On Armor

-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a cloth garment, generally canvas or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric."

"Lamellar armour was one of three early body armour types made from armour plates. The other two types are scale armour and laminar armour."

"Lamellar armour consists of hundreds of small rectangular iron, leather, or bronze plates (scales or lamellae) which are pierced in various locations and laced together into horizontal rows to the proper length needed to construct a particular armour item.[1] The rows of Lamellar armour evolved from scale armour,[2] from which it differs by not needing a backing for the scales. When the lames are made of leather they can be hardened by a process such as cuir bouilli or lacquering."

For a small tribe or homestead community, defensive armor will need to be light and mobile ad not require intensive preparation methods. This will likely limit the armor's effectiveness against small arms fire, but in the event of resource shortages, this will become less of an issue as time goes on. 

For small scale war, protection from hand held weapons such as blunt instruments and bladed cutting or piercing weapons will be invaluable. Obtaining armor capable of defending against firearms would be more a matter of scavenging, or preparation ahead of time, than a matter of crafting.


Leather stands out as a good alternative, as it is lighter, easier to obtain and replace and work, and quieter than metal. Metal, if used would be well served to be used in a manner similar to a Jack of Plate or Brigandine. 


Bulletproofing works by using multiple layers of kevlar to slow and stop a bullet. The Chinese did this successfully with layers of paper armor against early firearms, and the Mongolians used layered silk shirts to similar effect against arrow fire. But obtaining silk or paper in large amounts could be tricky for a small community and neither technique proved effective against modern fire arms. 

And depending upon the type of conflict anticipated and the weaponry expected, forgoing armor altogether may be a wise decision. This would lighten the load of the warrior and improve mobility dramatically.


A small community might have better results relying upon stealth, foot speed, mobility and unconventional warfare tactics than armor that cannot stop a bullet. 


On a different note, structures can be used as cover if they are sturdy enough. Think of heavy structures as a kind of non-mobile armor. For a small community that is thinking defensively, having reinforced structures placed strategically to provide cover in a defensive battle, but not for the attacking for the attacking force could serve as a kind of armor replacement. 


Just as castles had arrow slits that protected the archer and allowed the archer a range of targets but did not do the same for the attacker, a clever tribe or homestead community could potentially build defensive cover structures to do the same, or perhaps even mobile defensive structures, or collapse-able structures that could be hidden when the defender was forced to retreat to deny the attacker access to them. 

Also, do not forget to think of camouflage as armor in its own way. A warrior is hard pressed to attack what is unseen, or that of which the warrior is not aware. Being unseen, unnoticed or unregarded can be as useful as being armored.


In the movie 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", several of Robin's men act as decoys to lure the knights guarding a caravan away. As the knights chase down the men, they quickly dart around a bend in the path and slide under burlap sheets that have been propped up with single sticks which the men kick over as the slide. This causes the burlap to fall over the men revealing that the top of each burlap sheet is covered with leaves and moss and earth and even a few plants, making the men appear to vanish into slight rises in the earth beside the road. The knights gallop past, assuming the men are just ahead of them on the trail.

Mythbusters have shown the water is tremendously effective against gunfire, suggesting that local bodies of water can be used as camouflage, armor and transportation all together in one easy package. Likewise, if the tribe or homestead community is making use of earth sheltering for their homes, then they have a ready made set of bunkers that will defend well against small arms fire. Bear in mind that if the opposing force has access to military grade equipment, the standard practice against bunkers and pill boxes was to use a flamethrower. 


Using predominantly natural material will render a homestead community or tribe vulnerable to fire to a certain extent. Stone and earth will not be as vulnerable, but if plant matter such as wood or thatch or sod is used in the construction of the roofing, then fire damage could expose the defenders in short order. In such cases, where one is using cover as opposed to armor, defenders should prepare to evacuate by building escape hatches into all defensive structures ahead of time.


The Tunnels of the Vietcong and the Japanese and Iwo Jima are excellent of examples of this strategy at work. When faced with an opponent that is dramatically superior in one or more areas of strategic value, attempt to change the game so as to render those advantages unusable or even transform the enemy's advantages into liabilities. 


If the enemy outnumbers you, lay out your defensive structures to nullify the advantage of large groups. If the enemy out guns you, lay out your defensive structures to prevent the use of their superior weapons as much as possible. If the enemy is better supplied than you, lay out your defensive structures to tax and expose supply lines.

A small tribe or homestead community must rely upon and be intimately familiar with their landbase in order to live with that landbase without damaging it. As such they should consider the whole of their landbase as potential armor against attacks and prepare that landbase appropriately.


Red Cloud made excellent use of this principle in his war against the Americans, known as the Powder River War by some, and Red Cloud's war by others. Knowing that he was outnumbered and out gunned and out supplied, Red Cloud harried the US military with guerrilla strikes at homesteaders who had illegally settled on Lakota land in violation of the current treaty (and with tacit US approval), and struck at extended and exposed supply lines. He also took advantage of the military's lack of respect for his forces by sending small groups in apparent suicide attacks that would quickly turn into apparent routs with the US military in hot pursuit of the apparently beaten Lakota warriors. This would then be quickly reversed as the Lakota led the Military into ambushes such as the Battle of the 100 Slain. 


Another form of armor is to not need a supply line at all. By being intimately familiar with their landbase, a tribe or homestead community should be able to abandon their settlement and still live confidently off the land and continue to harry and strike at the invaders from their pre-planned defensive structures. Both Bruce Lee and Sun Tzu spoke of the the military and combat advantage of being formless with no place for the enemy to strike at, no place to insert a sword, nothing the enemy can grab.


Another form of armor is being modular. With a central basic strategy, but no central command; the enemy has no way to end the battle quickly and decisively, and the enemy further cannot gain an advantage by capturing and interrogating a tribes warriors. A warrior cannot give up another battalions battle plans if the warrior does not know it, or expose the location of the central command if there is none.