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[i are not good with compu]

I am pretty sure that any swords made from hardwoods could easily pierce organs.

Hardness is hardly a mark of universal application - wooden swords made with incredibly dense wood like that would be too heavy to wield efficiently while not correcting any of wood's inherent problems.  Now, using cudgels of it or topping a mace off with it makes some sense.

Also, in response to a comment made further up, bone armor isn't that crazy and has been done in the far off realm of real life.  As for bone bolts, dunno, but those are typically only intended for training anyway.

[Pilsu]

Fish bone armor in real life? Really now?

Elven blades are made of oak and the like and the heaviest wood in the game is Glumprong, an evil tree. And sharpen it or not, you still wouldn't get a proper slashing weapon. Piercing, sure. That's why I'd leave them with spears

[Neonivek]

Fish bone armor in real life? Really now?

You would be surprised.

Mind you that a lot of Bone objects use things such as leather to tie them together (I am mildly sure most Bone clothing is also made out of leather)

[Greiger]

Making the whole thing out of one fish would be doubtful I reckon, though making it out of a bunch of fish would make sense.   I think that was originally intended to be used with only large animal bones but since all bones count the same even tiny bones like fish need only a few to make a full set.

As for effectiveness I imagine a properly made armor suit out of the right bones would work well.  Not metal equivalent of course but certainly better than leather. 

Same with armor made of wood strips. (I seem to recall it being used in Asia sometime.) It wouldn't be as good as metal but it may deflect a light metal blade in a slashing motion, or cushion the blow from a blunt object.  Probably neither would do anything about a stabbing attack though, and a heavy sword or axe would cleave right through it without stopping.

[Appelgren]

Bone armor might be unrealistic, but it is very cool.

[Neonivek]

Bone armor might be unrealistic, but it is very cool.

Yep, I don't care how unrealistic it is... We need our bone armor!

[LegoLord]

Hey, just a piece of lumber cut to have a cube-like edge can cut.  It's happened to me before while sailing.

[Tormy]

Bone armor might be unrealistic, but it is very cool.

Bone armor...there are bone armors in Ultima Online also...good old memories
Now.. I don't think that it is unrealistic.
1. This is a fantasy game.
2. I think that making armors from huge/strong bones sounds pretty realistic. Example:
a. Kill a troll
b. The bone carver creates the armor material from the strongest bones of the creature
c. The armorsmith creates the armor itself

[Aqizzar]

Perch bone greaves.  Turtle shell breastplates.  Groundhog leather armor.


I have my own way of resolving these logical quandaries.  Picture the Dwarf Fortress world as being exactly what it looks like - ASCII.  It's not just a fantasy world, it really behaves like it looks, with all bones being equal size and strength, all creatures being one tile regardless of dimensions, water divising into 7 and only 7 units, and so forth.

[Tormy]

Turtle shell breastplates. 

Ah, that is an excellent idea...turtle shells are very hard and durable. IIRC the shell itself is a "system of bones" basically. 
Now what about turtle shell caps? 

[Aqizzar]

I was pointing out the absurdity of making an entire breastplate out of one turtle shell.  Not to mention that bones and shells become very brittle once dried.

[Tormy]

I was pointing out the absurdity of making an entire breastplate out of one turtle shell.  Not to mention that bones and shells become very brittle once dried.

Well yeah, creating a breastplate should require more shells, however this should depend on the size of the shells also.
Hm...you are right however, bones and shells are brittle after a period.

[Neonivek]

Isn't there anything you could do to bones or shells to make them keep their strength longer?

[Aqizzar]

Isn't there anything you could do to bones or shells to make them keep their strength longer?

Maybe back them up with resin, leather, wood, flax, or other light armor materials.  But then you have to ask why you're bothering with bones in the first place unless you're completely strapped for other materials.

Now that I think about it, I don't know of any historical society that use bone as an armor material.  Weapons yes, but not structural protection.  Anyone know?

[Neonivek]

There isn't a lot of information on Bone armor that I can find... all they did was pretty much say "Bone armor exists" but presented no further information...

Usually they are just rows of bones tied together (Basically Splint Mail that uses bone instead of metal)

Other uses for bones are actually pretty interesting such as lockpicks