Armor Penetration and Armor resistance.

[Dan Howard]

Crossposted from the leather cuirass thread.

To Dan ; I should have explained myself better - leather/textile armours are more resistant than metal to some types of weapon ( but less resistant to others ).All three types I mentioned have been shown to adequately resist blows between 30-40 Joules of kinetic energy.

I'm willing to bet that the so-called test piece has nothing in common with what was actually worn on the battlefield. What was the metallurgical content of this plate? What was its hardness? Bronze with a tin content of around 8% that has been workhardened (the type of material that was used on Greek shields and armour) has a hardness over 200VPH. 1mm of this material can withstand blows well in excess of the 30-40J you have cited. By "blow" I am referring to the tip of a steel spike, not the edge of a blade. 5mm of hardened leather doesn't go close to this level of protection. Swords often had tin contents closer to 10% and work hardened edges can produce hardnesses of 270 VPH. This is superior to all but the best quench-hardened steels which were in very short supply in the Iron Age.