Re:MR:REQ:Rapier legal garb

["Terry L. Neill" <Neilltl@ptsc.slg.eds.com>]

Poster: "Terry L. Neill" <Neilltl@ptsc.slg.eds.com>

Aodhan wrote:
>This was a Mongol practice. The warriors rode into battle with a silk tunic
>next to their skin so that they could remove any arrows that might strike
>them. Using silk under leather armor to protect troops against arrows
allowed
>them to have adequate protection without the additional weight of steel armor.
              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


I'm speaking a bit over my head, here, but here goes:

When using silk under other armor for 'protection' it was *not* protection
that I think of and that we are after in rapier fighting.

We are after NO PENETRATION through the armor/doublet.

Using silk under other armor allowed an arrow to be removed by rotating it
back through it's original path of entry.  The arrow could penetrate.  But
if one survived the penetration, the silk would help reduce the additional
damage of pulling the arow straight out of the wound.

All those warriors who DIDN'T SURVIVE the penetration of the arrow didn't
care if they were wearing silk or not.

We are after a protection that doesn't allow penetration at all.  Now some
kinds of silk may be adequate for this, especially the heavier weights. BUT
merely having several layers of  silk as your doublet, while perhaps
allowing the chirurgeons to remove the broken blade from your body without
causing too much additional damage, is not adequate protection to prevent
the skewering in the first place.

A happy chirurgeon is a bored chirurgeon.

:)

        - Anarra


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