Longbow vs Plate Armour

Channel 4
Weapons that made Britain - Armour

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Armour
• Armor
• Longbow
• Arrow

[Gooseman2k2]

@TheReven1 You mean like those crazy windlass crossbows? yea I'm sure at very close ranges they could punch through a thinly plated tank!

[TheReven1]

@Gooseman2k2 Fact, and I am sure one of those hand cranked crossbows would give twice that penetration as I have argued in all these bow vs breastplate vids on here.

[LangerName]

That's actually pretty easy to check: An Arrow weights approx. 50g, an armoured Man about 100kg. Using the principle of linear momentum and said velocity of 140mph, this will result in 0.07mph of backwards-velocity. That's about 0,03 m/s. Not that much.

[bellator11]

@94AggressiveInline Weight means nothing by itself, it's weight couple with velocity that matters as this determines the amount of kinetic energy created. In short, no you will not get knocked off a horse by an arrow, and neither will you fly across the room if hit by a .45 cal handgun as some kids believe thanks to Hollywood.

[xcorps1992]

I used to wear plate mail. Then I took an arrow to the knee.

[94AggressiveInline]

@bellator11 I think the arrow would knock you down because of it's weight...

[bellator11]

@94AggressiveInline Knocked off by an arrow ? Have you been eating nails for breakfast ? Arrows have absolutely zero knock down power, they just penetrate, that's it. Just take a look at the kinetic energy generated, it's hardly up to pair with a 9mm handgun bullet, and one of those certainly wont knock you on your feet, just look at bullet proof vest tests = the man still stands firm even when all the energy of the round is absorbed.

[tvr390se]

Can't speak for longbows, but both my crossbows (Barnett quad 400 and PSE TAC-15i) penetrate car doors with ease.

[supersmash43]

@94AggressiveInline that armour as well as the padding underneath probably would have been completely penetrated by a musket ball in the same scenario. So I doubt that protection would save somebody from a let's say 0.7 calibre musket ball in the same situation.

[94AggressiveInline]

The English warbow with a bodkin arrow will easily smash through plate armour if it struck true But this also depends on the quality of the armour and if it didnt penetrate it would throw whoever it hit back into his own ranks or to the ground, At the battle of Agincourt/Azincourt The french were slaughtered by arrow storms and then once they got close they got ripped apart by the men at arms, 1 because of the terrain and 2 because they were forced to advance with visors down so they couldnt see