Science Breakthrough: Plate Armor is Heavy

[Thaluikhain]

It "is" obvious. But you also have to remember that for some reason people believe being in a full plate armor is "realistically" safer in most RPG's. When in truth, the BEST bet is to wear extremely durable leather over some chainmail. Leather for arrows, chain mail for sword strikes. Which is why the armor in The Witcher makes tremendous sense compared to trying to do all he does in a full plate mail.

Mail armor, while more flexible, is not lighter or better distributed then plate armor. Leather gambesons are not particularly light either. The Witcher would be better off with a breastplate and a helmet, honestly. It would offer better protection and be lighter.

Well, depends what you mean by "mail armour". Quite alot of room for variety there, and then there's the question of whether you restrict the armour to the most vulnerable places.

Also, of course, depends what you are being attacked by (and what weapons/shield you have).

 

[Oroboros]

It "is" obvious. But you also have to remember that for some reason people believe being in a full plate armor is "realistically" safer in most RPG's. When in truth, the BEST bet is to wear extremely durable leather over some chainmail. Leather for arrows, chain mail for sword strikes. Which is why the armor in The Witcher makes tremendous sense compared to trying to do all he does in a full plate mail.

Mail armor, while more flexible, is not lighter or better distributed then plate armor. Leather gambesons are not particularly light either. The Witcher would be better off with a breastplate and a helmet, honestly. It would offer better protection and be lighter.

In theory, chainmail has been known more as a lighter compared to plate mail. But most importantly it is flexible and less awkward to roll around in. You "could" do the same with chest plate but would usually cover the front and half the sides exposed slightly. Though this depends on the make of the mail and the make of the leather.

Usually breastplates come with a back section to complement the front. All of the sets of mail I have handled were noticeably heavier then a breastplate, and while a breastplate may cover less then a hauberk, lets be honest, hat the witcher wears is not particularly protective to begin with, defense something like that grants is going to be less then that provided by a hauberk or breastplate, and the benefit to mobility compare to a hauberk or breastplate is negligible.

 

[Pinheadlarry94]

Sooo heavy armor is heavy.... if thats true then is light armor light?

 

[Frotality]

i dont think anyone was dying to know the precise difference in energy it takes to run in clothing compared to a suit of metal; as you have so pointlessly proven, running in armor is harder.

also, knights rode horses into battle, and a fully armored knight is like a paperweight to a warhorse; testing how tiring it is to run in platemail is like testing the elasticity of a rock; platemail was never meant to run in, just as rocks are generally not used for things that require bending them.

 

[Sparcrypt]

I wonder if they also took the physical condition of those who wore armour into account and its effect.

Knights were upper class and would of course have the benefits of this - good food and training, something your average peasant would not have been entitled to.

They also would have trained for years wearing these suits of armor, from a young age, thus they would have grown up adapting to its weight and restrictions, making an incredible difference to how they could fight with it - and remember, the difference that matters is not how well they can move wearing or not wearing it, it's the difference between how well they can move wearing it fighting against someone who is not.

I would imagine training daily in a heavy suit of armour would make you VERY strong, and more importantly, your body would adapt to it, strengthening the muscles needed to support it.

Finally you need to factor in the skill of the warriors on either side - like I said before, the ones in armour are knights and had the benefits of being such. And or course it would depend who you are fighting.. different cultures fought differently and armour may have helped or hindered against their tactics.

My point being, you can't judge the effectiveness of something like armour in the manner they have done, because there are just so many more factors you would need to consider.

 

[LostNumber]

So Michael Pachter is doing scientific studies now?

Buh dum tish

 

[Gasaraki]

Next up, an essay on why you shouldn't run with pointy things.

 

[Pyroguekenesis]

Wow, as if Oblivion Heavy Armour hasn't taught me anything... =_=;

 

[Pyroguekenesis]

Wow, as if Oblivion Heavy Armour hasn't taught me anything... =_=;

Crap, accidentally doubleposted. How do I delete the old one?

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Such a scientific breakthrough, brought to you by the scientists that found that water is wet and fire burns fingers.

Edit: The US military already knew this, and has already gotten this down to very accureate numbers. For every 4 pounds (over 40 pounds) a fit soldier carries, they can hike one less mile.

 

[Rayne870]

hey guys Cancer isn't cured but we wasted valuable time researching that heavy things make people tired when carried or worn.

BRB drinking water to prove it makes you pee eventually.

 

[sumanoskae]

Heavy armor?, HEAVY?, ridicules. It's a well known fact that heavy armor is, in fact, light as a feather and completely useless, it's just looks pretty.

See most Medieval kings were huge fashionistas, and it simply wouldn't do if their most trusted knights were seen in anything but the latest in tinfoil and shiny cardboard fashion. I mean, could you imagine how inconsiderate it would be to have your opponent land a perfectly good blow, only to have it be deflected by armor, that's just rude!.

 

[jurnag12]

And dear professors, did you know why it hadn't been proven scientifically yet? BECAUSE IT'S COMMON F*CKING SENSE! You don't bloody research if swords are pointy either, now do you?

 

[One of Many]

It "is" obvious. But you also have to remember that for some reason people believe being in a full plate armor is "realistically" safer in most RPG's. When in truth, the BEST bet is to wear extremely durable leather over some chainmail. Leather for arrows, chain mail for sword strikes. Which is why the armor in The Witcher makes tremendous sense compared to trying to do all he does in a full plate mail.

Mail armor, while more flexible, is not lighter or better distributed then plate armor. Leather gambesons are not particularly light either. The Witcher would be better off with a breastplate and a helmet, honestly. It would offer better protection and be lighter.

In theory, chainmail has been known more as a lighter compared to plate mail. But most importantly it is flexible and less awkward to roll around in. You "could" do the same with chest plate but would usually cover the front and half the sides exposed slightly. Though this depends on the make of the mail and the make of the leather.

Usually breastplates come with a back section to complement the front. All of the sets of mail I have handled were noticeably heavier then a breastplate, and while a breastplate may cover less then a hauberk, lets be honest, hat the witcher wears is not particularly protective to begin with, defense something like that grants is going to be less then that provided by a hauberk or breastplate, and the benefit to mobility compare to a hauberk or breastplate is negligible.

Not to be overly nitpicky but what your talking about is a cuirass. A breastplate, is just that, a piece of armor which covered the breast or front of the torso.


On topic, metal plates used to stop arrows and blows from swords, is heavy? No Shit!

 

[soultrain117]

Question: is sticking a knife in you eye uncomfortable?

Hypothesis: I believe that doing to would actually be comfortable and feel quite natural.

Experiment: Volunteers all agreed to have knives stuck in through the pupil. As a control some subjects will have needles in place of the knives and some will just be told there is a knife going into there eye when actually there is no physical object entering their eye.

Observations: Both the subjects with the knives and the needle exhibited the same signs of excruciating pain. Afterward all the subjects in which a physical object went into their eye claimed to have impaired vision in that eye. Interestingly this was confirmed in eye test and it should also be noted that the eye in which the needle did not enter was unaffected.

Conclusions: It is my opinion that these test show conclusively that shoving physical objects though your eye is not only extremely painful, but will also damage the eye. However the other eye will be unimpaired.

 

[chaos order]

oh thank god this information came out when it did, i was about to take my plate mail armor out to slay a dragon. Whats that you say? dragons arent real? well that screwed up my whole day.

 

[RoyalSorceress]

Noooo, really?
I'd never have guessed that covering your body in huge chunks of metal would be heavy.

 

[bakan]

The only good thing about this article is the picture from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'

 

[Abedeus]

Ig Nobel award, right there.

 

[WabbitTwacks]

Snip

I will defer to your wisdom because, judging from your avatar, you are clearly a doctor. You know science.

He's a ninja too!