Find out more - The Armour

The contributors are all world class in their fields of expertise.

Joe Gibbs - Archer and bowyer
Dr Tobias Capwell - Arms and Armour Curator, The Wallace Collection

Find out more about the battle and the arrows in these companion films.

Breastplate
Based on the Churburg 14 piece. The reproduction is made from 0.5% carbon steel and air cooled and is of variable thickness. The front and centre is 2.5mm (3/32”) thick and it tapers down to 1.5mm (1/16”) at the sides and edges.

Longbow
160lbs (73Kg) mountain yew English Longbow based on those found on The Mary Rose (sank 1545). Bow was shooting 80g (2.8oz) arrows at 55ms (180fps) at 10m, giving 123J and 52ms (170fps) 109J at 25m

Distance 10m 25m
11yds 27yds

Speed 55ms 52ms
181fps 170fps

Energy 123J 109J
91ftlbs 80ftlbs

Arrows
The first arrow type we used was MR80A764/158. The diameter at the shoulder was 12.7mm (1/2”) tapering to a nock of 8.5mm. Total length was 30.5”

The second arrow type was MR82A1892/9. The diameter at the shoulder was 12.9mm (1/2”) and the nock was 7.5mm. Same total length.

The shafts were black poplar (Populus Nigra) and ash (Fraxinus Excelsior).
Fletchings were swan, bound with silk into a beeswax, kidney fat and copper verdigris compound.

Heads were wrought iron, copied from MoL Type 9 7568

Arrows weighed 80g (2.8oz)

[VeraTR]

Great work,

Reducing the dangers of spalling from shots on modern body armor is still an important thing today, that v-stop doing a similar thing back then is a very interesting feature.

[BjornFriborg]

Nothing but deep respect for Kevin and his master craftmanship.

[Jim]

This was a great video Tod. The next thing that would be good to see is what happens when the armour is shot from the side. And then shooting a fully armoured dummy.

[jasonsavage]

Lovely work, a true mark of a master!

[ashley-r-pollard]

My understanding, which I'm happy to be corrected on, is that modern steel has less slag content than steel produced in medieval times. What is not clear to me is this breastplate stronger than say a mild steel, which might be closer match to the original material.

[christopherfassett]

I wonder in my purely unknowledgeable way if the trend away from wearing full maille shirts under the plate is an indicator of those advances in heat treating (normalizing at least) and better overall construction of the plate that they were more willing to trust it. It may seem obvious but I just thought it was interesting

[spillingvoid]

I really like this series and the more in depth nature of it. Good job all around.

[lcmiracle]

How would one go about fixing those dents? What about penetrations? I'd love to know if there's any concensus on the expected operational lifespan of a piece of armor was.

[ghkiycbnkoi]

Be careful when you next mow the lawn Tod :)

[rgbled]

This series was really done well by all the participants. God job!

[whirving]

A few little points: first, wouldn't the velocity of the impact be increased by the speed of the Knight on horseback? Additionally wouldn't the effect of the "knockback" of the arrow impact be mitigated by being in a saddle with stirrups? Finally, about the knockback, it seems it would have been a valuable measurement to have. Maybe simply setting the stand along a line and measuring the displacement after impact? Excellent work, amazing craftsmanship on that breast plate. 40 grams difference, wow.

If that plate is repaired will it be as reliable as it was?

[nuuskye]

I've had the privilege of taking technique classes from Kevin - he's an awesome guy

[oneparticularlysmartape]

Now in all seriousness, great job. Hope to see more of this.

[Bushcraft-xzxd]

I seem to remember another couple of fellows a while back doing similar tests on Armour but not to such exacting standards. I believe their conclusion was the same that unless the Knights were almost on top of the Archers there wasn’t enough penetration to matter? I’m sure Archers would volley fire and hope for lucky shots on men or horse to bring them down at range then when closer I’m again sure that the skilled Archers could pick out and hit weaker protected areas like joints or even an open face helmet?

[mangalores-x_x]

I feel that it would be interesting how necessary the v-shape actually is when there is an Aventail etc. I could imagine the bigger worry being a skidding lance point which can proceed to crush your throat, face whatever armor you wear as I am not sure the splinters/arrowhead would still have enough kinetic force to overcome any other armor type (riveted chain and cloth). But I'd imagine you would want this redirection because stuff coming right up in your face would be super scary.

[ZagorTeNayebo]

These videos have been fantastic, i hope you can try it out with other authentic armours like brigandine or maybe even lorica just to see what happens and how effective they are

[PandemicalShade]

That‘s probably the best setup video for a medieval shooting test that I‘ve ever seen! Edit: And I just noticed it‘s 1/3 for the best high-quality medieval shooting test that was ever produced so far <3

[antivalidisme]

What a beautiful day and what a piece of armour. You can be proud of you Kevin for sure

[Dabroodrooster]

Hey Tod! I would like to give a huge thank you to you and Joe, Will, Kevin, Chrissi and Tobias for all the amazing work that you are doing. You are providing us with so much expertise, knowledge and wisdow on this particular part of history. It really has taught me a lot. Because of you I have a new profound interest in medieval history.

I do have a question. Is it maybe possible to test out armor that has been repaired? I can imagine some knights not receiving a new piece of armor every single time. Or if they had it done cheaply maybe to save cost? To see what kind of impact it might have when arrows are shot at the armor due to metal fatigue. Will it create a bigger dent and maybe cause internal damage. Maybe by measuring the impact the gel receives after being hit by a shot. Or if cracks start to appear and an arrow finds his way through.