Pincushions (was RE: ANST - Slings)

[Keith Hood]

> > Agreed. In fact there was a "game" amongst Crusader knights to see
> > who could come back with the most arrows stuck in their armor. 
> > Until the advent of the longbow the arrow was not a major factor
> > against the  heavily armored knights.

I remember hearing some time in the past, that Richard and some other Crusade
leaders made special efforts to make sure their knights and men at arms were
equipped with very thick felt underclothes.  Most likely, mail by itself,
lying close to the body, did not offer enough resistance to arrows to keep
them from digging in deep.  But with the felt under the mail, the combination
of that dense fiber mat, with the friction between the arrow shaft and
adjacent links, slowed the arrow enough to keep it from pentrating flesh.



> 
> check out the marvelous prints from the japanese fuedal age show
> samuari on the battlefield looking like pin cushions but still able
> to function.
> 

That was due largely to the construction of the armor.  It was usually made of
thousands of individual scales, laced together with braided cord made of
cotton or hemp (or silk for the really fancy sets).  The lacings acted kind of
like springs between the scales, so when a shaft penetrated the cords pulled
the scales tight against it, putting enough friction on the shaft to scrub off
its momentum.  And since the scales always overlapped at least half their
width, no matter where a shaft hit the flat outside of a scale, it would
always also come into contact with the edges of the adjacent scales.

Some parts of the armor were also designed with a 'fire curtain' effect in
mind.  Those were the skirting on the bottom of the body armor and the helm,
and the sode (the big shoulder guards that were common on early armors).  In
addition to the pinch effect from the scales, these parts were deliverately
made heavy and hung free, so if an arrow hit them it lost momentum because the
skirting would move with it.

The earlier armor design associated with the samurai was the yoroi, which was
specifically designed for use by mounted archers.  In addition to the factors
mentioned above, the body armor was actually built in the form of a loose box.
 When the archer was mounted the weight of the body armor rested on his
thighs, and the armor actually stood away from the body.  That style of armor
was phased out as armies got bigger and combat between foot soldiers became
more common.  Since the armor was designed to be loose around the torso, it
hung from the shoulder straps when the wearer was on foot, and it interfered
with fighting on foot because it would swing when the wearer turned.

(Lot more than anyone cared to hear on the subject, right?<G>)


     Tomonaga

------

A long bow and a stong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!

     --  Stolen from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers" --
               By Robert E. Howard, who should be
                 the patron saint of Ansteorra

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