03-09-2006, 11:23 PM
Quote:Modern experimental data supports the case that flexible leather provides little protection against the most common weapons on a battlefield.
This might be a daft question or one which has has been answered elsewhere, in which case apologies but have any of these modern experiments incorporated the additional defensive qualities of the Roman soldiers sword and shield
there were some archery tests against reconstructed plate and mail armour described in an article in Military Illustrated magazine 74, July 1994, carried out by Duncan Massey at Manchester University. Almost as an afterthought the arrows were tested against a shield with a leather cover which proved surprisingly effective, none of the arrows passing through to a depth that would have proved fatal.
In which case isn't the argument for or against the protective qualities of leather armour of any type somewhat redundant.
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
