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Post by ironhold on Jul 28, 2023 23:06:54 GMT
As I mentioned before, I'm a moderator on the GWES (Global Weather and Emergency Alert Society) Discord server.
Earlier this afternoon, there was a discussion about the size classifications of hail stones.
This led to someone asking if a suit of armor could potentially protect a wearer from hail.
Well...
As we all know, there are a wide variety of suits of armor that were in use the world over throughout history, and there are a number of different size classifications for hail.
What combinations of armor and hailstones would actually allow the wearer to walk away with little to no injuries, and what combinations would not end well?
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Post by GTCGreg on Jul 29, 2023 0:16:00 GMT
I’m no expert on either hailstorms or armor, but I would think that, except for maybe those extremely rare cases where a storm produces grapefruit size chunks of ice, almost any armor would adequately protect one from normal hail storms.
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Post by the light works on Jul 29, 2023 0:38:05 GMT
As I mentioned before, I'm a moderator on the GWES (Global Weather and Emergency Alert Society) Discord server. Earlier this afternoon, there was a discussion about the size classifications of hail stones. This led to someone asking if a suit of armor could potentially protect a wearer from hail. Well... As we all know, there are a wide variety of suits of armor that were in use the world over throughout history, and there are a number of different size classifications for hail. What combinations of armor and hailstones would actually allow the wearer to walk away with little to no injuries, and what combinations would not end well? hail in armor is still going to be a miserable experience, but pretty much any rigid armor will spread it enough to just be miserable. big enough hailstones might bruise through flexible armor. |
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Post by wvengineer on Jul 29, 2023 23:45:50 GMT
There are 2 parts to plate armor. You have the actual metal plate armor, but you also have a heavy later of quilted padding. When a person gets hit, the armor spreads out the impact, but the padding reduces the actual force of the impact. The two together are what made armor effective in the day.
As far as hail, yeah, not going to be a fun experience. The noise alone will make for a very unpleasant time. The force of a battle axe will be a lot more than any hail damage and such an impact is just what good armor was designed to protect the wearer from. An axe blow will be far in excess of any hail. So the hail could easily dent and may cause some bruising through the padding. Not fun, but no lasting damage to wearer.
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Post by rmc on Jul 30, 2023 9:05:34 GMT
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Post by WhutScreenName on Aug 1, 2023 16:46:13 GMT
There are 2 parts to plate armor. You have the actual metal plate armor, but you also have a heavy later of quilted padding. When a person gets hit, the armor spreads out the impact, but the padding reduces the actual force of the impact. The two together are what made armor effective in the day. As far as hail, yeah, not going to be a fun experience. The noise alone will make for a very unpleasant time. The force of a battle axe will be a lot more than any hail damage and such an impact is just what good armor was designed to protect the wearer from. An axe blow will be far in excess of any hail. So the hail could easily dent and may cause some bruising through the padding. Not fun, but no lasting damage to wearer. Hmm, I'm not sure I 100% agree with your analysis. Not too long back (within the past 10 years), we had a hail storm of the century. The hail was not only large, it came down with tremendous force. So much so, that any car left out had every bit of glass broken, and the dents in it were an inch deep, maybe even more. It damaged roof's, siding, and took out tree branches. While I agree a battle axe has a significant amount of force on a relatively sharp edge, hail can also carry a wallop! The hail I'm talking about, the 'balls' were approximately baseball size with 3-4 or even 5 of those fused together. Some were grapefruit sized without being fused together. If one of those came down on a point, I think it might give an axe a run for it's money. I admit I might be wrong, but having been through that storm, that's my thoughts. Also, I wouldn't have wanted to be outside in any armor with that happening. With the right armor, I believe I would have lived, but I would be hurting and likely deaf |
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Post by the light works on Aug 1, 2023 19:21:31 GMT
There are 2 parts to plate armor. You have the actual metal plate armor, but you also have a heavy later of quilted padding. When a person gets hit, the armor spreads out the impact, but the padding reduces the actual force of the impact. The two together are what made armor effective in the day. As far as hail, yeah, not going to be a fun experience. The noise alone will make for a very unpleasant time. The force of a battle axe will be a lot more than any hail damage and such an impact is just what good armor was designed to protect the wearer from. An axe blow will be far in excess of any hail. So the hail could easily dent and may cause some bruising through the padding. Not fun, but no lasting damage to wearer. Hmm, I'm not sure I 100% agree with your analysis. Not too long back (within the past 10 years), we had a hail storm of the century. The hail was not only large, it came down with tremendous force. So much so, that any car left out had every bit of glass broken, and the dents in it were an inch deep, maybe even more. It damaged roof's, siding, and took out tree branches. While I agree a battle axe has a significant amount of force on a relatively sharp edge, hail can also carry a wallop! The hail I'm talking about, the 'balls' were approximately baseball size with 3-4 or even 5 of those fused together. Some were grapefruit sized without being fused together. If one of those came down on a point, I think it might give an axe a run for it's money. I admit I might be wrong, but having been through that storm, that's my thoughts. Also, I wouldn't have wanted to be outside in any armor with that happening. With the right armor, I believe I would have lived, but I would be hurting and likely deaf a person trapped in a severe hailstorm with no cover would definitely take a pounding, but keep in mind, car bodywork is 18-22 gauge steel. the lightest part of my steel armor is effectively about 17 gauge, and officially 16 gauge. so the cumulative battering would definitely be a factor, but I think the other issues involved would be more significant than the actual hail impact. |
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Post by wvengineer on Aug 2, 2023 1:39:25 GMT
Such large hail is very rare. While it does happen, by fat the vast majority of hail storms don't get nearly that bad. Whut, buy your own statement, it was a "Storm of the century." Is using the most extreme example really the best way to test effectiveness?
I am a weather spotter for the NWS. The size that we go by is small, pea, dime, penny, nickle, & quarter. Anything bigger, just report the measurement. Quarter size is rare. To be fair, every training I get is based around the weather we get here in the mid-Atlantic. Maybe things are different elsewhere, like the Midwest.
Another thing to consider is how the shape will effect strength. If you have the same thickness and type of metal, a 12" cylinder will be a lot stronger than plate of flat metal In a hail storm, the majority of the hail will be coming from either vertical, or similar very high angle this will be hitting the armor on the top. were you have like the head or shoulder pauldons. Hhere you will have multiple layers of metal over padding. So you would have good strength. Compare that to a large, mostly flat car roof. That will not have near the amount of impact resistance.
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