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[Parsely]

-snip-

According to wikipedia, they are straight swords.

Admittedly, only one type, but it seems to have been fairly well used.

The curved ones are apparently szabla.

Most sabers are indeed curved, there's a few that are more suited for thrusting.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

Cavalry sabres are very different from fencing sabres, in that they are actually different swords. Fencing sabres are the curved sword you know, but many cavalry sabres were actually straight, for lancing as you rode by.

To add cavalry sabers of the civil war and earlier (as in still after gunpowder was invented cause I'm unsure) were actualy dull and relied on the speed of the horse to do the damage since most of the people during that period were also not armored because well guns made that obsolete

[MaximumZero]

Well, that, and sharpening the swords took resources, time, and manpower that the two armies didn't really have to waste on things that only nominally made killing other soldiers easier.

[Neonivek]

most of the people during that period were also not armored because well guns made that obsolete

Armor was outdated after WW1 though it saw use during WW2 and came into use once more in modernity.

It often just boiled down to price more than anything.

Most people weren't armored even in medieval and Renaissance Warfare.

[LordBucket]

Modern soldiers don't need entourage AFAIK, so why would Knights need it?

Shooting and sword fighting have different physical requirements. Imagine trying to playing tennis while carrying 50 pounds.


Unrelated, I found a youtube video of a guy comparing katana vs longsword against armor. Vs plate, both have minimal effect on the slash, but the katana penetrates marginally better on the stab because it doesn't flex as much.

Warning: his pronunciation is atrocious.

[Neonivek]

Why isn't he using a proper armor piercing weapon from that era?

[LordBucket]

Why isn't he using a proper armor piercing weapon from that era?

Appealing to the fanboys?

[DJ]

Armor was outdated after WW1 though it saw use during WW2 and came into use once more in modernity.

How effective is the modern armor actually? I imagine it's pretty good against pistol rounds and shrapnel, but I'm guessing it's no good for stopping an assault rifle round, which is what most people on the battlefield would be shooting.

[Baffler]

There are specialized body armors that can stop rifle rounds, actually. Here - a link.

The tl;dr is that there is armor out there that can withstand even large rounds like 7.62x51 or 30-06 AP, but they are only tested for 6 rounds in the former case, and one for the latter. My guess is that these can withstand the also extremely common 5.56x45 NATO round fairly reliably. For a while, at least.

[Neonivek]

The more commonly used armours, IIRC, are good at stopping small arms fire and probably glancing shots from larger arms, but are otherwise not so good.

Basically there are classes of body armor. The most common ones are Class 1 and class 2, with class 3-5 being illegal.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

how good is modern armor at stopping a crossbow bolt or a spear/pike and what about stopping a claymor and lastly how well does modern armor stack up against a mace/flail?

[Neonivek]

how good is modern armor at stopping a crossbow bolt or a spear/pike and what about stopping a claymor and lastly how well does modern armor stack up against a mace/flail?

Modern armor is typically not used for melee weapons and you aren't expecting to get attacked by large swords.

and Modern Day Crossbow bolts are actually rather impressive weapons as they are "armor piercing".

Not that we couldn't easily make armor far superior to medieval ones, we just long since outgrown the use for large swords in battle.

[Neonivek]

IIRC, modern day armour wouldn't work against bows and arrows because modern armour is designed to spread the force of the impact, not protect from piercing.

Ceramic armor would probably work halfway decently against arrows.

[DJ]

Could we make armor that would protect you from a direct hit by a lance wielded by a horseman riding at full speed? I imagine even if it didn't pierce the impact would still rupture multiple internal organs.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

how good is modern armor at stopping a crossbow bolt or a spear/pike and what about stopping a claymor and lastly how well does modern armor stack up against a mace/flail?

Modern armor is typically not used for melee weapons and you aren't expecting to get attacked by large swords.

and Modern Day Crossbow bolts are actually rather impressive weapons as they are "armor piercing".

Not that we couldn't easily make armor far superior to medieval ones, we just long since outgrown the use for large swords in battle.

I understand that its not meant for it but that is my point, how effective is it against it