Re: [GZG] Tech Levels

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 4:02 PM, Robert N Bryett <rbryett@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Erm? Absolute statements like that always make me twitch.
>
> While it's certainly true that body armour was not widely used by
> ground troops during this period, there certainly was technological
> development in the field. Other posters have referred to the use of
> armour in the trenches of WW1, and so-called "bullet-proof vests"
> were sold commercially in the inter-war period. More importantly,
> first the British RAF and later especially the United States Army
> Airforce sponsored a lot of work on body armour for aircrew, and
> hundreds of thousands of sets were manufactured and deployed by the
> end of WWII. Similar armours were also issued to naval personnel in
> WWII and saw some use by US ground troops in Korea, especially the
> thirty-odd thousand issued by the Marine Corps.
>
> There's a reason why the generic name for body-armour in the modern
> era is (or maybe *was*) "flak jacket"; they descended from the "flak
> suits" worn by bomber crews, and were intended to stop relatively low-
> velocity splinters and fragments, although the were also effective
> against low-performance bullets.

Utterly ineffective against small arms of the kind issued to ground
troops.

I will concede some work being done in the 1940-1960 time period, and
occasional experiments before then, however, during this time, no
armor that was even moderately effective against the primary weapon of
an infantryman was in use other than an oddity for limited
circumstances and limited numbers.  The point I was making is valid,
nitpicks aside.

> Oh, and let's not forget the first piece of body armour for the
> modern era. The humble tin hat...

Which is actually a huge step backwards compared to the heights
reached in helmet design during the 1400s.  Have a buddy with a
bascinet which is incredibly glancy.  He's got to screw up his
defenses something bad for me to put a solid blow on his head.

John
-- 
"Thousands of Sarmatians, Thousands of Franks, we've slain them again
and again.  We're looking for thousands of Persians."
--Vita Aureliani

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