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Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
Sir James A:
--- Quote from: Sir William on 2014-03-21, 16:11:20 ---We're used to a uniformity in armor due to modern materials and workmanship but would all warriors in period be dressed in similar quality armor? Wouldn't an old, cheaply made pot helm be less likely to maintain structural rigidity than a well forged one? Wouldn't a rusted, old hauberk be more likely to fail than one of higher quality?
--- End quote ---
Given my basic understanding of metals, and having hit them with a hammer a bunch of times, I would say:
All warriors were not in similar quality armor: varied by region, maker, price, etc
A helm made with more slag, or less proper heat treating, would certainly be less protective
Rusted mail would certainly fail easier and much more quickly since the surface area of mail is so tiny on each individual ring
What I think would happen when slashing heavily into a slag-laden poorly made helmet would be that the helmet would deform and crumple, rather than split or shatter; the helmets I've seen from BotN that are cracked were heat treated modern materials. There's a "line" with heat treating where it is better to a certain extent, and beyond that extent, becomes more fragile and likely to crack instead of deform. Especially poorly done heat treating or material with too much slag, which won't take heat properly.
Thorsteinn:
Remember the helm from BOTN fro the Italian team that failed so bad there was a huge hole in it?
BTW this could easily kill someone if it happened with a sharp sword at Hastings (no cups remember), and this was just a stick fight for fun:
"To counter the very serious content on this page here is a video of me been hit in the groin" -B. Gill
Lord Dane:
Yup. Looks about right. LOL
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