5 ms·

If I'm not mistaken plate armour wasn't all that great against blunt weapons though, since it probably does not distribute the impact very well. Whereas I'd sus

If I'm not mistaken plate armour wasn't all that great against blunt weapons though, since it probably does not distribute the impact very well. Whereas I'd suspect this kevlar armour to basically swallow those punches over a larger area, no?

krautsourced 10y ago
Really nice article here, btw: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm
vlehto 10y ago
No personal armor (so far) is good against blunt trauma. The reason for that is conservation of momentum. Blunt weapons often rely on large amount of momentum. Only thing you can do is to make the armor bouncy. So you can try to turn it into elastic collision. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_collision But then again they often added small spikes and rough surfaces to the tips of such weapons, to turn it into inelastic collision. http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/images/Product/large/AH-4130.png http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/images/Product/large/AH-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inelastic_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inelastic_collision The bad shit for the weapon is that it's very difficult to change the direction of war-hammer mid course. So it's easier to block. Kevlar makes armor of similar effectiveness lighter. But there is nothing fundamentally better than old plate armors. It's still just distributing force to larger area. With penetrating weapons this is potentially very effective, as there is relatively little momentum and energy. The idea is to have very high local pressure at the tip of the weapon and this normally cuts deep into flesh.
- njharman 10y ago
  historic plate, chain and other armors (including helmets) had significant padding, layers of it, underneath. This both stops arrows, spikes from reaching the skin and cushions spreads impact out. Impact weapons were rare when hvy armors were in use. OTOH, heavy chopping polearms/swords (to get through joints in armor), and anything to knock plate wearer on ground (to then poke them in between armored bits) were developed and become more popular as heavier armors came about.
  - MagnumOpus 10y ago
    > Impact weapons were rare when hvy armors were in use No they weren't. Cheap and cheerful mauls and war hammers were very popular on mediaeval battlefields - the archers at Agincourt used them as secondary weapons against knights for instance. And of course it is easy to turn a two-handed sword into an impact weapon as well - turn it around and use a pommel strike.
- try_sincerely 10y ago
  So morning star would be the weapon of choice there I suppose. Sword may win "by points" but with morning star you'd have a solid chance of actually neutralizing opponent.
  - vlehto 10y ago
    Flanged mace should be pretty decent too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(weapon)#European_Middle_Ages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(weapon)#European_Middle_...
  - NoGravitas 10y ago
    Historically, the weapon of choice for defeating plate armour was the pollaxe. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollaxe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollaxe - Fiore's azza: http://scholasaintgeorge.org/training_docs/Basic%20Poleaxe%20in%20Fiore%202010.pdf http://scholasaintgeorge.org/training_docs/Basic%20Poleaxe%2...

krautsourced 10y ago

Really nice article here, btw: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm

vlehto 10y ago

No personal armor (so far) is good against blunt trauma. The reason for that is conservation of momentum. Blunt weapons often rely on large amount of momentum. Only thing you can do is to make the armor bouncy. So you can try to turn it into elastic collision. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_collision But then again they often added small spikes and rough surfaces to the tips of such weapons, to turn it into inelastic collision. http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/images/Product/large/AH-4130.png http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/images/Product/large/AH-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inelastic_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inelastic_collision The bad shit for the weapon is that it's very difficult to change the direction of war-hammer mid course. So it's easier to block. Kevlar makes armor of similar effectiveness lighter. But there is nothing fundamentally better than old plate armors. It's still just distributing force to larger area. With penetrating weapons this is potentially very effective, as there is relatively little momentum and energy. The idea is to have very high local pressure at the tip of the weapon and this normally cuts deep into flesh.

njharman 10y ago
historic plate, chain and other armors (including helmets) had significant padding, layers of it, underneath. This both stops arrows, spikes from reaching the skin and cushions spreads impact out. Impact weapons were rare when hvy armors were in use. OTOH, heavy chopping polearms/swords (to get through joints in armor), and anything to knock plate wearer on ground (to then poke them in between armored bits) were developed and become more popular as heavier armors came about.
- MagnumOpus 10y ago
  > Impact weapons were rare when hvy armors were in use No they weren't. Cheap and cheerful mauls and war hammers were very popular on mediaeval battlefields - the archers at Agincourt used them as secondary weapons against knights for instance. And of course it is easy to turn a two-handed sword into an impact weapon as well - turn it around and use a pommel strike.
try_sincerely 10y ago
So morning star would be the weapon of choice there I suppose. Sword may win "by points" but with morning star you'd have a solid chance of actually neutralizing opponent.
- vlehto 10y ago
  Flanged mace should be pretty decent too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(weapon)#European_Middle_Ages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(weapon)#European_Middle_...
- NoGravitas 10y ago
  Historically, the weapon of choice for defeating plate armour was the pollaxe. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollaxe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollaxe - Fiore's azza: http://scholasaintgeorge.org/training_docs/Basic%20Poleaxe%20in%20Fiore%202010.pdf http://scholasaintgeorge.org/training_docs/Basic%20Poleaxe%2...