Time Travel Garm

A note on this post, Scientific literature states ‘Female Breasts’ as a mechanism to distinguish breasts owned by those with Female Sex Hormones, i.e. AFAB and Trans Women. I make no statements to the perceived or chosen gender of those with boobs, and in fact argue that everyone regardless or birth or presentation should protect them. AFAB, AMAB, Cis Trans men and women and those with gynecomastia all benefit from the below advice.

It’s a common thing when talking to reenactors to hear about all the modern conveniences they sneak into their kit. From shin guards hidden in hosen, coffee in a green glazed goblet, to a little pouch of jelly babies: we’ve all done it. The realm of the former I want to discuss in this post, safety gear. And specifically safety gear for boobs.

The Hit-Zone Problem

Practically every re-enactment group I’ve come across in the UK uses the same safety system to assure no one get’s too hurt. This is the ‘T-Shirt and Shorts’ method. This aims to provide a simple rule to protect the most important parts of the body. If you’ve not seen it before here’s an illustration below;

The problem I have with the above is it puts the chesticles smack bang in the middle of the safety zone. If you are unfamiliar with boobs please see the below illustrative chart.

In order to reduce the risk of injury to breasts you may think it’s simple, remove the chest from the target zone!. This unfortunately doesn’t work; There’s a reason all sports train to hit the centre mass, and it’s extraordinarily difficult to hit around the ‘boob zone’ into safer parts of chests.
You could also advise your combatants to look out for boobs on the field, and be gentle with chest hits. The downside with this is threefold; It others people on the field. It’s incredibly difficult to identify boob owning combatants in full gear. And those without boobs are also susceptible to breast-tissue/chest injuries.

Why boobs need protection

Well why does it matter? A banged shin happens here and there and you should just shrug it off! To quote some scientists on the matter:
“Female breasts are susceptible to injury when women participate in contact and combat sports, as well as pseudo-contact sports (in which contact between players is permitted to limited extent, eg, basketball and water polo), due to their anatomical position on the front of the torso and lack of musculoskeletal protection. Indeed, a high prevalence of contact breast injuries have been reported in sports such as Rugby 7s, Rugby League, Australian Football, Basketball, Softball, Volleyball, Water Polo and Soccer. Breast injuries are known to negatively affect sporting performance and contribute to acute (eg, painful, swollen or bruised breast tissue) and long-term health impacts (eg, damage to the ductal system of lactating breasts and breast implant rupture). Discomfort associated with breast injuries may also act as a barrier to participation for girls and women in contact, combat and pseudo-contact sports”

To digest for you; Being hit in the boob leads to short-term and long-term injury and pain. And in a lot of cases leads to people not wanting to participate in the sport which caused it. In a hobby dominated by older cis men, it can be uncomfortable and embarrassing to advocate for your own safety.
People reporting pain coming of the field can be used by some to argue they ‘cant handle’ the combat, and try to push them out of the hobby. Even indirect jokes about such injuries can make them feel discouraged and abandon combat all together.
Outside of pain, constant injury to the breast can cause issues with lactation; And the increase in damage and scar tissue increases the risk of cancer misdiagnoses. Much the same way we understand being repeatedly hit in the crotch can lead to long term effects on fertility and cancer risk. The same should be understood about boobs.

To anyone still not getting the point; imagine you got hit in the nads 9 times out of 10 you fought, and people used that to argue testicles have no place in combat. Or joked about you not being able to handle a little ball tap.

What can be done?

On an individual level

Luckily, there’s already people out there trying to solve the boob protection issue in high contact sports. I’m aware of three main types of protection available, and example of each is below;

My personal preference is protective inserts, as I find these the most comfortable to wear in a long sweaty battle. I know others that wear impact vests, or even stab vests as a way to remove the chance of injury.
These protective measures should be paired with a good fitting sports bra. Avoid any sports bra labelled S-M-L ect and choose one with a correct band and cup size for yourself. Assure you have been properly measured and that it fits correctly to avoid undue strain on the connective tissues and skin. A great resource for this is http://www.abrathatfits.org.

I would also encourage trans and non-conforming individuals to seek out binders specifically designed for sports. When exercising the blood vessels expand and a binder that fits fine at rest will quickly reduce your ability to breathe comfortably and safely in action. Common advice is to size up when wearing a binder for sports or to wear a sports bra and sports compression top on top.
You can also purchase chest protections meant for high contact sports like Rugby or Motocross which have a ‘masculine’ form.

Also, if you have the equipment, wear a cup. It only takes about 50kg of force to delete a testicle and I’m certain most people running at you in full armour are more than that.

On a group level

I encourage re-enactment groups, safety officers and event runners to discuss matters like the one in this post. While we aim to faithfully recreate historical periods there is no reason for someone to suffer in that pursuit.
I would suggest the inclusion of protective equipment when discussing combat safety. This can be done in a broad and inclusive manner, as discussed above even those without boobs benefit from these protections. It’s my opinion that if it exists within the ‘t-shirt and shorts’ advice it should have a protector, boob or balls.

I would also advise tackling those complaining of injury in a compassionate manner. While it may be impossible to prevent the hits to the chest for example, providing someone with the tools to protect what is hit is a good way to keep them around in the hobby. Stamping out bravado and other toxic behaviours is a good way to assure group membership, as they wont all be dropping out or dying on you.

• Wakefield-Scurr J, Saynor ZL, Wilson F Tackling breast issues in contact sports British Journal of Sports Medicine 2023;57:1160-1161.
• Coltman CE, Moore IS, Cottam DS, et al Towards evidence-based breast protective equipment in contact, combat and pseudo-contact sport British Journal of Sports Medicine 2025;59:449-451.
• https://www.boobarmour.com.au/why-boob-armour/
• https://www.abrathatfits.org/calculator.php
• Banner image courtesy of Mark Sutherland, edits by me.