Threewheelbonnie |
20 Sep 2010 07:56 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caminando
(Post 306016)
Well, we've had some time since the 19th C to improve materials. Maybe you'd like the kind of armour they used in the 13th C, if you're into early technology; and that would be a choice. Waxed cotton worked just as badly a century ago, but it was the best they had. Sorry, Andy, this is the 21st C.
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How can they be improved if they have to have glued on fasteners and cease to function when dirty? What we have is more proffitable materials that work well enough to be accepted. Goretex can be welded while cotton has to be sewn with a waxed thread. Nylon thread does not absorb moisture to any great extent, natural fibres need treating. The current batch of modern gear is only more expensive at retail prices because the shops are selling to people prepared to pay and still be damp on the few occasions they get caught in the rain. The current crop of Belstaff copies are cheap because the fashion market won't pay bike shop prices unless they get the name and they are mostly made in what for want of a better word we'll call third world sweat shops (mine's Egyptian).
It's actually the same with the suit of armour you mention. Good early renaissance steel armour is shaped to deflect to sword strikes and with the layers underneath would stop small bullets (which is why the military use 3/4-inch musket balls for years). If you want something to save you in a hacking battle it's as good as kevlar. The reason it wasn't used for four hundred years is the cost of equipping enough people with it to make it effective. Knight versus archer is cash versus training. Knight versus musketeer is quality versus quantity, you can train a peasant to shoot faster than you can make the armour. Put some dodgy undersize actor in the armour without the leather and wool underneath and it ceases to function properly too :rofl:. IMHO, Goretex bike gear is still at the red coat and needing four hands to carry your hat, pack and musket stage, not kevlar and ceramic plates.
Andy
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