Michael Beeching wrote:
This is slightly tangent to the original theme of the thread, but I think it is still relevant. Recently, NOVA produced a rather good documentary titled "Secrets of the Shining Knight," which aired just a few days ago this month:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-shining-knight.html

I suppose you could think of it as, "how can we make medieval steel plate today" as opposed to "what modern materials are equivalent to medieval steel plate." Basically, I get the impression that if you want medieval steel, you really have to make it yourself, and that will require an immense amount of time, labor, and tooling to achieve.

Some things to note in the documentary:

1. They test a modern "munitions grade" peascod breastplate which is either not heat treated or cannot be effectively heat treated. It is made of 16 GA, and a musket ball passes right through.

2. The armor subject to review is basically early renaissance, but the documentary refers to it as medieval - it's kind of annoying.

3. Some of our favorite chaps are featured in the documentary: Rick Furrer (previously featured on "Secrets of the Viking Sword"), who is responsible for making the steel; Michael Pikula makes a brief appearance, and Toby Capwell is available for some commentary. I've never heard of the featured armorer before, though.

4. The reproduction armor does not seem to have as good a grain structure as the original armor did, but was resistant to musket fire at short range.



Wow that is the biggest news since the Graz tests in the 80's. Thanks for posting that. Very impressive!