Got a Real-World Weapon, Armor or Tactics Question? Mk. XXIV

[wolflance]

As for the quality of leather as protection, all I can say is I seen people have trouble cutting it (and have trouble cutting plastic water bottles too) if they cut wrong or have a dull sword, have cut a bunch of quite thick leather with a sharp sword (mainly my Albion Constable). When it's sharp - which is an important caveat, I could cut through 6mm leather no problem. I have also noticed though, and it's been mentioned before, that different types of blades cut better against different types of medium. Blade that cuts very well against wooden shields or weapon hafts, may not cut well against textiles (and vice versa) or bones or flesh.

We used to make fencing gloves for longsword fencing out of thick leather and it worked well. I think that is why SCA etc. likes it - it's good for impact absorption. But I wouldn't want to depend on it for protection from sharp blades - I'd rather textile or (especially) steel.

G

A good rule of thumb about the protectiveness of leather armor is that, if it is less protective than a suit of thick gambeson (the standalone type) then there's probably something wrong with the leather processing procedure. There are many ways to cause a piece of leather to become less protective than it should be, wax-hardening for example makes the leather “brittle” and much easier to cut through.

(EDIT: as well as modern chrome-tanning)

Many historical "leather" armors also appear to be actually made of rawhide.