*** Youtube/Video thread ***

Many people still think that plate armour is ludicrously encumbering, maybe even so encumbering that a person wearing it can't even get up from a prone position.

Of course it wasn't, but how encumbering was it really and how does it compare with cumbersome modern kit?

A historian organised a test between 15th century plate armour (including arming garments, etc, i.e. as it was actually used), modern firefighting kit and modern infantry kit. Same long obstacle course for each, with crawling and climbing and jumping and suchlike. One run in light kit, one in full kit. Measurements of time, heartrate and blood lactate levels. The plate armour is an accurate replica, the firefighting and infantry kit is standard Swiss issue for today.

Of course there are flaws in it if treated as a scientific experiment. Sample size is far too small. Different people in each set of kit (although using the same person would also have been flawed unless they were equally familiar with each and equally rested for each). But it's a good comparison and as realistic as practically possible given the budget.


Very simplified summary for people who don't want to spend 7 minutes on it:

Infantry kit is far more encumbering than the other two. Firefighting kit slightly less encumbering than the plate armour. Person in infantry kit has far lower increase in heartrate and far lower blood lactate levels for the full kit run compared with the light kit run, compared with the changes for the people in plate armour and firefighting kit. Fitter? Wasn't pushing themselves as hard?
 
Many people still think that plate armour is ludicrously encumbering, maybe even so encumbering that a person wearing it can't even get up from a prone position.

Of course it wasn't, but how encumbering was it really and how does it compare with cumbersome modern kit?

I don't see the point of the video though, what practical use would plate armour have nowadays? It's expensive to produce, time-consuming to maintain and put on, doesn't offer the same weather/heat resistant qualities of the other gear. Really its only use is against blunt trauma attack in slow moving battlefield scenarios, pretty much what it was designed for. :)
 
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