Leather Armor? (NO HOLDS BARRED!!)

[tlclark]

I just want to remind everyone, I named this board "No Hold Barred for a Reason" so when I get smacked around by Dan it's my own fault! hock:

No honestly, I love these exchanges and I am having a deliriously fun time whacking this back into your court.

As far as puncture resistance I have to disagree. I have seem many a pair of 'leathers' protect or save people from some nasty impalings by metal tools, many of which would have points or edges as serious as any gladius.

So have I. But this leather was too thick to be the flexible material in your sculptures.

I've seen my father's welder's apron fend off some serious disasters and it's certainly more flexible than the semi-rigid musculata in the Bergama example. My personal experience with this convinces me that you are just wrong on this issue, either that or you have seriously thin-skinned cows in Austrailia. :wink:

but arrows have been known to puncture plate as well. The French Knights at Avignon had the best plate armor protection available and it was still inadequate to the English long bow.

This is a myth best left to another discussion. You are thinking of Agincourt, not Avignon, and the English longbow could not puncture plate armour.[/quote]

Good grief! I confused the 'Babylonian captivity' of the papacy with St. Crispin's day! :oops: Much learning hath made me mad!

Thanks for the correction.

As far as it being a 'myth' c'mon, that's a little strong.

This reminds me of the battles over Archimedes devices at the battle of Syracuse. Some say they are utter fantasy, others exaggeration and others gospel truth. The only thing I can say for sure is that the French Knights weren't slain by foot soldiers, and that like Theodosius points out, I have seen examples on television demonstrating that plate could be breached by the force of a long bow. If I have to dismiss all that, I would like to be able to do it on better authority.

I notice you didn't tackle my other points.

Do you think the leather cuirass could just be an addition to an already functioning linothorax?

Travis