Ladies Chest Guards

TRG

Member
Is there anywhere that I can get a ladies chest guard or perhaps maybe get my mitts on a DIY pattern for myself?

The problem is that firstly I live in Northern Ireland so there isn't many archery shops that I can walk into and try one on myself.... secondly, there seems to be a lot of chest guards for the more slimmer ladies (those Koreans are quite tiny IMO) and finally thirdly as a lady, I'm a bit..umm..curvy and my chest guard at this current minute is a little on the big side as there is too much of a gap of material at the shoulder (at my bow arm to be precise) and I have lost a little bit of weight over the year since I got my chest guard.

I did however remember once watching the archery team GB, and I noticed that Naomi Folkard wore what it looked like a custom made chest guard, but to be honest...I haven't a clue how to go about making a chest guard like hers. I mean I'm not even sure if that looks like a old t-shirt she has used to custom her chest guard.

I thought that something like the one in the picture below would be good for both indoor and outdoor.



Could anyone help me please?
 

BadFrog

Member
Just got one of these for the boss. LADIES ULTIMATE BLACK/BLACK HYBRID CHESTGUARD ARROWHEAD U.K. | eBay
 

Shirt

Well-known member
I did however remember once watching the archery team GB, and I noticed that Naomi Folkard wore what it looked like a custom made chest guard, but to be honest...I haven't a clue how to go about making a chest guard like hers.
Lucy Holderness makes something similar along those lines (don't know if Naomi's is one of hers) - I'll drop you a PM with some contact details.
 

Faethe

New member
Sorry to revive this old thread, but I have a very similar question.

Does anyone know of a dressmaking pattern for a chestguard? Or could give advice about fabric choices?

I was looking at the Easton chestguard but I have no idea what size I'd need, as a lady 34E. I figured it'd probably be easier overall to just make one, but as I don't have one to use as a pattern I'm getting a bit stuck. My nearest archery shop is about an hour away, and I don't want to order things online without trying them on first.

Any help gratefully appreciated, thanks.
 

urbin

Member
Sorry to revive this old thread, but I have a very similar question.

Does anyone know of a dressmaking pattern for a chestguard? Or could give advice about fabric choices?

I was looking at the Easton chestguard but I have no idea what size I'd need, as a lady 34E. I figured it'd probably be easier overall to just make one, but as I don't have one to use as a pattern I'm getting a bit stuck. My nearest archery shop is about an hour away, and I don't want to order things online without trying them on first.

Any help gratefully appreciated, thanks.
The size really relates to the length of the strap that goes around the back rather than the area of the guard. The easton one is pretty nice and has a small amount of adjustment at the shoulder, as well as elastic under the arm and would probably fit OK to protect the part where the string would actually touch (judging from your size). Really though it's the overall shape of you that matters most - I found that many of the chest guards seemed to want to fall off my shoulder.

It's probably be pretty easy to make one by tracing around an existing chest guard and then making a demo one out of cheap material to see how it fits. If you want me to trace around mine, drop me a PM and I'll figure out a way to take a picture of it on a grid of some kind.

Oh, and fabric: the top layer needs to be something that doesn't snag or pill. Some are made from synthetic/plastic fine netting type material, others leather. The underside can be padded for comfort.
 

ThomVis

Active member
The size really relates to the length of the strap that goes around the back rather than the area of the guard.
Not quite. Ever seen a large bloke trying on a small chestguard? Looks like a postage stamp on a truck, if he can get his arm through the hole.
 

urbin

Member
Not quite. Ever seen a large bloke trying on a small chestguard? Looks like a postage stamp on a truck, if he can get his arm through the hole.
My mistake then :)

The easton L and XL seemed to be close enough in size to give me the impression they were identical except for the strap. Not the case for other models and sizes I take it.

(no I have never seen a large bloke try on a small chestguard, but I've seen plenty of kids who wear ones large enough to protect both sides of their chest!)
 
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