Mounting

I'm making a simple RPG and I have a question. I would like the player to be able to pick up some armor and put it on (mount it) but I'm wondering how could I get the armor to do the same thing as the player does. Like if the player is attacking something using a attack animation with a sword, then the armor would do the same thing like move with the player animation. I had a idea to make the player model with the armor on and animation it, then delete the player model but keep the armor that should be still animated. Then in game you could pick the armor up and mount it but how could you link the animations with the player. I hope this explains my question.

Thanks
Stephen