The Linothorax Project

[Dan Howard]

Any armour can be made to resist any kind of arrow. With linen armour you simply add more layers until you get the level of resistance you want. In Europe they were called padded jacks and 25-30 layers could stop an English longbow at short range. The problem is that these kinds of constructions are a lot heavier than metal cuirasses that provide similar protection.

Layered textiles have been used to make armour for around three thousand years all over the world. The layers are invariably quilted together. There isn't any evidence from any cuilture or time period that this armour was ever glued.

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