armourers

An armourer is a craftsman who makes, repairs, and maintains armour and protective equipment. Historically, armourers supplied knights and soldiers with plate armour, helmets, gauntlets, and shields. They forged and shaped steel, riveted plates, tempered metal, and ensured proper fit and mobility. Armourers often worked with leatherworkers and other smiths, and they operated in urban workshops or guilds. In the late medieval and early modern periods they produced full suits of armour as well as specialist pieces for jousts, cavalry, and archers; mail was often made by specialist mail smiths or armourers who overlapped with plate armourers.

With the advent of firearms, full armour declined, but armourers adapted to repair and conserve existing armour and to maintain protective gear. In modern times the term encompasses several distinct roles. In military and law enforcement contexts, an armorer is responsible for the procurement, inspection, maintenance, and safe handling of weapons and protective equipment, as well as inventory control and compliance with safety standards.

In film, theatre, and television, the armorer is the armourer on set, handling firearms and protective gear for actors, supervising loading and safety checks, and ensuring period-appropriate equipment. In sports and civilian industries, armourers design, test, and repair body armour and protective gear for performers, athletes, and enthusiasts.

Core skills include metalworking, heat treatment, leatherworking, pattern making, and a practical knowledge of safety standards. Training typically occurs through apprenticeships, guilds, or formal metalworking programs.