Re: Low-Tech Forces in DSII

At 04:37 PM 11/2/98 -0500, you wrote:
>> didn't always win. instinct tells me that arrows are just going to
bounce
>> off a kevlar vest, but i could well be wrong - they go through
knight's
>> plate well enough at close range.

I could be wrong, but I think that's the _joints_ in the armor.

Seems like a certain tribe of furry aborigines did the same thing to a
legion of a certain empire's finest.

A flint-tipped spear in the armpit will ruin your whole day...

>They'll punch through Kevlar like butter. So will stilletos, sharp 
>spears, ice picks, teflon bullets, and a few other things. Kevlar 
>weave is exceptionally permeable to sharp objects which force 
>themselves between the fibers.

If I remember my lectures from military history class correctly, a silk
tunic is actually a pretty good protection against arrows.  It didn't
actually prevent them from penetrating the flesh, but it did sheath the
barbed head so that removal was much easier.  It was also a lot more
sanitary than most other woven materials.  For that reason, the silk
could
actually serve as a bandage of sorts rather than leaving bits of
unwashed
clothing in the wound.

Advanced body armor would probably incorporate a number of synthetic
materials with different characteristics to provide a multi-layered
defense
against all sorts of violent mayhem.

Jeff