caped crusader
Brown Belt
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This looks fun !
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This looks fun !
A recent interest of mine in Body Armor in WWII led me down some very interesting armor paths in relationship to firearms and personal armor, particularly as it over-lapped with various melee weapons. I looked at reports and tests for personal armor starting back at Emperor Maximillian's armor, Napoleonic Hussar breastplates, various "soft" body armors (often made with silk), on up through WWII's Doron plates.Most HEMA practitioners today are studying arts which were primarily intended for civilian, unarmored usage. (Or military usage in the era when gunpowder had rendered armor mostly obsolete.)
Good post and even modern soldiers wear plates. I remember we wore a vest(under our combat jacket) in N Ireland with a plate on your back and chest.A recent interest of mine in Body Armor in WWII led me down some very interesting armor paths in relationship to firearms and personal armor, particularly as it over-lapped with various melee weapons. I looked at reports and tests for personal armor starting back at Emperor Maximillian's armor, Napoleonic Hussar breastplates, various "soft" body armors (often made with silk), on up through WWII's Doron plates.
I even read a fascinating book from just after WWI on the officially sanctioned personal armor of various national militarizes. Seems most of the WWI participants had specifications for personal armor which included the details of the steel metallurgy to be used, plate thicknesses, and what small arms they were supposed to be able to resist at given ranges (resistance to rifle fire was usually at several hundred yards).
These periods overlapped sabers, maces, bayonets, etc. WWI in particular saw the use of lots of "Trench Weapons" including maces, short swords, knives, even "pistol bayonets." Despite being officially sanctioned by most nations for their soldiers and generally effective against melee weapons and handguns, hard armor (almost always steel plate not too unlike the AR500 steel plates used by many modern armies) were generally eschewed by most soldiers (outside of their helmets), most often because of the weight. By WWII, the fiber-glass and epoxy composite Doron Plates began to see a bit of interest but they couldn't be rolled out soon enough to have a major impact. The use of 1/8" thick Doron plates continued into both the Korean Conflict and somewhat into the Vietnam Conflict, where they were reported to be effective against knife attacks, and pistol ammunition, including the high-velocity 7.62x25 fired from the PPSh "burp guns" (which offered a longer barrel and therefore more velocity).
But attempts to cover more than just the torso with armor seem to have mostly died out some time before the Napoleonic period and WWI attempts to revive the practice were hindered by the shortcomings of the armor available in terms of weight and mobility restrictions for the desired protection level (essentially what we would consider NIJ IV today).
I have occasionally thought it would be amusing to re-create the 1/8" Doron Plates and set the mold forms to copy Star Wars Storm Trooper armor, then paint it white. It should be light enough and the design is actually fairly articulate and would roughly approximate NIJ Level II to IIIa while offering a good deal of stab resistance. But it sounds like way more effort than I want to put into something just for lulz.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
While this is clearly just my opinion, I really, really, really think you need to make some Doron plate stormtrooper armor. I mean... that sounds like both the coolest and nerdiest idea I've heard in a very long time.A recent interest of mine in Body Armor in WWII led me down some very interesting armor paths in relationship to firearms and personal armor, particularly as it over-lapped with various melee weapons. I looked at reports and tests for personal armor starting back at Emperor Maximillian's armor, Napoleonic Hussar breastplates, various "soft" body armors (often made with silk), on up through WWII's Doron plates.
I even read a fascinating book from just after WWI on the officially sanctioned personal armor of various national militarizes. Seems most of the WWI participants had specifications for personal armor which included the details of the steel metallurgy to be used, plate thicknesses, and what small arms they were supposed to be able to resist at given ranges (resistance to rifle fire was usually at several hundred yards).
These periods overlapped sabers, maces, bayonets, etc. WWI in particular saw the use of lots of "Trench Weapons" including maces, short swords, knives, even "pistol bayonets." Despite being officially sanctioned by most nations for their soldiers and generally effective against melee weapons and handguns, hard armor (almost always steel plate not too unlike the AR500 steel plates used by many modern armies) were generally eschewed by most soldiers (outside of their helmets), most often because of the weight. By WWII, the fiber-glass and epoxy composite Doron Plates began to see a bit of interest but they couldn't be rolled out soon enough to have a major impact. The use of 1/8" thick Doron plates continued into both the Korean Conflict and somewhat into the Vietnam Conflict, where they were reported to be effective against knife attacks, and pistol ammunition, including the high-velocity 7.62x25 fired from the PPSh "burp guns" (which offered a longer barrel and therefore more velocity).
But attempts to cover more than just the torso with armor seem to have mostly died out some time before the Napoleonic period and WWI attempts to revive the practice were hindered by the shortcomings of the armor available in terms of weight and mobility restrictions for the desired protection level (essentially what we would consider NIJ IV today).
I have occasionally thought it would be amusing to re-create the 1/8" Doron Plates and set the mold forms to copy Star Wars Storm Trooper armor, then paint it white. It should be light enough and the design is actually fairly articulate and would roughly approximate NIJ Level II to IIIa while offering a good deal of stab resistance. But it sounds like way more effort than I want to put into something just for lulz.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
Helmets and Body Armor in Modern Warfare by Bashford Dean, Ph.D.I even read a fascinating book from just after WWI on the officially sanctioned personal armor of various national militarizes. Seems most of the WWI participants had specifications for personal armor which included the details of the steel metallurgy to be used, plate thicknesses, and what small arms they were supposed to be able to resist at given ranges (resistance to rifle fire was usually at several hundred yards).