Hi all :)

I read the official Gulf War report "Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) And Chemical Protection".
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/mopp/

And I found... :!:
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/mopp/mopp_s01.htm#I. SUMMARY

Quote:

The protective overgarment and hood can cause body heat buildup, which can lead to heat exhaustion in warmer weather. The protective mask and hood degrade the ability to see, speak, and hear. The rubber gloves restrict air circulation and limit the sense of touch and the ability to perform tasks requiring delicate manipulation. The wearing of full CPE can cause psychological stress (e.g., claustrophobia) in some people. All of these problems can reduce combat effectiveness.

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ummmmmm... I think that a fullplate armored knight has more poor sight than full NBC geared soldier...
I think that there were the claustrophobia knight in Medieval age.
Are there the source(or story) about them? :?:

Thanks ^^

I'm not that familiar with 16th century warfare or how the armour was employed, but on 14th century bascinets you will notice that the visors are usually designed to be easily removable. (In addition to being raised, obviously.)
Perhaps the visor was primarily intended for arrows and lance charges, after which he visor could be raised. (or possibly removed.)

I cannot comment on the claustrophobia effect of plate armor - however, being a soldier, I know that the NBC gear can be pretty unpleasant. It is worth noting that a gas mask must have an airtight seal around the face, and breathing can be labored even when stationary due to the fact that air must be forced through a filter. It is the difficulty breathing, possibly in conjunction with the rest of the gear, that makes gas masks unpleasant for me - not just having something over my face.

It's also worth noting that given the figures I have read for historical examples of plate armor (for use on foot, not tournament armor), a full combat load is probably heavier now than it was then, and with MUCH worse weight distribution - this makes physical activity harder and therefore exacerbates the above mentioned difficulty breathing in NBC gear.

Also note that an armored knight would probably be much more used to training with his armor than most modern soldiers are to training with NBC gear.

If it was purely a visibility issue, then it would also be raised for the goggles and face masks we are issued, I think.

Pete

PS: Just to clarify, I'm sure there were knights who considered their armor claustrophobic - but I do believe that NBC gear with a full combat uniform is just as bad from that point of view, or worse for some.

The knight owned his armour and could modify it.
With NBC masks it helps to turn the filter screw back and make this contact less airtight for more comfort during (excessive and stupid) training (sometimes used as a punishment).

we had a discussion about visors a long time back if i remember, i remember a few members stating the importance of knowing how to breath with your visor down rather than the limited vision. most stated that vision was not a problem when looking through a visor kind of like how you don't notice a letter box film on an old tv after a while.

knights had their armor made to their specs, i think a knight with his visor down starting to freak out would be a little silly. he could adjust the visor depending on his needs - actually, putting his visor down might be more an act of 'putting his game face on' he was continually trained since he was maybe 16 years old to fight this way.

Hi all :)

Thanks replies :) :) :)

Peter Messent wrote:

Quote:

Also note that an armored knight would probably be much more used to training with his armor than most modern soldiers are to training with NBC gear.

Ian S LaSpina wrote:

Quote:

A knight on the other hand, if trained from being a young squire, practiced to fight in harness from the time he was a boy. You can train out a lot of the psychological factors that armor might bring to the table. It's my belief that this problem wasn't as severe in the Middle Ages and Renaissance because the men wearing the armor trained their whole lives to do just that.

I think so! (I forgot these things :!: ) :)

Thanks ^^