Arrows vs. Plate... a new test

[SDLeary]

Tod, over at Tod's Workshop, got a bunch of people together to conduct a test of archery vs. Plate harness, specifically at the time of Agincourt. 

The players...

An archer who is using a 160 lb bow,

An armorer (sorry, armourer) that created a breastplate based upon a French original from 1390,

And an arrow smith and fletcher who created the arrowheads based on originals in the Museum of London, and the arrows based upon those from the Mary Rose.

Have fun!!

SDLeary

Edited August 30, 2019 by SDLeary

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, SDLeary said:

Tod, over at Tod's Workshop, got a bunch of people together to conduct a test of archery vs. Plate harness, specifically at the time of Agincourt. 

 

Very impressive, I am glad they decided to use Agincourt for a base. Anyway half way through so...

Cheers

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, SDLeary said:

The players...

An archer who is using a 160 lb bow,

An armorer (sorry, armourer) that created a breastplate based upon a French original from 1390,

And an arrow smith and fletcher who created the arrowheads based on originals in the Museum of London, and the arrows based upon those from the Mary Rose.

Love the comment from Tormageddon:

 

Quote

 

Tormageddon11 hours ago

Holy production values Batman!! Amazing top quality work!

 

 

 

Thank you, that was great!

 

 

[Ian Absentia]

One of the most fascinating things I noted was the posture of the archer.  He isn't dainty, and there's no graceful, heroic lean backward into his rear foot, or the upright posture of a modern target archer (who use much lower pull).  He's leaning outward from his hips to wrangle control into that massive pull.  Really, really interesting.

!i!

[SDLeary]

11 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

One of the most fascinating things I noted was the posture of the archer.  He isn't dainty, and there's no graceful, heroic lean backward into his rear foot, or the upright posture of a modern target archer (who use much lower pull).  He's leaning outward from his hips to wrangle control into that massive pull.  Really, really interesting.

!i!

And that's with the bow that he can "pull all day". I wonder what his draw would look like with a 200lb monster.

SDLeary

[Ian Absentia]

It occurs to me that perhaps he's actually just holding the bow away from his body so that the string doesn't take his face off or open an artery.  I dunno -- I've never drawn a bow anywhere near that pull.

!I!

[Joerg]

I draw my flatbow (at my draw length about 75 lbs) in a somewhat hunched posture, too. Shooting a longbow is supposed to be one fluid motion. In sports archery you are prohibited from pulling in from above for security reasons (a premature release might send the arrow way beyond the target - not a concern when you are shooting near your extreme range in a clout tournament, but very much a problem in at best mediocre application of ballistic net in field archery).

Unlike the archer in the video, releasing a battle load of two dozen arrows over a short time with that bow would wear me out in terms of shoulder tension (the main source of force) even in times when I was competition shape, but that doesn't affect swinging a sharp object against foes as badly as it interferes with further shots with the bow, as those swings activate quite different muscles.5

(My recurve bows using aluminium carbon arrows have draw weights of about 40 lbs at 31.5'' draw length, and are usually shot with a straight back, although I twist the entire upper torso shooting uphill or downhill at more extreme angles to keep shoulder tension constant. In field archery, I am occasionally forced to shoot from a kneeling position as free headspace often isn't calculated for a 2m archer with a 72'' bow, and neither are the throw arcs.)

I haven't heard about any archer ripping his face off (although bearded ones may have epilated themselves painfully on occasion), and there have been all kinds of horror stories about archery injuries when I was still active. Eye punctures by the nocks of arrows in the target range quite high in the ranking of serious archery damage. Splintered arrows in your bow arm are another nightmare story (aggravated with splintered carbon shafts which are pretty much invisible in X-Ray and require ultra-sound and deft pincer-work to be removed completely from muscle tissue, or you will sooner or later have to remove that tissue if you missed any splinters).