Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Detonate]

Right now, to help reduce injury to soldiers, we give them layers upon layers of cloaks, clothing, and robes. This should not happen. Historically, to add additional protection, Medieval soldiers wore padded cloth jackets called gambesons or akeltons. These were made out of wool or linen, and unless a quilting skill is added, would be made by weavers. These could be worn separately by a soldier, or worn under mail or plate. They would cover the upper body, the lower body, the upper and lower arms, and the lower legs.

Buff coats could be another form of padding, however these aren't true to the time period that Dwarf Fortress represents, as they are from the 17th century. They would be made of leather and would provide protection to the arms, body, and upper legs. A buff coat could be worn with a breastplate (or a cuirass. if they are implemented) and a helmet, gauntlets, and greaves. It wouldn't be much different than the leather padding we use on our soldiers currently, if you are worried about authenticity. I honestly cannot imagine a soldier wearing layers of robes and cloaks over their armor, it just seems silly in the way currently presented.

[nanomage]

can it be modded? wouldn't raising the amount of body space occupied by common clothing and adding new padded clothing work?(with armor tag, as they seem military only from your text)

[Neonivek]

This should not happen. Historically

Actually some cultures did use layers upon layers of clothing for protection. Such as the Japanese.

There are more examples I can think of... but they are a bit further then the 1400s (such as during the War of Independence)

[chuckthegr8]

Some Mayan/Aztecs apparently wore padded armor, because I saw this show where they explain how a padded shirt can stop an arrow as well as a breastplate with its interweaving.

So would you just order X shirts to be interwoven into one padded shirt? Or take 1 Shirt and add cloth to make a padded shirt armor?

[Detonate]

Some Mayan/Aztecs apparently wore padded armor, because I saw this show where they explain how a padded shirt can stop an arrow as well as a breastplate with its interweaving.

So would you just order X shirts to be interwoven into one padded shirt? Or take 1 Shirt and add cloth to make a padded shirt armor?

The Incas wore padded armor as well. Honestly, I haven't really thought out how padding should be produced. I would have the gambeson itself be made as a separate item (clothesmaker skill) with 3 cloth, then stuffed with X cloth. The gambeson could be made out of wool cloth, with the stuffing being made out of any material.

[chuckthegr8]

STUFF IT WITH CATS!

[sockless]

Well silk used to be used a lot as armour.

Silk is incredibly strong, but is quite thin, so if you layer many layers of tight weave silk together, you can get a very strong piece of armour. The silk vest can be so strong, that it can stop a bullet (or at least an 1800s one), which means that it would probably stop an arrow as well.

[Funk]

geting the game to read how thick the paddings material, is the hard part.

[kilakan]

Well silk used to be used a lot as armour.

Silk is incredibly strong, but is quite thin, so if you layer many layers of tight weave silk together, you can get a very strong piece of armour. The silk vest can be so strong, that it can stop a bullet (or at least an 1800s one), which means that it would probably stop an arrow as well.

Not necessarily arrows have a far better cutting edge where-as bullets rely more on blunt force.  What's more then likely to happen is that a powerful, direct hit arrow would slice through the silk and cut into you but lose at least a good amount of force into the tunic.  And a crossbow bolt MADE to pierce armor would barely be slowed.

[SuicideJunkie]

I thought I heard that one of the benefits of the silk was that even though you got an arrow in you, with the silk wrapped around the point it could be pulled out safely and be survivable.

[KillHour]

That's the case with silkworm silk, but Dwarves use spider silk, which is closer to kevlar.

[Stormcloudy]

Strand for strand, spider silk has more tensile strength than steel. A pencil-thick rope stretched across a runway can prevent a 747 in full taxi from taking off.

I think it's somewhat less useful as a deflector and such, but it definitely can absorb some impact.

[iron_general]

Kevlar stops bullets because they deform, thus expending energy. A more rigid projectile, like and arrow, would cut through it easily. The same goes for blades.

[Jake]

Kevlar stops bullets because they deform, thus expending energy. A more rigid projectile, like and arrow, would cut through it easily. The same goes for blades.

So wear the padded silk armour in conjunction with rigid metal plate, which is how modern ballistic vests deal with rounds capable of penetrating Kevlar.

[iron_general]

I was just pointing out an inaccuracy. I support this idea.