a wandering ranger. But I also happen to like the symmetry of wearing one on each wrist, and I think it gives my kit a certain “complete” look that a single bracer does not.

But on the other side of that, I haven’t yet been totally satisfied with any of the designs I have devised, nor with the fasteners I have used. Laces often feel somewhat “ren-faire” to me, and buckles often feel a little over-engineered and bling-y. Both are inconvenient. Ideally, I would also like something that fastens in the same way on both wrists in order to be uniform, but that doesn’t leave the fasteners in an awkward spot that will get caught on a bowstring.

So this is my conundrum: bracers - yea or nay? Should I carry only one for use when shooting? Should I practice shooting extensively without one to train myself to simply avoid wrist-slap? Should I say “to hell with it,” and just wear two because I like them? And if so, what design would make the most sense, in-universe?

Any and all thoughts on the matter are welcome!

I don't plan on using them with my kit but here is some input which may help?

The only armguard reference I can think of is the Prince Imrahil who holds his vambrace before the stricken Eowyns mouth to ascertain that she lives.

From a viking age context there are no known forearm protectors and only one from the earlier migration period. It's a kind of splint armour from the Valsgarde 8 burial attached to some sort of mail glove possibly a mitten.
Interestingly the grave only contained one for the weapon arm, the other presumably was safe behind the shield.

This made me think of a recent post I saw on a HEMA page discussing where and how often people were hit. Obviously it's a fencing survey but the forearms are by far the greatest target. So from that my thoughts would be that at least the lead arm would benefit from protection from melee. Add in the off hand for protection from bow strings then they do start to make sense.

As to design, I think that something beyond simple leather would be ideal. Unless you're using quite heavy gauge leather or cuir bouilli it's going to provide minimal negation for cuts and even less for bludgeoning damage. I would think that a design which incorporated splints would be the way to achieve this.

Vambraces definitely have a "ren faire" reputation, most likely because they're such a simple design that they're the most cheap and common piece of "armor" a person can get.

That being said I use a pair of hardened leather vambraces for hema, and they've saved me from gnarly injuries many times. Historical or not, they definitely work.

I've recently switched from wearing heavier (10oz veg tan) vambraces with my normal ranger kit to wearing a more lightweight option (5oz oiltan) which are a lot more comfortable, but still provide a degree of forearm protection from the environment etc.

Buckles vs laces is tough, because buckles are way more convenient, but don't apply pressure as evenly, so they tend to hang up on specific areas of the arm, or slide down and jam up the wrist. Laces apply pressure more evenly, so they definitely stay put better, but are a pain to lace up on your own. Though Iodo did a video on self lacing vambraces that was super helpful and made me feel like an idiot for doing it any other way.

Paradoxically, I have buckles on my hema vambraces which I need to stay in one spot, and for my lightweight vambraces I use laces and a hook and eye system which keeps them in one spot despite it not being as big of a deal if they shift. I should probably change that.

Side note, there was a discussion recently about armored ranger loadouts, which my old vambraces have been moved to, along with my helm and hauberk.

Manveruon wrote: ↑Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:20 pm So… bracers. This has probably been discussed around here before, but I thought I’d start a dedicated thread because it’s been on my mind lately. What should they be made of? How should they fasten? What design makes the most sense? Ought we to even wear them at all?...

...Personally, and totally subjectively, I happen to *like* leather bracers (with caveats). I think they look good when made and worn well, and I think they *can* have practical applications (although how many and how practical is certainly debatable). I have been known to wear a single one on my left wrist with the smooth side in as an archery bracer while I am out in my kit, even when not actively shooting, because to my mind it fits with the “battle-ready” aesthetic I have in mind for a wandering ranger. But I also happen to like the symmetry of wearing one on each wrist, and I think it gives my kit a certain “complete” look that a single bracer does not...

...So this is my conundrum: bracers - yea or nay? Should I carry only one for use when shooting? Should I practice shooting extensively without one to train myself to simply avoid wrist-slap? Should I say “to hell with it,” and just wear two because I like them? And if so, what design would make the most sense, in-universe?

yea or nay? I think that just depends on personal preference, for archery I think at least one is a must, two makes a kit look more symmetrical so I do agree with you on that. My personal opinion: They may just be a hollywoodism but I like to wear my thin leather set in cold/wet weather over the sleeves of a wool tunic because they do a surprising amount to keep me warm and dry, especially when wearing my short sleeved wool coat because there's not a lot of exposed tunic between the coat and the start of the bracer. My thick hardened leather set has been used in quarterstaff sparing, I cant guess how well they would turn a blade (and I'm not about to cut them up to see) but they offer reasonably good protection from impact

theowl wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:32 am ...Though Iodo did a video on self lacing vambraces that was super helpful and made me feel like an idiot for doing it any other way

Thx for the mention did you see Kramer's video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZbUHaQF-40&t=60s ) he has an interesting method that seems to work better than mine

Iodo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:56 am
Thx for the mention did you see Kramer's video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZbUHaQF-40&t=60s ) he has an interesting method that seems to work better than mine

Yeah I tried his as well and it still left a bit more slack than I like, but it's not bad.

Personally, I definitely associate them with the "ren-faire" type or the frankly terrible tv show Vikings and its ilk. For my own kit, I am not planning on using much more than a single lightweight leather bracer when actively shooting. When simply wandering the forest my arms will be sans leather. As far as design goes, I'm partial to the version Greg posted not too long ago. I can also see how the symmetry of a pair would be appealing and the ren-faireness of it all would be reduced, I suppose, with less ornate or intricate tooling. I'd never judge another for choosing that route of course but it isn't for me.

Sorry to bring up am old topic, but I'm slowly reading through all the stuff here.

I just wanted to add, on the subject of bracers, Chaucers, knights tales yeoman, is described at wearing a green coat, with a hood, and a bracers on his arm.

He carried a sword, dagger and bow, and was called a forester.

I know that's not tolkien, but this conversation seemed to have a "our world" aspect to it.

Mostly I wanted to show it's not just ren-fair costume stuff.

Ben Sinister wrote: ↑Thu Sep 01, 2022 2:42 pm Sorry to bring up am old topic, but I'm slowly reading through all the stuff here.

I just wanted to add, on the subject of bracers, Chaucers, knights tales yeoman, is described at wearing a green coat, with a hood, and a bracers on his arm.

He carried a sword, dagger and bow, and was called a forester.

I know that's not tolkien, but this conversation seemed to have a "our world" aspect to it.

Mostly I wanted to show it's not just ren-fair costume stuff.

I do love the description of the Knight's Yeoman - lots of fun to dig into for historical kits

While "Upon his arm he baar a gay bracér", I don't know that the Yeoman is wearing quite the same thing as the standard fantasy/Ren faire bracers that we see so often in fantasy media. When I think bracers in that context, I think a pair of heavy (or in some cases, not so heavy) leather cuffs around the lower arms. It seems like the Yeoman was only wearing one bracer, and given all the archery kit described, it seems likely that his "gay bracér" was something more like what is seen on the archers in the Luttrell Psalter (British Library, Add MS. 42130, 1325-1340, fol 147v).

There are certainly worse places to look for Ranger inspiration than that particular passage, though!

I personally like the way bracers look, and I have found mine useful. There is a thick path of wood behind my grandparents' house that I often like to go exploring in, and have done since childhood. I discovered a lovely little clearing with a brook just behind a particularly thick patch of brambles and briars, and in my teen years, my bracers saved me many a torn sleeve on my nice church clothes. Young fool of a Took didn't want to bother with changing before he went tramping through the woods.

But, that's just my experience.

Thalion of Bree wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 8:53 pm There is a thick path of wood behind my grandparents' house that I often like to go exploring in, and have done since childhood. I discovered a lovely little clearing with a brook just behind a particularly thick patch of brambles and briars, and in my teen years, my bracers saved me many a torn sleeve on my nice church clothes. Young fool of a Took didn't want to bother with changing before he went tramping through the woods.

This reminds me so much of my own teenage days, my grandparents' house also has woods behind it, and I still use it for the odd bit of bush craft practice

Be assured that it caused my parents much consternation that I was going out there in my nice stuff. Not because I might be attacked or anything—just because I always came home with dirty boots. On the plus side, cleaning and polishing my own shoes has since become muscle memory.

I like my bracers. I try to wear mine whenever I go out. Its important to get them properly sized or they'll fit bad. I would say go for shorter ones to be sure they fit well. Mine are lighter than I would like, but some forearm defense is better than none at all. They're about 8-10 oz bison. I still have plenty of wrist movement for saber drills. And I just think they look cool.

Rise from the grave, old thread.
I found a good use for bracers. I found I was using mine to push away pokey bushes and shrubs with my forearms. I'll keep wearing mine. Lots of things like that in Southern Ithillien and the Mountains of Shadow.