Finally, a safe topic that everyone will agree on. What could possibly go wrong? 


Keep in mind the armors used in those videos might not be representative of actuality, especially the organic armors because they aren't Tod's specialty. The gambeson especially is too thin and using worse quality than what would have been used historically. I don't think many sling stones or bullets will do too much damage through a well made gambeson. I feel like most well made armors would dissipate much of the force of a sling stone or bullet, even if they did get dented. I feel like hardened leather would be the exception, as I'm not sure how good it is at absorbing impacts.

As we all know, aim for the head. Even if they have a helmet, you still might be able to ruin someone's day (or life).

But, I think we definitely need testing.

We'll have to have someone wear the armor. Don't worry, you'll probably be safe. Probably. Any volunteers?

Technically, the stone doesn't even have to damage the armor to wound the combatant.

That reminds me of an event in the panzermuseeum Munster.  Military history was shown there.  From the Bronze Age to World War II.  The tanks were of course a special attraction.  These were shown in full action at a show.  On an outside site.  In the evening the tanks were driven back into the hall.  We took a joke.  There was a Greek hoplite.  He stood with his shield and a lance on the way and blocked a Panther D. He called out loud ..... You can't pass here.  The tank commander looked out of his turret from above.  He laughed out loud at the joke.  He replied ... How are you going to stop me?  Our hoplite answered again.  I don't, but we have a slinger.  That was my cue.  I stood about 15m behind the tank.  The panther d has a hatch at the back of the tower.  This was open.  So I shot him a tennis ball and shouted out loud ... HANDGRENADE.  The ball actually hit and jumped around in the tank.  Everyone thought it was funny.  It was quite a gag.  Only the commandant didn't laugh.  He was very angry.  He later complained to the management.  But there you saw it loosely and thought it was a funny idea to depict different time epochs.  But the tank fans didn't want that.  It would be dubious.  That's true.  But it was also very funny 😁

Morphy wrote on Mar 14^th, 2021 at 5:11am:


Yeah, I don't think a gambeson will do much for anyone in a head-on car crash. But keep in mind that a sling stone is far less energy and momentum than that, and concentrates it on a certain area. Maybe if the area affected is the head or neck, the padding isn't going to save anyone from the shock and momentum. But a gambeson on the torso? I'm not so sure how great the damage will be. It probably depends on how thick it is. Unfortunately it hasn't been tested. I don't think impact of gambesons on blunt damage has been tested for any other weapons either.

They have little experience.  We used the sling in reenactor fighting.  Ammunition are water balloons.  These burst on impact and distribute their weight very quickly.  A friend was hit on the helmet.  He was passed out for 20 minutes.  Another was hit right in the chest.  He wore Norman armor.  A vest.  A gambeson and over it a chain shirt.  He had a black bruise from the hit.  And there were individual imprints of the chain links on the edge.  He was in shock and needed medical attention.  It was just a balloon with water.  A stone would have broken his ribs.  The injury would have been much worse.

Jaegoor wrote on Mar 14^th, 2021 at 6:07pm:


I must say I agree. I do larp and have been shot with a foam tipped arrow in the chest, just bellow the ribs and I most definitely felt that. And we were slinging tennis balls against someone holding a shield and you definitely feel at least some impact. If the projectile in any of the instances was a stone or glande, then I'm pretty certain that the result would not have been pretty.

In some ways it's a good thing people have trouble envisioning what being hit with a sling stone would be like... But yeah I think I fall more on the side of what Morphy and Jaegoor are saying. I really don't think a gambeson would save someone from a well placed sling stone to the chest.

I've talked about it before but I think lethality is overstated in battles. You don't have to kill everyone on the other side to win. Just getting winded, even for 5 minutes, could be pretty decisive for you on the battlefield.