[TML] Personal Armor Noise was Re: Current USAF fleet

[Leon Wu]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tml-bounces at travellercentral.com 
> [mailto:tml-bounces at travellercentral.com] On Behalf Of Kelly St.Clair
> Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 4:00 AM
> To: The Traveller Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [TML] Personal Armor Noise was Re: Current USAF fleet
> 
> At 10:21 PM 5/1/2008, you wrote:
> >You'd have to wear an arming cap or else any blow will result in a 
> >concussion. The mail will stop you from being cut but won't 
> absorb the 
> >force of the blow. Same for a mail shirt, anyone wearing one 
> would wear 
> >a heavy padded jerkin underneath. These would be worn by the less 
> >wealthy as their sole form of armour.
> 
> ... and is, in fact, exactly what Traveller calls "cloth". :)

Um, I thought "cloth" in Traveller is a kevlar-ish type of ballistic
weave? If we're talking ancient or medieval under-armour it would have
been composed of (I think) stiffened wool and later felt. I believe
there were descriptions from the crusades where men-at-arms wearing a
felt mail shirts over a felt under-garment would be riddled with arrows
like hedghehogs and suffer no injury. I think this type of cloth
wouldn't provide much protection against firearms.