[MR] cheap armor

[Lord Mungoe]

    Speaking as a trauma nurse, plastic in certain key area is not a good idea. As a example, modern cars have gone to replacing metal with lighter materials such as plastic in order to improve gas milage. What the engineers at Ford in particular found was that plastics cannot absorb and spread kinetic energy across it's surface as efficient as metal, but can deflect it better. Meaning that plastics are better at directing energy along a fracture or crack away from a certain point , such as the passengers. So modern cars, in order to be as safe as a 58 Roadmaster (Heaviest metal commercial car ever produced.) modern cars are desighned to break apart,
directing dangerous force away from the passengers.

    SO, if we use this as a example, plastic armor is not a good idea. If you use a armor pattern based on metal armor, it is not going to protect as well as metal. If you design a patern based on the properties of plastic and have it as efficient as metal, you would have to design it to direct the energy away from the wearer, leaving them naked in the middle of a battle. 

    This is why motor cycle helmits are not used in SCA combat. It would take one or two blows, then break apart. Motor cycle helmits (And other safty devices like infant car seats) are designed to take one crash, then be replaced. Our armor has to take repeating "Crashes" over prolonged use, hence must be of metal of a certain thickness.

    In my opinion, rigid metal is the way to go for certain key areas in our armor. Leather, plastic, even coton stuffed fabric can work for most areas, but not for everything.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robyn Becker 
  To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org 
  Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2003 10:17 PM
  Subject: Re: [MR] cheap armor


  Here's a good place to purchase 16g knees and elbows.  I bought them from 
  him and wore them to Crusades, and they worked just fine, passed with no 
  arguements.  He's on eBay as well as this website:
  http://www.shop.store.yahoo.com/spiers-saddlery/

  Reyne Telarius
  Bright Hills

  PS: He also sells leather armor!!!


  >From: "matthew howard" <m.c.howard at verizon.net>
  >To: <SCA-atlantia-marinus at yahoogroups.com>, <SCA-14thC at yahoogroups.com>,   
  ><atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>, <aotc at yahoogroups.com>
  >Subject: [MR] cheap armor
  >Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 18:06:20 -0400
  >
  >I know that the rules have changed and Atlantia is tring to look as period
  >as possible on the field but.....is this stuff worth it to modify and does
  >it work? all comments are welcome.
  >www.darkvictory.com
  >
  >
  >matt
  >
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  Never trust a neat Artisan...
  In memory of Kevin Tod Smith, 'Ares', 1963-2002
  Gone, but never forgotten.

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