5 Incredible Types of Armor

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What do you think is more important in war - to kill as many enemies as possible or to stay alive? Logic says to kill as many enemies as possible, but your instincts will make you worry about your own safety first. Therefore, throughout history, people have gone to great lengths to protect themselves in battle, creating many unique and unusual pieces of armor.

For example, the earliest known armor used by humans was made from animal skins and was used as far back as 40,000 years ago. The hides were usually treated with tannins or other natural substances to make them more durable and resistant to water. Prehistoric hunters usually wore this type of armor to protect themselves from animal attacks and other dangers.

But when people began to fight other people, the hides alone were no longer enough. Spears and arrows easily pierced rudemtary armor. The man had to think up other ways to protect himself. In the absence of easy-to-melt metals, some isolated nations came up with such sophisticated armor that even the game "Skyrim" armor designer could envy their imagination.

Now we'll tell you how people on various islands used to make helmets out of fish and why rifles couldn't even pierce body armor made of coins by Alaskan people. And what armor is considered the pinnacle of evolution?

[igoruberwald]

"Donated to british museums" Only an AI-voice could say that phrase without chuckling.

[ColinTherac]

One of the misconceptions presented in this video is about the use of steel armor by conquistadors to defeat the Aztecs. This is mostly not true. While some conquistadors had armor and more had helmets, nearly all of those were discarded as wearing it in the heat of central America lead to heat stroke which was more deadly than any blade. As such the Spanish switched to using the same woven cloth type armor as the natives.

Plus the majority of the actual fighting was done by natives against natives across most colonized areas. The most effective weapon of Colonizers across the globe was their ability to weaponize the long held hatreds that natives had for each other. The deaths caused directly by Europeans were done mostly unintentionally by disease.

After all, it is silly to believe that over a million people could be slaughtered by a few hundred Spaniards without machine guns, and when the limited artillery available at the time was not effective due to lack of maneuverability, especially trying to move such pieces over mountainous terrain. To say otherwise is to say the natives were utterly incompetent at warfare, which they were not.

[Sorrus-Blyfe]

One thing I wished they mentioned when it got around to full plate armour = Helmet Horror, when those wearing the armour have this sense of entrapment in the helmet and barely breathable slits in the helmet.

People would hyper ventilate, panic and basically develop claustrophobia.

I’d imagine most who experienced this refuse to wear a helmet after wards. Plate armour may have been historically comfortable… but claustrophobia is a very human condition.

[monttrap]

You make it sound like the Aztecs could have worn metal armor if they wanted, but chose not to for some reason.

[paulmitchell]

You're pronouncing Kiribati wrong

[Xaiff]

Imagine the shock & confusion of early archaeologists when they had just discovered a piece of Tlingit armor, stitched with lots of Qing dynasty coins 😂😂😂

[entropy]

"Donated to British museums" Yeah we know what happened.

[TomasFunes-rtrd]

2:45 -"unfortunately, there's no evidence that they fought any more than other people of the region." Dude, they fought THE US NAVY Battle of Drummond's Island, 1841. And "Kiribati" is pronounced "Ki-ri-BAS" - and that ain't difficult to learn right here on You Tube in half a minute's basic research.... And the US Navy expedition that fought them sketched the enemy warriors wearing this very rig, so PLEASE go easy on all the speculation about it being some sort of mere tourist trap !!

[Elrond_Hubbard_]

1:52 .. many of which were 'donated' to British museums

Oh my sweet summer child...

[sungodra]

A couple of notes:

The use of Jaguar and other animal skins by the Aztec was not as armour. It was more of a show of status and to channel the spirit of the animal who’s skin you were wearing.

White armour is a term primarily used to describe armour worn without a surcoat over it. It’s also used to describe armour made in the 15th century Italian style.

The black and white armour referred to in the video was more commonly used by less wealthy soldiers rather than nobility. The design was achieved by polishing the areas you wanted to shine through while leaving the other areas black/unfinished and painting over.
What you described as the pinnacle of armour design, as worn by nobility, would be gilded and blued armour, with bluing being the practice of changing the metals color through the implementation of heat / chemical substances, and gilding being the chemical bonding of gold to the armour.

In terms of later warfare in Europe, contrary to popular belief, the fall in armour use on the battlefield was not due to the implementation of firearms in the capacity that armour was no longer effective. It was primarily because outfitting soldiers with guns rather than armour was more cost effective.

[JackRed]

My goal in a battle is to die as quickly as possible thats why i fight naked

[parthrastogi]

When you make the most artistic feline skin armor and also used salt water dipped hardened jackets for protection but it couldn't stop smallpox

[ycplum]

There is an error with regards to western Black and White armor. Both the "black" and "white" areas were polished. The "white" is untreated steel while the "black" was steel with a blued surface. "Bluing" involves a chemical reaction that makes the surface rust resistant. The most desired color was a medium or dark blue although some may appear black.

[kenai]

First armor is from my home country Kirbati. Most people never of it cause we're a small island group. But full with culture!
Love you man

[philippbobkaufmann]

I'm a historian and archaeology nerd. I've only got to second 0:42, and they already made a claim about "prehistoric armour" without there being a shred of evidence for it. Why the hell should anyone wait for any more "facts" coming in when the very first one is already tripe?

[valerianmonye]

Do ancient Nigerian Armour. Particularly benin empire

[Vietnow]

Donated to British museum 😢
Why not where they belong

[Flamethrower]

Actually the aim is to break the fighting spirit of the enemy the killing as many as possible happens when they flee .

[mixingcat]

One funny armor : in korea, the joseon dynasty had major tests and the papers used there were never thrown away. Instead, they were used to make armors for peasant infantries. It was actually kinda good since it prevented some arrows and did it's job well too.

[scottjackson]

I was in Athens a few weeks ago and I saw one of the helmets that goes with that Mycenaean armor at the Athens museum of antiquities