First thing, thanks to Thearos for sparking this idea.  He mentioned wearing a fencing mask to protect the face in the Stone vs. Shield topic I created when I posted that video.

The title is pretty much self explanatory.  I set up a fencing mask and sling some stones at it.  Jaegoor has posted images of damage done to helmets.  This is a slightly different take on the same idea.  Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/R9AC22nGNCA

i thought you'd wear it

MikeG wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2021 at 11:08am:

i thought you'd wear it

Probably good he didnt.  ;)

Good vid Joe. I expected more damage actually. It was stronger than I thought.

Morphy wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2021 at 1:52pm:

MikeG wrote on Dec 22nd, 2021 at 11:08am: i thought you'd wear it Probably good he didnt.  ;)

Before the test: Disappointed the mask doesn't fit  :(
After the test: Overjoyed the mask didn't fit  :D



Morphy wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2021 at 1:52pm:

I expected more damage actually. It was stronger than I thought.

I think a big part of that was the head and mask being able to move.  I think if it was fixed in position, the damage would have been a lot worse.

But building on that, let's imagine the mask did protect the head and face.  There was such a violent movement from the impact, I can't imagine what kind of neck trauma that might have caused.

I actually had the whole video exported and ready for uploading, but when I was doing a final review I watched the impact in slow motion to see what it looked like.  As soon as I did that, I was like, "Crap!  Now I have to go back, add a slow motion segment of the hit, and export the video again."  I think it was worth it though.  Should have thought of that when I was first cutting things together.

As soon as that shot  entered your power stroke I knew it was gonna be a hit .
Great video

Ouch! It looks like the edge of the mask "caught" the stone and the energy pulled the mask round. I guess if that edge wasn't there and it was just curved mesh, it might have glanced off more. The mesh cutting into the head is horrible, that would be a lot of blood. Awesome video!

Oof!  Nice shot Joe!

It definitely reinforces the argument that it wouldn’t matter if Goliath had been wearing bronze armor when David struck him in the forehead. In my unprofessional medical opinion I’d say it’s enough to render someone unconscious if not dead.

Mersa wrote on Dec 23^rd, 2021 at 1:43am:

As soon as that shot  entered your power stroke I knew it was gonna be a hit .

I believe you are one of a few who could spot such a thing.  I had several throws that I thought looked good, but the hit was just a little bit off.  When I released the last one, it was pretty much the same.  First thought was, "That looks good".  Half a second later, "Got it!".


@Kick - You could be correct.  But I think it's more likely the stone made its dent in the metal, and then used that "cup" to push the mask around.  The edge of the mask that holds the metal wire is very thin.  Probably only a couple millimeters thick.  I think if the stone was catching on that, it would have been a hit similar to the first small impact I had, and kind of just bumped it out of the way.


@NOOC - Yeah man, you could very well be right.  There's just so many variables.  Way more than I would have expected to encounter when I started playing around with impact tests.  Weight of the stone, velocity, what the material being impacted is, how much will the target move to absorb the force, the angle of impact, etc.  I can say one thing though.  There isn't a helmet I'm aware of that I would agree to wear and get hit in the head with a stone from a sling.

Not without going to crazy extremes anyway.  If the helmet is a 1/4" steel plate with a foot of jello for padding, bring it on!  ;D

I'm with you, certainly wouldn't want to get hit in the face with that on! I used to practice with a very similar setup, but with tennis and squash balls that didn't cause it to cave in! Interesting test.

joes neighbours:

elmer:'he's out there again'
zetal: 'he trying to kill hisself agin ?'
elmer: 'nope, he's gone and cut someone's head clean off and put some kind of gimp mask on it'
zetal: 'that boy sure is weird.'
elmer: ' yep.'

Good!
That's exactly the kind of tests / videos I like!

Awesome power in the throw, very smooth style